UNIT 33: DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS.

STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERISTICS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

3. STRUCTURE OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

3.1. Description: procedures

3.2. Structure of the descriptive sequence

4. FUNCTION OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

5. CONCLUSIONS

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. INTRODUCTION

Following Halliday and Hasan (1976), “the word ‘text’ is used in linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken
or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole”. As a general rule, we know whether an utterance or a
sequence of utterances constitute a text or not though it may be “spoken or written, prose or verse, dialogue or
monologue, and also anything from a single proverb to a whole play, from a momentary cry for help to an all-day
discussion on a committee”.

According to Trimble (1985) we may classify texts in two ways. Firstly, according to purpose, and secondly,
according to type or mode. According to purpose, in terms of communicative function, the discourse is intended to
inform, express an attitude, persuade and create a debate. According to type or mode, the classification distinguishes
among descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, and instrumental modes.

In the approach to text linguistics by de Beaugrande & Dressler (1988), a text, oral or printed, is established as a
communicative occurrence, which have to meet seven standards of textuality: cohesion, coherence, intentionality and
acceptability, informativity, situationally and finally, intertextuality. If any of these standards are not satisfied, the text
is considered not to have fulfilled its function and not to be communicative.

➢ Cohesion: the grammatical and/or lexical relationships between the different elements of a text.

➢ Coherence: the relationships which link the meanings of utterances in a discourse.

➢ Intentionality: a user-centered notion whereby the writer's attitude should be one of producing cohesive and coherent
texts.

➢ Acceptability: a receiver-centered notion whereby the receiver accepts the relevance of the message.

➢ Informativity: concerning the extent to which the occurrences of the text are expected vs. Unexpected

➢ Situaionality: concerning the factors that make a text relevant to a situation.

 ➢ Intertextuality: concerning the factors that make the utilization of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or
more previously encountered texts.

The next step is to consider the different text types to include the main concern of our topic. In order to do so, we
have to go deeper into the standard of textuality mentioned above: intertextuality. It deals with the ways in which the
production and reception of texts are dependent upon the knowledge of other texts. This knowledge can be applied by a
process of MEDIATION. Mediation refers to the extent to which we use other texts in order to understand a given text.
Mediation could be greater or smaller according to the situation: the more our processing activity to understand a text
depends on knowledge of other texts, the greater the mediation is. Mediation is, thus, smallest in conversations, because
we do not usually need to resort to other texts in order to carry out a conversation. Mediation tends to increase when
considering other areas of knowledge (Science, Technology, Philosophy, History, Literature, etc.), because we have to resort to
different sources where to find information to understand a given piece of writing.

1.1. Text types

We may classify texts in two ways. Firstly, according to purpose, and secondly, according to type or mode. According to
purpose, in terms of communicative functions, the discourse is intended to inform, explain, express an attitude, persuade and
create a debate. According to type or mode, the classification distinguishes between narrative, argumentative, expressive or
literary, descriptive and procedural or prescriptive.

a) Narrative: Narrative texts are used to arrange actions and events in a sequential order. In them we find conceptual
relations for cause, reason, purpose, and time proximity. There is density of subordination. As for structure, narratives usually
begin with an orientation, which includes the time of the narrative, the spatial setting (place orientation), the characters and
their roles. Syntax helps set up this orientation through presentatives (like "There was this little girl..."), relative clauses, and
initial adjuncts (like "Once upon a time"). Most narratives (mainly stories) include an orientation, a goal to attain, and a
problem to solve.

b) Argumentative: They are used to promote the acceptance of certain ideas as true or false. There are conceptual
relations for reason, significance, volition, value and opposition. We find cohesive devices for emphasis and insistence. The
classical description of this kind of texts includes the following stages:

- introduction (usually stating the purpose of the text)

- explanation of the case under consideration

- outline of the argument

- proofs supporting the argument

- refutation of the argument

- conclusion

c) Expressive or literary: Literary texts present an alternative outlook on reality with regards to the real world.
d) Descriptive: Control centres in descriptive texts mainly consist of objects or situations. In them we find frequency of
conceptual relations for attributes, states, instances, and specifications plus a density of modifiers. Descriptive texts
usually have a pre-established organisation, which may take on different models: an external description presents us with
the initial setting, and an account of its parts and how it is organised; a functional description presents us with the elements and
the purpose they serve; a psychological description presents us with the feelings somebody or something gives us.

e) Procedural or prescriptive: They are used to explain how to perform things. We find in them conceptual relations for purpose
and advice. There is a high frequency of imperatives plus other syntactic features which will be dealt with below.

