1. English Composition I Prof. Beamen
Descriptive Essays
English Composition I
Prof. Beamen

2. Description is… Feels like Smells like Sounds like Tastes like
What something:
Looks like
Feels like
Smells like
Sounds like
Tastes like

3. Description can also describe sense impressions like lifestyles, attitudes, backgrounds.
It captures people, places, events, objects, and feelings so the reader can VISUALIZE them.
It is expression, in vivid language, of what the five senses experience.
A common example of a descriptive “essay”: a travel brochure.

4. Example:“The campgrounds were filled with friendly, happy activities”
-Freezes a subject in time.
-Shows rather than tells.
Example:“The campgrounds were filled with friendly, happy activities”
BORING!
Revised: “The campgrounds were alive with the smell of spicy baked beans, the sound of high-pitched laughter, and the sight of happy families sharing the warmth of a fire.”
Better!

5. Two Types of Description
Objective
No trace of feelings
Uses denotative language
Subjective
Produced to elicit feeling from readers
Uses connotative language
In descriptive essays, you introduce your view of the world to your readers.

6. Organization Choose a pattern that best supports your
dominant impression:
Spatially
Chronologically
Emphatically or by
Sensory Impression

7. All good descriptions share four fundamental qualities:
(1) An accurate sense of audience (who the readers are)
(2) A clear vision of the object being described
(3) A careful selection of details that help communicate the author’s vision
(4) A consistent point of view or perspective from which the writer composes.

8. A Descriptive Essay is NOT a narrative: rather, it freezes a detail from a narrative in time.
Below is a plot diagram; a descriptive essay will be missing one or more elements of this diagram.