Download - Descriptive structure
Descriptive Structure:Writing a Description
Karen Silvestri, Instructional Specialist
The Learning Center at Robeson Community College
Descriptive Writing
• Describes a person• Describes a place• Describes a thing
How would you describe this scene?
Structure
Paragraph (each bullet point equals 1-3 sentences)• Topic Sentence• Supporting Detail• Supporting Detail• Supporting Detail• Conclusion
Essay (each bullet point equals one paragraph)• Introduction that
includes thesis statement
• Supporting Details• Conclusion
Show, Don’t Tell
• Description writing tries to SHOW you, not TELL you about something or someone.
• Use specific details that paint a picture.Consider this
You are a car salesman. A customer comes in and says, “I want to buy a car.” What would you say to the customer?
What kind of car?
Does the customer want an old car, a new car, a sports car, a truck, etc? He needs to be SPECIFIC!
Sensory Details
Sensory Details
Use your senses to help you
write description.
Sensory Details Example
Sensory Details: The Writing
Center
Crossroads, Integrated Reading and Writing, Pam Dusenberry and Julie O’Donnell Moore, Prentice Hall, 2011
Dominant Impression
• You are describing one thing.• That one thing is your main point.• This becomes your topic (or thesis) statement.
You might describe
A roomA placeA personOr some other thing….
The island was a disaster after the
hurricane.The dominant impression is
that it was a DISASTER.
Supporting Details
• Use your senses.• Add specific details to support your topic
(thesis) statement.What do you…
See?Hear?Smell?Feel?Taste?
The island was a disaster after the
hurricane.
Supporting Details
See?Hear?Smell?Feel?Taste?
The island was a disaster after the hurricane.
Smell of dead fish Broken trees
Sound of silence
Taste of warm water because there is no refrigerationFeel of hot sun and
humidity in the air
Spatial Order
Descriptive writing
organizes the details by moving
through space.
The island was a disaster after the hurricane.
What is the first thing you would notice?
Would you smell the dead fish first?
Or maybe the heat and humidity would hit you first.
Or maybe you are stunned by how quiet it is with no cars moving and the power out.
Imagine you just stepped off a plane onto the disaster site of the island.
Finishing Up
• Form all your ideas into complete sentences.• Add transitions.• Check to be sure you described everything.• Proofread!
Happy Writing!