In this topic we are mainly concerned with the last type above mentioned, that is, procedural (prescriptive or explanatory)
texts.

Hence, in this study we are dealing with descriptive texts which, on the one hand, are intended to offer a
description of something or somebody in terms of communicative functions and, on the other hand, according to the
categories or text types it is included within the type of descriptions, that is, the fact of describing people, animal,
objects, events, facts and situations.

When giving account of people, animals, objects and even facts, descriptive texts constitute part of our daily
life by means of giving information about your family, yourself, describing buildings, a new friend, a house on sale,
and so on. The genres that fit the descriptive text structure are similar to those of narrative since the former are
considered to be subordinated to the textual structures of the latter (narration) and other text types (exposition or
instructions): folktales, contemporary fiction, mysteries, science fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and historical
fiction. In addition, although the descriptive type rarely appears by itself in texts, poetry is the only literary type
which can include whole descriptive texts.

The content and the organisation of a description depend on the writer’s point of view and on the function of
the texts where they are found: it will be an objective description if the writer describes a place or a character from
outside; it will be a subjective description if the writer is hidden behind a character and limits the description to what
that particular character sees; and it will have different organisations if it is included within an argumentative texts
such as an advertisement or if it is a description of actions as in the stage directions of a play.

As regards the linguistic means used in a description, it should be pointed out that what characterises a
descriptive text is the presence of a particular lexical field (one related to the object, place or character that is to be
described), the frequency of stative verbs and qualifying adjectives, the use of comparison and metaphor to qualify
the object, place or character, and the use of the simple past in those texts written in the past.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

A descriptive structure is then developed following certain operations which characterise the descriptive text:

 Anchorage: This operation makes us consider the theme-title at the head of the descriptive structure. It plays,
from a cognitive point of view, an essential activation role, calling up all the knowledge memorised by the subject in
relation to the topic of description, which will be revised, confirmed, reformed, and updated by the recipient of the
description.

We can say that the theme-title is then a first element of order.

 Aspectualization: A description is a sort of exposition of the different aspects which make the described
object recognisable through its parts. This operation is considered the most common base for a description.
Whereas the operation of anchorage makes the whole, the unity of the description, evident, aspectualisation
shows the different parts of the object. Different properties are then applied to these parts, the choice of which
will show the degree of ethical or aesthetic value of the description.

 Relating: This descriptive procedure corresponds to an operation of assimilation, which may be

developed linguistically through comparisons or metaphors. Certain negations do this same operation

 Sub- thematisation: Several sequences can be chained together, an operation which is at the heart of the
descriptive expansion. Thus, a selected part may become the base for a new descriptive sequence, as a new
theme-title, and in its turn, considered under different aspects, with their properties and sub-parts.

A descriptive text must be clearly organized since the reader must have a clear idea of what he /she cannot see. So a
text can be organized depending on a spatial frame, a temporal frame (the observer is moving himself), and a
thematic organisation or through stylistic devices.

Lexical features:

➢ Presence of temporal or spatial signs (adverbial or propositional phrases indicating space, direction, position)

➢ Description involves a vocabulary (lexical field) of senses, usually sight

➢ Lexical networks: vocabulary linked to make a cohesive network in the text (connectors)

Grammatical features:

➢ Tense: present simple (timeless validity) or past simple (narration in the past)

➢ Nouns: concrete characterisation of components of place, thing, etc… being described

Organisational features:

A descriptive text must be clearly structured so that the reader may have a clear idea of what he/she cannot see. There
are several possibilities of organising a text, sometimes we can find more than one in the same text. According to the
point of view, one who sees the object to description:

- Spatial frame: observe and writes about what he/she sees.

