INSTITUT PENDIDIKAN GURU

KAMPUS KOTA BHARU

Descriptive Essay
Nama : Liew Zhao Yu/Nurul Ain Binti Kholad @
Khalid/
Pensyarah: Mdm Yusnee Binti Yusoff
 What is descriptive
writing?

 Creates a picture of a person,

place, thing or event.
 Tells something what looks,
sounds, smells, tastes or feel
likes.
Good descriptive writing
is comprised of five
elements:
a. Sensory details
b. Figurative language
c. Dominant impression
d. Precise language
e. Careful organization
 a. Sensory details
• Includes many vivid sensory
details that paint a picture
and appeals to all of the
reader’s senses.
• Paint a pictures of the
feelings, the person, place or
thing involves the writer.
b. Figurative language
• To help paint the picture in the reader’s
mind.
• A simile uses like or as to compare two
unlike things. -
Example: Her smile was like sunshine.
• A metaphor compares two unlike things
without using like or as. -
Example: Her smile like was a light that
lit up the room.
• Personification suggests comparison
between a nonliving thing and a person
by giving the nonliving thing human
traits.
c. Dominant impression d. Precise language e. Careful organization

• create a single • Using specific words • Some ways to

dominant impression, a and phrases will help organize descriptive
central theme or idea to the reader “see” what writing include:
which all the details you are describing. - Chronological (time),
• If a word or phrase is spatial (location), and
relate. order importance.
specific, it is exact and
•Example: the liveliness
precise.
of a street scene or the
• The opposite of
quiet of a summer specific language is
night. language that is
•This unifies the vague, fuzzy, general.
description and gives
readers an overall sense
of what the person,
place, object, or scene
lools like(and perhaps
what it sounds, smells,
tastes or feels like.)
Some descriptive details to consider when
describing a person

Examine:
o Physical
o Appearance
o Facial Expressions
o Attire
o Gestures (body movements
How should you write your description?

Show don't tell. But what's the difference

between showing and telling?
Consider these two simple examples:

- I grew tired after dinner.

- As I leaned back and rested my head against
the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel
heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in
front of me blurred with the white
tablecloth.
Example 2: If you are writing about going
to a party how would you describe this?

B
A  Her eyes widened
 She was excited when with surprise and
her parents gave her her lips parted as
permission to go to her she screamed with
party. delight when her
parents said “Yes”.
 Example 3: You are in the midst of
a thunderstorm. How would you
describe this?

B
A  The raindrops attacked
 The rain was falling the galvanized roof and
heavily and everyone the windows rattled.
was afraid. We huddled under the
bed and held each
other tightly.
 Which one is clearer?

 The descriptions in the first  The descriptions in the

example (labeled A) tells second example (labeled B)
you what is happening but create images in the readers
it does not create pictures mind and allow them to
in your mind. experience it fully.
 Some examples of descriptive text
include:
• The sunset filled the entire sky with the deep color of rubies,
setting the clouds ablaze.
• The waves crashed and danced along the shore, moving up and
down in a graceful and gentle rhythm like they were dancing.
• The painting was a field of flowers, with deep and rich blues and
yellows atop vibrant green stems that seemed to beckon you to
reach right in and pick them.
• The old man was stooped and bent, his back making the shape of a
C and his head bent so far forward that his beard would nearly
have touched his knobby knees had he been just a bit taller.
• His deep and soulful blue eyes were like the color of the ocean on
the clearest day you can ever imagine.
• The soft fur of the dog felt like silk against my skin and her black
coloring glistened as it absorbed the sunlight, reflecting it back as
a perfect, deep, dark mirror.
Thank you
for your
attention