UNIT 3: ACADEMIC WRITING: ESSAYS

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

ISABEL GONZÁLEZ SOGAMOSOCODE: 40.776.012

GROUP NUMBER 20

Present to:MILLY ANDREA MUÑOZ

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OPEN AND DISTANCE - UNADBACHELOR'S DEGREE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

ACADEMIC WRITINGVILLAVICENCIO META

2017

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

The descriptive essay is a genre of academic writing that asks the student to describe something: object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student's ability to create a written account of a particular experience. In addition, this genre allows great artistic freedom (the goal is to paint a vivid and moving image in the mind of the reader).

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Descriptive essays usually make use of five senses to describe an object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc.

A good descriptive essay should awaken strong emotions to the readers so that they can clearly imagine what the writer is representing.

You are free to use epithets, comparisons, metaphors, etc., to make your text impressive.

COMPONENTS OR PARTS OF A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

COMPONENTS OR PARTS OF A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

You can start by brainstorming ideas for the essay.

Then, outline and write the essay using sensory detail and strong description.

Always polish your essay and proofread it so it is at its best.

Organize the essay by creating a brief outline.

Do this in sections: introduction, body, and conclusion.

The standard is to have a five paragraph essay, one paragraph for introduction, three paragraphs for the body, and one for the conclusion.

AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR SELECTED ESSAY

Description of a Desert

It is difficult to form a correct idea of a desert without having seen one. It is a vast plain of sands and stones, interspersed with mountains of various sizes and heights, usually without roads or shelters. They sometimes have springs of water, which burst forth, and create verdant spots.

The most remarkable of deserts is the Sahara. This is a vast plain, but little elevated above the level of the ocean, and covered with sand and gravel, with a mixture of sea shells, and appears like the basin of an evaporated sea.

AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR SELECTED ESSAYAmid the desert, there are springs of water, which burst forth and create verdant spots, called oases. There are thirty-two of these that contain fountains, and date and palm trees; twenty of them are inhabited. They serve as stopping places for the caravans, and often contain villages.

Were it not for these, no human being could cross this waste of burning sand. So violent, sometimes, is the burning wind that the scorching heat dries up the water of these springs, and then frequently, the most disastrous consequences follow.

In 1805, a caravan consisting of 2,000 persons and 1,800 camels, not finding water at the usual resting place, died of thirst, both men and animals. Storms of wind are more terrible in this desert than on the ocean. Vast surges and clouds of red sand are raised and rolled forward, burying everything in its way, and it is said that whole tribes have thus been swallowed up.

AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR SELECTED ESSAY

The situation of such is dreadful, and admits of no resource. Many

perish, victims of the most horrible thirst. It is then that the value of a

cup of water is truly felt.

To be thirsty in a desert, without water, exposed to the burning sun,

without shelter, is the most terrible situation that a human being can

be placed in, and one of the greatest sufferings that a human being

can sustain; the tongue and lips swell; a hollow sound is heard in the

ears, which brings on deafness, and the brain appears to grow thick

and inflamed.

If, unfortunately, any one falls sick on the road, he or she must either

endure the fatigue of traveling on a camel, (which is troublesome even

to healthy people,) or he or she must be left behind on the sand,

without any assistance, and remain so until a slow death comes to

relieve him or her.

OUTLINE OF THE SELECTED ESSAY

OUT LINE FOR DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Paragraph I

a. Opening topic Sentence/Attention

b. The place about which your writing

c. Brief feeling about the place

d. Sensory details

Paragraph II

a. Description of another specific location within the same place.

b. Factual Details

c. Sensory details with vivid language

Paragraph III

a. Description of another specific location within the same place.

b. Factual details

c. Sensory details within vivid language

Paragraph IV

a. Restatement of feeling about the place with further expansion.

b. Additional details

c. Conclusion

OUTLINE ABOUT EXAMPLE

Paragraph I

Description of a Desert

It is a vast plain of sands and stones, interspersed with mountains of sizes and heights, usually without roads or shelters.

The most remarkable of deserts is the Sahara. This is a vast plain, but elevated above the level of the ocean, and covered with sand and with a mixture of seashells, and appears like the basin of an

A desert is a place that is characterized by its landscape of sand and wind, where the sun is scorching and so violent that it dries the water springs causing disastrous consequences

OUTLINE ABOUT EXAMPLE

Paragraph II

Amid the desert, there are springs of water, which burst forth and create verdant spots, called oases.

There are thirty-two of these that contain fountains, and date and palm trees; twenty of them are inhabited. They serve as stopping places for the caravans and often contain villages.

Were it not for these, no human being could cross this waste of burning sand.

In this place the burning wind and scorching heat dries the water from the springs, and then the most disastrous consequences follow.

OUTLINE ABOUT EXAMPLE

Paragraph III

In 1805, a caravan consisting of 2,000 persons and 1,800 camels, not finding water at the usual resting place, died of thirst, both men, and animals.

Storms of wind are more terrible in this desert than on the ocean. Vast surges and clouds of red sand are raised and rolled forward, burying everything in its way, and it is said that whole tribes have thus been swallowed up.

OUTLINE ABOUT EXAMPLE

Paragraph IV

The situation in a desert is dreadful and admits of no Many perish victims of the most horrible thirst. It is then the value of a cup of water is truly felt.

To be thirsty in a desert, without water, exposed to the burning sun, without shelter, is the most terrible situation a human being can be placed in, and one of the greatest sufferings that a human being can sustain.

REFERENCES

UWA Students. (2013) Writing essays at UWA: Get started on essay structure. Retrieved on December 12th, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VmG6B_Gaf4

Carvajal, H. (2016) Academic Writing: Essays. Retrieved on December 19th, 2016 from http://hdl.handle.net/10596/9686

Academic Help. (06 May 2016). Description of a Desert. Recovered from

https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/descriptive/descriptio n-of- a-desert.html

Jack Baker, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli. (10 mar 2013). Descriptive Essays.The Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Recovered from

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/03/

Images taken from; google.com