- Temporal frame: the observer moves and describes his/her progressive discoveries. Example: description of
procedures, operations…

- Thematic organization: description was a whole but divided into parts

3. TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

A classification of descriptive texts depending on the object of description:

1. Topography: where the object is a place, such as a valley, a mountain, a town, a house, a garden, a forest,
etc.

2. Chronography: this description of an age, or a period characterizes the time of an event through the
circumstances which define it.

3. Prosopography: the description of the figure, the body, the physical qualities of a real or fictional living
being.

4. Ethopeia: when the object of description is the habits, character, vices, virtues, faults, the good and bad
moral qualities of a real or fictional character.

5. Portrait: the description both physical and moral of a character (that is, the sum of 3 and

6. Parallel: the description of two objects or characters, showing their physical or moral resemblance or
difference.

7. Picture: some lively descriptions of passions, actions, events, or physical and moral circumstances.

Another classification depending on the literary trend in vogue:

1. Decorative descriptions: in the Greek and Roman narratives descriptive texts were texts were characterized
by their mimetic character as well as the aesthetic idealization of the described object.

2. Expressive descriptions: The description is presented from the point of view of the narrator, the author, or
one of the characters; full of subjective markers. This type of descriptions is found in novels with a first person
narrator.

3. Representative descriptions: realism in literature sought objectivity. Language was supposed to be able to
portray and copy reality. Such descriptions made use of specialized vocabulary and sometimes presented problems
for the usual reader. Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Representative descriptions had sometimes a ´mimetic`
function, that is, to place the historic setting, the spatio-temporal setting where the action will take place.

Productive descriptions: with the arrival of literary trends such as impressionism and symbolism, just a few details
were given to provoke the imagination of the reader, who now had to ´produce` their own image and meaning from
these details.

Another classification can be established according to the descriptive procedure:

1. Descriptions of people: on general appearance and personality among others.

2. Descriptions of a place: it usually begins with a geographical location, its historical detail and then a
description of the life and culture.
3. Descriptions of an object: this generally begins with a physical description and it continues with its
functions.

4. Descriptions of an action: here different subtypes can be established depending whether we are describing
the actions of a particular character, or different characters who offer the same actions or whether a scientific text
where a particular process of an object (e.g. a robot) is considered. It is here where descriptive texts overlap with
narrative texts.

A descriptive text can appear as a homogenous and autonomous piece of writing but this is not frequent so its
function in narrative, expository or argumentative texts must be considered:

In a documentary work its goal is to offer an objective image of a real object.

In advertising, the description of an object leads to the illocutionary act of recommendation.

In a fictional piece of literary writing, the following types of descriptions with different roles can be found:

1. Decorative descriptions: The piece of description is used to offer an idealization of an object.

2. Expressive descriptions: Something is described subjectively.

3. Representative description: A fair presentation of the referential object can be found. In some cases the
representative description offers a “mimetic function”, that is to place the historic setting where the action will take
place.

4. Productive descriptions: The reader must create their own image from details. (Symbolism)

4. STRUCTURE OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

4.1. Description: procedures

The organisation of the descriptive texts gives rise to several questions:

1. The first problem resides in who should make the description. Several possibilities are offered: an outside
narrator, the witness of the action, a character in the narrative text. This decision will lead to the question of the
type of focalisation used:

a) Zero focalisation: When the narrator is outside the story, the fact that he knows everything about the story
does not seem so unrealistic. In this case it is said that there is a zero focalisation, an omniscient narrator or a vision
‘from above’.

b) Outside focalisation: The writer is using an ‘outside focalisation’ when the narrator only tells us about the
outward appearances of the story, keeping the reader waiting, since he is hiding some facts from him.

c) Inside focalisation: a character sees, says and thinks. This vision can clearly go from one character to
another. In this type there is usually a pretext for the description, something a character does in the narrated events
that justifies the description.
 There are three different models for organising such a description:

1. the character describes what he sees from a privileged standpoint, or

2. he says what he knows about the object of description (such as Ishmael in Moby Dick, when he describes the
actions at one moment in the ship).

