{"id":2857,"date":"2015-11-02T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/blog\/?post_type=essay-writing-blog&p=2857"},"modified":"2019-02-01T14:15:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T22:15:40","slug":"how-to-write-a-descriptive-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/essay-writing-blog\/how-to-write-a-descriptive-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Descriptive Essay That Is Expressive"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, you think you\u2019ve got what it takes to write a good descriptive essay?<\/p>\n

What about a great one?<\/p>\n

Writing a descriptive essay usually requires you to describe something – an object, place, person, event, experience, emotion, etc. –  making use of details and sensory imagery.<\/p>\n

Description allows us to show<\/i> rather than tell.<\/i> Think of a park or coffee house, or any other place you like to visit. If you just say \u201cpark\u201d or \u201ccoffee house\u201d to people, they will come up with their own ideas about these places.<\/p>\n

The words themselves are abstract<\/i>, but in descriptive essays, your goal is to make these terms more concrete<\/i> by showing<\/i> them to the reader.<\/p>\n

So get ready to bust out those<\/b> adjectives<\/b><\/a> – they’ll be your best friends when writing this type of essay!<\/b><\/p>\n

That said, you can’t simply describe something without a purpose and organization: that\u2019s like setting up a tent when you\u2019re camping and then sleeping outside on the ground.<\/p>\n

In this blog, I\u2019ll show you how to effectively tackle descriptive essays while also giving you some great exercises that can help you practice and get started.<\/p>\n

The Barn Exercise<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t know where to begin? How about some practice!<\/p>\n

For this exercise, describe a barn (outside, inside, or both) from the point of view of a man whose son has just died in a war. Do not mention the war, the man, or the son. <\/b><\/p>\n

Focus solely on the barn itself, but keep this information in mind. How do you think this man would describe the barn?<\/p>\n

Intense, right? This is a great exercise that makes you – the writer – focus on your topic and use only those details that are most relevant to descriptive writing.<\/p>\n

The barn is the most important element here, and based on the mood (which we can assume is one of grief, despair, anger, etc.), you can describe the barn using words and a tone that would suggest how the \u201cnarrator\u201d feels in that moment.<\/p>\n

The barn\u2019s appearance will be affected by the narrator\u2019s emotional state.<\/p>\n

This exercise has an alternative. Forget the man and the son for a second. Instead, choose a strong emotion (joy, jealousy, fear, excitement, etc.), and then describe the barn using this emotion, but never mention the emotion itself.<\/p>\n

This makes you really think about which words will best describe the barn while letting your reader know how you feel about it through showing<\/i> not telling<\/i>.<\/p>\n

…Because not all barns are mired in grief. In fact, some are downright cheerful:<\/p>\n

How to Write A Descriptive Essay: Strategies for Description<\/h2>\n

Use Sensory Imagery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just using the power of your words, you can let a reader see, hear, taste, feel, or smell the environments you create in your descriptive essay. Think of that first blank white page on your computer as your canvas; using your imagination,  \u201cpaint\u201d a picture on this canvas so that the reader can experience a \u201csense\u201d of a place, object, person, etc. from your point of view.Neat, huh?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Use Similes and Metaphors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Similes <\/b>use \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d to describe something.<\/p>\n

Examples: My dog is like a bulldozer plowing through the snow.<\/p>\n

This room is as cold as ice!<\/p>\n

These Kibin editors are so cool; they\u2019re like movie stars!<\/p>\n

Metaphors <\/b>make implicit comparisons; they don\u2019t use \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d.<\/p>\n

Examples: You\u2019re my whole world.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah was a bullfrog.<\/p>\n

She has a heart of gold.<\/p>\n

Be specific <\/b>to let readers really \u201csee\u201d what you want to show them.<\/p>\n

Bad: There was a desk in the corner.<\/p>\n

Better: The solid oak writing desk in the corner had a small drawer with round brass handles. It was overstuffed with papers that had yellowed with age.<\/p>\n

All right, now – strap on your boots: we\u2019re diving into descriptive essay writing!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers opening in the turf, birds were singing.<\/i>– J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings<\/i><\/td>\n