Observation Essay Descriptive Writing

Criteria 1.Use Show Dont TellGive sensory details (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch), use dialogue and names of items when appropriate. Zoom in on crucial details. 2. Use Figurative LanguageCompare images when appropriate; use simile, build an extended metaphor, use sound devices. 3.Describe What is NOT Therestep back and notice what is absent; what is not happening, or who is not present.

4.Note Changes in Form or Conditioneven if the object seems static, unchanging, a good writer looks for change. Example: a six-inch purple iris that eight hours earlier was just a green bud. 5.Learn about your Subjectwhen appropriate, read about your subject, ask others, have a critical eye. 6.Write from a Distinct Point of ViewA lover and a botanist, for example, see entirely different things in the same red rose. WHAT is seen depends on WHO is doing the seeing. –Consider writing from the perspective of the object (1st person) rather than just being the outside observer.

7.Focus on a Dominant IdeaFocus on the details that clarify the main ideas or discoveries. Include those details that support the dominant idea. –Dont give a laundry list of details but put them together in a way that leads the reader to the dominant insight. –Ask yourself: What elements go together?

Topic Choices Person, Place, or Thing –Object easiest to observe. –Person: He/she doing something. Examples: Gang-gang in his garden; Dad at his computer researching Something that can be seen and seen again. –NOT a memory (the beach, etc.) Three-dimensional

Beautiful/Ugly Assignment 50 pt. Assessment Grade Minimum of 250 words (short write). Avoid Clichés. No TELL statements. Avoid those adjective statements: It was beautiful. What does beautiful look like to you? Dominate Idea/Insight –Stated or implied –Inductive: last paragraph/2-3 lines