ENGLISH READING AND WRITING 2
WRITING
UNIT 5 DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH
Lesson 1: THEORY
Definition
Organization
Key Transitional devices
contents Descriptive adjectives
Points to remember
Descriptive adjectives
A good descriptive paragraph makes the reader
see, hear, as otherwise experience something. A
good description includes references to the
senses: sight, sound, taste, smell and touch.
The following are useful ADJECTIVES FOR
DESCRIPTIVE writing:
Definition
The descriptive paragraph tells how a person,
place or thing is perceived by the five senses.
Descriptive writing appeals to our senses (sight,
smell, sound, hear, taste) in order to evoke the
concreteness of experience and perception.
Description evokes images and impressions. It can
allow a reader to experience something new; it
can renew a reader’s appreciation of the familiar.
A descriptive paragraph creates a vivid
picture. Vivid means “clearly and
lively”
Descriptive writing appeals to the
senses, so it tells how something looks,
feels, smells, tastes, and/or sounds. A
good description is a word picture; the
reader can imagine the object, place,
or person in his or her mind.
Example Lake Harriet
Lake Harriet is a great place to swim and relax. In the summer, the
water is warm and clean, and the beaches attract people seeking relief
from a midsummer scorcher. In addition to swimming, visitors to the
lake can go canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, or fishing. The blue water is
a refreshing, tempting sight. The sweet scent of sun block wafts
through the air from sunbathers lying on the beach. Children laugh
and splash in the water, and nearby volleyball games stir passionate
shouts in the heat of competition. Meanwhile lifeguards sit atop their
towers and make sure everyone is safe. In the distance, sail boats
catch the soft breezes that ripple Lake Harriet’s surface, and canoeists
glide quietly past. This is what summer is all about!
Organization
Descriptive writing appeals to the senses, so it
tells how something looks, feels, smells, tastes,
and/or sounds. A good description is a word
picture; the reader can imagine the object, place,
or person in his or her mind.
A description usually follows a pattern of
organization - SPATIAL ORDER. Spatial order is the
arrangement of things in space. The details might
be in order from top to bottom, right to left,
outside to inside, near to distant, and so on.
Transitional Devices
When we need to clarify the order, we use the types
of transitional devices below:
left below down into across
right center above past a head
Direction
up through behind toward away from
s
against around in front in back of backward
of
Transitional Devices
first foreground background halfway approximately
last leading to between distant on the edge of
Distance
beyond next to close to long about ten miles
for Short In the short
center of
Transitional Devices
outside inside interior park outside
Area of lawn garden exterior field lawn
Space
Plain hillside Plain
Practice: Find and underline the spartial order words and
phrases used in the model paragraph “The Stairway”.
The Stairway
When I was two years old, I lived in a house that had a strange atmosphere. I do not
remember anything about the house except the stairway. It was dark, squeaking, and quite
narrow, and its steps were a little high for me to climb up. From the bottom of the stairway,
it seemed like an endless climb to the top. Beyond the darkness at the top of the stairway,
there was an elegant, middle-aged lady leaning against the wall. I had to pass her every
time I went to my room, for my room was the first room beyond the stairs on the second
floor. The lady wore a beautiful dress with a quiet pattern and a tinge of blue, and her
peaceful eyes stared at me every time I went up the stairs. As I carefully climbed up the last
step, her eyes became fixed on me. She didn’t talk, nor did she move. She just stood there
and watched me clamber up the stairs. One day I touched her, but she did not react. Her
face did not change expression, nor did she even blink. Later, we moved out of the house,
and I never saw her again. Now I know that the lady was a mannequin. My aunt, who lived in
the house, used it for her dressmaking class. I did not know my mother. Maybe I imagined
that the mannequin standing at the top of the stairs was my mother. The stairway with the
strange atmosphere has an important place in my earliest memories.
The Stairway
When I was two years old, I lived in a house that had a strange atmosphere. I do not
remember anything about the house except the stairway. It was dark, spueaking, and quite
narrow, and its steps were a little high for me to climb up. From the bottom of the stairway,
it seemed like an endless climb to the top. Beyond the darkness at the top of the stairway,
there was an elegant, middle-aged lady leaning against the wall. I had to pass her every
time I went to my room, for my room was the first room beyond the stairs on the second
floor. The lady wore a beautiful dress with a quiet pattern and a tinge of blue, and her
peaceful eyes stared at me every time I went up the stairs. As I carefully climbed up the last
step, her eyes became fixed on me. She didn’t talk, nor did she move. One day I touched
her, but she did not react. Her face did not change expression, nor did she even blink. Later,
we moved out of the house, and I never saw her again. Now I know that the lady was a
mannequin. My aunt, who lived in the house, used it for her dressmaking class. I did not
know my mother. Maybe I imagined that the mannequin standing at the top of the stairs
was my mother. The stairway with the strange atmosphere has an important place in my
earliest memories.
Descriptive adjectives
A good descriptive paragraph makes the reader
see, hear, as otherwise experience something. A
good description includes references to the
senses: sight, sound, taste, smell and touch.
The following are useful ADJECTIVES FOR
DESCRIPTIVE writing:
Descriptive For sight
Adjectives Size: big, small, medium-sized, huge, tiny, gigantic, tall, short, thick,
etc.
Shape: round, square, triangular, rectangular, conical, oval, linear,
dotted.
Color: red, white, brown, blue, green, orange, pink, violet, gold, silver,
and so forth.
For the other senses
Sound: loud, soft, harmonious, harsh, pleasant, unpleasant, groan.
Taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, delicious, tasty, tasteless, cool, warm.
Touch: rough, smooth, slippery, hard, sunny, squeeze, hot.
Smell: strong, fragrant, scented, sharp, hard.
Points to remember
Descriptive detail is chosen on the basis of the writer’s impression
of the subject, purpose, and audience.
The writer of description relies heavily on concrete sensory details.
Descriptive details can be arranged in progressive, spatial, and
chronological order.
A good descriptive paragraph is so complete and vivid that readers
are compelled to see an exact picture as created by the paragraph
Question 1: Which of the following is the correct
definition of a descriptive paragraph?
A. A paragraph that provides a vibrant experience
for the reader through vivid language and
descriptions of something
B. A type of writing that tells a story or describes
an event or sequence of events.
C. A group of sentences combined together and
attempting to convince their audience to adopt a
new belief or behavior.
Answer:
A. A paragraph that provides a vibrant experience
for the reader through vivid language and
descriptions of something.
Because: A descriptive paragraph takes something
and makes it real for the readers. In a descriptive
paragraph, the writer typically includes sensory
details such as sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and
textures to create a rich and immersive experience
for the reader.
Question 2: How many senses should be used
when writing a descriptive paragraph?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
Answer: C. 5
Because: Capturing an event through descriptive
language involves paying close attention to
details by using all of your five senses (touch,
sight, smell, taste, and sound). These senses are
important to descriptive writing because they
help the reader understand what the author is
trying to say.
Question 3
Spatial order describes things as they are arranged
in space and is best for helping readers …......
something as you want them to see it; it creates a
dominant impression.
A. control
B. visualize
C. touch
Answer: B. visualize
Because: A spatial pattern of organization arranges
information according to how things fit together in physical
space. This pattern works well when a writer wishes to
create a mental picture of something which has various
parts distinguished by physical location, so that readers can
imagine things easily. "visualize" means "to form a picture
of someone or something in your mind, in order to imagine
or remember them". "control" and "touch" has unsuitable
meaning in this case.
Definition
Organization
Transitional devices
Review These are the important points covered in this chapter:
Descriptive adjectives
Points to remember