3. a third model to be followed is to describe the actions a character takes with respect to the object of description.
The text then presents the object of description through the actions taken on it. Such a description is the one also
found in the recipes, where the development of the action results in the description of the object; a further example
would be the arrival at a place, which will justify the description of the objects and actions seen as we move away
from the arrival point. The structure followed here would usually be of the type:

Agent (person 'qualified' for the description) + circumstance + predicate (verb of perception to communicate
the action) + place mentioned + described object

2. The second problem would be the order of the description:

The description is not a ‘reproduction’, a ‘copy’, like a simple photograph. It follows an order, so some decisions
have been made (or have to be made) by the writer with respect to the presentation of the description. The result will
be either a one-piece description, or one divided into several pieces. The position of the person describing is
important in the organisation of the description: a fixed position will result in a very different organisation than a
mobile one. The text plan for a fixed description will be organised around different perspectives:

x lateral ("on the right / on the left").

x vertical ("above / below").

x nearing ("in front / behind").

A mobile description will be determined by the way followed from one point towards the final aim: "As you
open the door, your eyes will find the stairs leading to the first floor, where the bedrooms are. Following the corridor,
you enter the living room through the first door on your right." Such is, for example, the type of structure found in
the description of a route:

"To get from Trafalgar Square to the London Transport Museum, you have to walk along the Strand, turn left
into Southampton Street, and then turn right. It's on the corner of the square."

A different way of considering the structure of a descriptive text could be according to the step, chain and
balance design.

a. Step by step procedure:

It usually occurs in instructional material but it is also very typical of descriptive texts. This structure is
usually unidirectional and a planned goal structure. For example:
 The king appeared at 10.30. The queen came a bit later at 11.00. She was received with beautiful flowers.
After a moment of intense clapping the couple entered the town hall.

b. The Chain procedure:

The final point in this type of descriptions is unpredictable. This structure normally appears in literary
descriptive texts.

c. The Balanced procedure:

It generally appears in descriptive exploratory discourse. This type of structure generally offers a full amount of
opposite ideas e.g ho. t/cold ligh, t/darkness with different parts linked together.

4.2. Structure of the descriptive sequence

In spite of all these apparent ambiguities, when we face a text we make a number of operations which lead us
to identify that text as descriptive, narrative, argumentative, etc. We identify a number of more or less conventional
structures with their own rules which mark the progression of the text giving it its identity in our consideration of it.

A text is a sequential structure made of 'n' sequences (complete or elliptical) and text linguistics made its aim
to describe how that (in this case, descriptive) sequential effect is built up. We are not usually faced with
homogeneous structures, but in any text we can identify a dominant structure even if it is in a mixed sequence. For
example: we have already studied the descriptive text as a sequential structure inserted in a narrative structure, and
the way this is done; but even descriptions of itineraries such as the one presented above are subordinate structures in
an instructional sequence which is dominant; that is, the imperative form of the instructions is dominant and the
descriptions make up what we will call the 'text plan'.

The insertion of a descriptive text in a narration, as we have already seen, was done using a structure where: a
character in a given situation (Agent + circumstance) introduced the description of the object, person or place
through a verb of perception (see, her, feel), a verb of action or a reporting verb (say).

What is important now is to study the type of structure which such a description of the object follows,
whether this is an inserted or a subordinate sequence.

The semantic chain through which a descriptive text functions presents a hierarchical structure where: a topic
or theme (the object of description) is usually (though not necessarily) divided into sub-topics to which some
properties are applied in order to describe them. Thus, for instance, a classical advertisement will function through
the following mechanism:

a) choice of the object of discourse (the product to be advertised, usually linked to its trademark)

b) Properties assigned which will be interpreted as positive by the potential buyer.

In the case of advertising, the sequence will be also determined by the illocutionary act of argumentation
which characterises this type of texts. But that would be part of a pragmatic study of the text.
 The choice of such a topic-object of description 'anchors' the description, and it is in fact the possibility of
reducing a text (for example, the description of Buckingham Palace) to a word (the proper name in the previous
example) that precisely defines the descriptive system. That is what led M. Riff Terre (1979) to say that "the
descriptive system, in the simplest case, resembles a dictionary definition." And in fact an encyclopaedic entry is
organised the way a descriptive text is, describing the word-topic subject to the description. This leads us to one of
the characteristics of this type of texts: the lexical analogy, which is the best means of access to the cohesion of the
descriptive system.

