How to Write a

Descriptive Essay
Eng. 103
NPn
 What, exactly, is a Descriptive
Essay
• A descriptive essay is simply an essay that
describes something or someone by appealing
to the reader’s senses: sight, sound, touch, smell,
and taste.
 What do you want to describe?
• A person
• A place
• A memory
• An experience
• An object
 Why are you writing your
descriptive essay?
• Find your particularly reason for writing descriptive
essay.

• Getting in touch with this reason can help you focus

your description and imbue your language with a
particular perspective or emotion.

• Ex: If you want to describe your grandfather, You've

chosen to write about your grandfather's physical
appearance, mental attributes and the way that he
interacts with people.
 How should you write your
description?
• It's the famous saying: show don't tell.

• Ex1: I grew tired after dinner.

• Ex2: 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.

• The first sentence tells readers that you grew tired

after dinner. The second sentence shows readers that
you grew tired. The most effective descriptive essays
are loaded with such showing because they enable
readers to imagine or experience something for
themselves.
 Focus on the five senses
• sight
• sound
• smell
• touch
• taste

• When you focus your descriptions on the senses, you

provide vivid and specific details that show your
readers rather than tell your readers what you are
describing.
 Word Power
• Descriptive writing is writing with flair. It
means using words so that they paint a
picture for the reader, but doing so in ways
that often surprise the reader. Here are
some of the tools available to you:
 Metaphors
Comparisons minus cue words
• My tears were a river
• I died with embarrassment
• Her heart was on fire
• He hit the wall of exhaustion
 Adjectives
Words which describe
or modify nouns
The tall, thin man
entered the spooky
room with measured
steps. Inside the
room deep shadows
crouched in wait for
him.
 WHAT IS DESCRIPTIVE
WRITING?
In a large box out in the garage,
What brings this scene to
surrounded by gumboots, shovels life?
and old paint tins, is a scene of Write down the words that
joy. The happy mother lies on a help the reader visualize
tatty red and yellow blanket, her this scene.
litter at her belly. She licks them,
and looks up with watchful brown
eyes when we bend over to see.
The tiny puppies, blind and
almost hairless, scramble over one
another, searching for their
mother.
 Quick tips for writing your
descriptive essay
• Planning your descriptive essay:

• What or who do you want to describe?

• What is your reason for writing your
description?
• What are the particular qualities that you want
to focus on?
 Drafting your descriptive essay:
• Writing the thesis statement in your introduction.
• Developing body paragraphs with good topic
sentences.
• What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are
important for developing your description?
• Which details can you include to ensure that your
readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your
emotion or perspective?
• Writing the conclusion by summarizing your main
points and reconstruction of your thesis statement.
 Essay Outline
Introduction Thesis: _____________________
Body Paragraph #1- Topic Sentence: _____________
• A. supporting idea
• B. supporting idea
• Concluding sentence:_____________
• Body Paragraph #2- Topic Sentence: ____________
• A. supporting idea
• B. supporting idea
• Concluding sentence:_____________
• Body Paragraph #3- Topic Sentence: ____________
• A. supporting idea
• B. supporting idea
• Concluding sentence:_____________

Conclusion
 Introduction Paragraph
• :• Hook – something that gets the reader
interested. Question, description, Statement,
statistic, fact. Etc .•Connecting info from the
hook to the main topic/ background
information .•Give the thesis statement with 3
clear points of development .•Thesis Statement
= The main idea statement…with three points
of development.
 Introduction Paragraph:
• I can still remember the beautiful breeze on my
face, the smell of the salty air and the sound of
crashing waves on the shore. That day was the
most relaxing day of my life. I will never forget
the feeling of relaxation that I felt when I went
to Jamaica, it was like I had left my world of
frustration and busyness. The beach is such a
perfect place to relax for me because of its
wonderful weather, the beautiful scenery, and its
friendly people.
 Body Paragraph
• Has a clear topic sentence, supporting details and
concluding sentence with transition words throughout
the paragraph. Also, you must be sure that your
paragraph connects clearly to your thesis statement!

• The weather in Jamaica is perfect relaxation weather.

First, It never gets below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and
the breeze is always light and refreshing. Also, It hardly
ever rains there and you don’t ever have to worry about
snow! In addition, I can relax on the beach and never
have to worry about catching a chill at night. It is easy
to see how the weather makes it so easy to relax on the
beach in Jamaica.
 Conclusion
• Restates the thesis and summarizes the points of
development . Gives a suggestion, opinion, or
prediction.
• (In conclusion,)I can’t think of any better place
to relax than the beach. The pleasant weather
makes it comfortable all year round, the scenery
has beauty beyond imagination, and the people
are the friendliest I’ve ever met. Anyone who
really needs to relax should consider booking the
next flight to the wonderful beaches of Jamaica.
 Revising your descriptive essay:

• Have you provided enough details and descriptions to

enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid
perception?
• Have you left out any minor but important details?
• Have you used words that convey your emotion or
perspective?
• Are there any unnecessary details in your description?
• Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one
aspect of your description?
• Are you paragraphs ordered in the most affective way?
• Using present sentence
• Use of adjectives and adverbs
• Use of descriptive words
• Use of five senses