DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Descriptive writing seeks to make sensory details vividly present to the reader in many kinds of writing. An argumentative paper, for example, may use descriptive writing to make a position more persuasive.

Showing vs. telling

• Sensory details are details of smell, taste, texture, sight, and sound. If you choose “showing” words or those that give vivid sensory details that are appropriate to your subject and purpose, then you will succeed in showing rather than telling. “Telling” words are usually vague or ambiguous; they can be interpreted in a range of ways. The first example gives statements about what is lacking in the room, while the second example describes the sights, textures, smells, and sounds of the empty room:

Telling:

The empty bedroom smelled stale and was lacking furniture or floor covering; the double window lacked curtains or blinds of any kind.

Showing:

Showing:

The old apartment smelled of old cooking odors, cabbage, and mildew; our sneakers squeaked sharply against the scuffed wood floors, which reflected a haze of dusty sunlight from the one cobwebbed, gritty window.

“Showing” in the second example makes use of very specific details: cabbage and mildew, scuffed and dusty floors, and unwashed windows. While the writer of the second example does not actually use the word “empty,” it is nevertheless suggested that there is an emptiness and that the place has not been used. The suggestion of emptiness in the second example is more vivid than the statement of emptiness in the first.

Now let’s look at another example of showing:

The sharp odor of fresh paint cut through the smell of newsprint. Four stacked cartons of inkjet printer paper sat squarely in the middle of a concrete floor, illuminated by a shaft of morning light from a sparkling chrome-framed window on the opposite wall.

Some persons may mistake showing for an explanation. In writing, an explanation is a kind of “telling” that gives background material that does not have sensory details or that does not contribute to the overall effect or a character’s motives or history.

Example of an explanation:

The tenants had moved out two weeks earlier because the house was being sold. No one had remembered to dust or clean the apartment because they assumed the apartment was going to be replaced with single-family homes like those that had been built in the neighboring towns.

When description explains (tells rather than shows), then the writing becomes boring.

Observing details

Observation is vital to writing descriptive pieces. It requires careful evaluation of your subject in terms of visual, auditory, and other sensory details. Think in concrete terms. The more you are interested in and connected to the subject, the easier it will be to interest your reader, so if you describe a person, choose a person whose characteristics are outstanding to you. So, if you are describing a place or a thing, choose one that is meaningful to you. Ensure that you know what sets each subject apart.

When describing people, be sure to include the physical characteristics and mannerisms of the person you are describing. For example, do not tell the reader your best friend is a neat, meticulous person; instead, show the reader that your best friend has a “dust-free laptop and workstation and stacks of papers with corners precisely aligned, each stack sitting exactly three thumb-widths from the edge of the desk.” You can also describe the way that a subject interacts with others if you can observe the interaction. But a subject’s life history and world perspective may not be easy to observe and describe, unless you can deduce them, for example, from the photos on his walls or the books on his bookshelf. If you are describing an object or a place, you may also include the physical appearance as well as its geographic, historical, or emotional relevance, if you show or suggest it using sensory details and avoid explaining.

Deciding on a purpose

Descriptions should have a purpose. The purpose includes:

• Is there an important overall impression you wish to convey?
• A central theme or general point?

Therefore, this is your thesis, and you should organize your essay with this concept in mind. For example, you might describe your car as your second home that is full of snack foods, shoes, changes of clothing, old magazines, textbooks, and your favorite music. Or you could describe your car as a spotless, beautiful, indulged woman that you willingly finance or shower with additional attention. Your description should grab the attention of the reader and therefore you do not want to just describe your car in cold, clinical details, front to back or bottom to top, or inside to outside without first thinking about the overall impression you want to create.

Organizing

An extended description that lacks organization has a confusing, unreal quality and the reader’s interest is easily lost. Therefore, you need to choose an organizational plan when you decide to write your description. Use whatever progression seems logical left to right, inside to outside, top to bottom and stick to it. For example, it does not make sense to describe a person’s facial features and hair, then his deep voice and impressive vocabulary, and then return to details about his eyebrows and glasses.

How to plan a descriptive essay

• Choose a topic – The topic will guide your steps in writing so that you understand how to structure your essay.
• Write down everything that you know about the topic so that you do not leave anything out.
• List the elements that you will describe throughout the essay and research everything you need to know about them.

Elements of Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing consists of five main elements. These elements are figurative language, sensory details, precise language, dominant impression, and careful organization.

1. Figurative language

Descriptive essays should use figurative language to help paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. In other words, you compare one thing to another so that the reader can understand what you mean. You can use figurative language in so many ways. The more you use it, the more you perfect it. For example, you can say his laughter bounced off the wall like a canon being fired on a silent night.

• Sensory details

Tap into the reader’s senses when writing a great descriptive essay. Your words should appeal to the reader’s senses. This will help to connect your descriptions and the pictures you create for them. You can achieve this by tapping into the feelings of the person, place, or thing that you are describing.

• Precise language

Use precise language in your descriptive essay. There are specific words and phrases that you can use to help the reader understand your description of something. Avoid using generalizations or vague or fuzzy language in your descriptions. The reader is most likely to see a picture you paint that has a specific description.

• A dominant impression

The descriptive essay should allow the readers to see what you see and feel what you feel. Hence, you develop a central theme that will move your descriptions throughout the essay. All the details you present to the readers will be connected to your central idea.

• Careful organization

Organize your statements when writing a descriptive essay. Therefore, you arrange your statements in chronological, spatial, and significant order. This means that you tell the reader where your subject is located, at what time, and the value they have. This will help with the flow and direction of your essay.