The example of the encyclopaedic entry can be used to understand the structure of a descriptive text. The
entry word would be the theme-title-topic of description; the definition and the examples of the dictionary constitute
the met linguistic expansion of the entry in the same way as the body of the description is the expansion (more or less
developed) of the topic.

As pointed out above, to make a summary of a description we have to find a denomination (the name of the
character, of the real person, of the place, of the animal, object, etc) which condenses the descriptive textual
expansion, which is by definition unlimited. Such a 'name', or title of the description can either be given at the
beginning or end of the text, or it simply has to be inferred by the reader/listener from the same description. When it
is given at the beginning we call it the 'anchorage', whereas when it given at the end it is called the “destination” of
the descriptive text. In any case, they form the basis of the descriptive structure.

A description is then always a collection of elements grouped around a thematic centre which we call theme-
title. The words-title such as 'car' or proper names such as 'Buckingham Palace' fix a frame; determine a horizon
where the presence and function of the elements is foreseeable. As a cohesive text, a description is made up of
successive predicates (progression) formulated about constant meanings (cohesion). This initial network of
meanings, which sets out and assures comprehension is contained in the theme-title. In a descriptive discourse
(literary, advertising, journalistic, encyclopaedic, etc), the theme-title directs the interpretation and fixes, in part, the
readability of the text.

There are some authors who establish that a description is generally ordered in a 'diagram'. The order of
appearance of the elements obeys a different progression and specified differently in each case. It is a type of
discourse where the expansion stops where the writer/speaker thinks it necessary, where he feels he has said enough
for the depiction of the object of description, though theoretically there is no end (as opposed to the narration of
events). 6 A description is often manifested with a tree structure, a privileged organisation mode where it is necessary
to think about partition, expansion, hierarchical organisation and unity.

The simplest descriptive structure would be the following, based on a description of a person:

Arthur's arms were long, stretching along his body, and ending in big, strong hands. As he walked, you could
see his strong legs moving decidedly, stepping into the corridor, resting upon his big feet. Everything showed he liked
sports, and his dark green eyes and blond curly hair made him the most popular student in the school.

Theme-title: Arthur
 Parts:

1) upper members: arms: long hands: big

2) lower members: legs: strong feet: big

3) head: mouth: sensual nose: Greek eyes: dark green hair: blond, short, curly

5. FUNCTION OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

Even though our main aim is the characterisation of the descriptive sequence, we cannot avoid signalling the
imprecise notion of what we mean by 'descriptive text'. It might appear as something homogeneous and autonomous
if treated alone (which it is not), so we should also consider its function in a narrative, explanatory or argumentative
text, where a description finds its sense. Thus, when trying to present the linguistic characteristics of descriptive
texts, we have to do so without neglecting the consideration of their argumentative orientation, which is the key to
their relationship with the discourse in which they are inserted. Thus, we should point out how:

1. within a documentary work, the descriptive text is used to give a precise and faithful image of the real object
which the readers cannot see;

2. in advertising, the enumeration of the characteristics of the advertised object finally leads to the illocutionary
act of recommendation or to incite to buy, so that an argumentative orientation is given to the description

3. within a fictional piece of writing, the descriptive text (especially of a landscape) can be used:

a) to create an atmosphere or an impression

b) to give indications or clues about how the story will develop

c) to give the text a poetic or aesthetic value, for example to make the difference between a tourist
guidebook and the story of a literary journey.

d) to develop the symbolism of the text: the elements of the description are also chosen because of their
significance or their meaning beyond the usual ones related to the described object

Throughout the history of literature the description of places has been made in different ways depending on the
literary trend in vogue, and thus different types of descriptions are to be found as set out below:

(a) decorative descriptions: in the Greek and Roman narratives (and particularly in the epic poems) descriptive
texts were characterised by their mimetic character as well as the aesthetic idealisation of the described object;

(b) expressive descriptions: The description is presented from the point of view of the narrator, the author, or one
of the characters; the place or object is described according to his/her state of mind, and thus full of subjective
markers. This type of descriptions is found in novels with a first person narrator, or in novels describing voyages like
the ones which became popular in the 18th century. In some cases, especially after Romanticism, these descriptions
become metaphors of the writer's or narrator's soul.
(c) representative descriptions: realism in literature sought objectivity, neutrality and 'justice' or fair presentation
of the referential object. Language was supposed to be able to portray and copy reality. Such descriptions made use
of specialised vocabulary and sometimes presented problems for the usual reader. (In this sense some chapters in
Moby Dick by Herman Melville have been explained e.g. chapters 55 "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales", or 65
"The Whale as a Dish", or the "Etymology"; or more precisely chapters 74 and 75: "The Sperm Whale's Head -
Contrasted View" and "The Right Whale's Head - Contrasted View".)

(d) representative descriptions had sometimes a 'mimetic' function, that is, to place the historic setting, the
spatio-temporal setting where the action will take place. Such a type of descriptions appeared in Tom Jones, by
Fielding, where the names of places and the chronology of the action are given special importance within the
narration (Jones's route towards London is described giving the names of the different places he goes by). A further
example would be the starting paragraphs of A Tale of Two Cities, where Dickens sets the action in a precise
historical moment: "It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventyfive." (p. 3)

(e) productive descriptions: with the arrival of literary trends such as impressionism and symbolism, descriptions
were made in a different way in novels. Now just a few details were given to provoke the imagination of the reader,
who now had to 'produce' his/her own image and meaning from these details. Such techniques of description
revolutionised all the pretended structures of the descriptive texts.

Nowadays we find the different types of descriptions used within the same literary work, depending on the author's
intention for each moment of the narration, so that they do not exclude each other's appearance in the same narrative
work.

6. CONCLUSIONS

This unit is of great relevance to teachers and students of Post-compulsory secondary education in particular,
as it appears in area aims 2 and 3 for this stage, which state that students should be able to understand and interpret,
with critical awareness, oral, written and visual texts, produced in everyday communicative situations and by the
media, and read texts of a general nature or suitable to their interests autonomously; understand their essential
elements; and grasp their function and discourse structure.

As language teachers, we must be aware of the existence of different types of texts and of the ways in which they are
structured and written. Descriptive texts are probably the most common among them (the other being argumentative,
narrative, expository). There are certain structures and linguistic features of descriptive texts which can be clearly
specified and presented to students. Many school materials include exercises in paragraph and composition writing
that consist of writing descriptions. It is also a useful means to develop students speaking and listening skills, as
descriptions can be developed from the very simple to the very sophisticated and specialized.

The study of the descriptive text may help the foreign language teacher have a clear idea of what to make his/her
students pay attention to when teaching them how to write a description. Thus, we can derive certain conclusions
from what has been said in the topic:
 1. In teaching the description of objects, teachers should:

- give the greatest attention to noun phrase, as this provides the most important information - make sure the students
have the language items needed in order to write the description that has been set.

- Choose the appropriate context where such a description would fit.

2. In teaching the description of persons, teachers should:

Organise the description to cover appearance, manner, roles, and routines and their related linguistic features.

Use descriptions as part of identification tasks

3. In teaching descriptions of places, teachers should: Focus on location and spatial relationships.

Really the expression of these relationships to maps and pictures

Include work on the linguistic expression of location and spatial relationships, notably the adverbial of location.

Contextualise these descriptions in such contexts as guidebooks, letters, and postcards.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

White, R. (1983). Teaching Writing English. London: Heineman Educational Books.

Adam, J.M. (1992). Les Textes: Types et Prototypes. Récit, Description, Argumentation, Explication et Dialogue.
Paris: Éditions Nathan

Beaugrande, R. and Dressler, W. (1981). Introduction to Text Linguistics. London and New York. Oxford University Press.

Internet links:

www.wikihow.com/Wrire-a-descriptive-essay

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/typesoftext/tutor.shtml