DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS/

COMPOSITIONS
Lecturer: Dr. Kingsley Cyril Mintah
kcmintah@ug.edu.gh
 INTRODUCTION

• The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that describes something—object,

person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc.

• This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a

particular experience.

• It allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an
image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader).
 FEATURES
1. Use of figurative language
• This involves the use of metaphors and simile to create a memorable effect.

• It is what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

• Example:
• Literal description:
• There are patches of woodland in the park.

• Figurative description:
• Small groves are dotted across the face of the park like a patchy beard.
 2. Provide a lot of sensory details

• Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details.

• This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to
smell, sound, touch, and taste.

• Example:
• Fear is the smell of sweat, and the feeling you can’t breathe.
• I feel the bonfire’s heat on my face, and smell the rich smoke filling the air.
 3. Choose the right words

• Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully.

• The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs,

verbs, and even nouns.

• Convey your impression more precisely or vividly.

• Example:
• Wrong: My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from
above.
• Right: My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.
 4. Be organized!

• It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when

writing a descriptive essay.

• However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if

the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is
you are attempting to describe.
 TYPES

• Location description.
• Character description.
• Action description.
• Emotion description.
 1. Location

• Location description is the description of places.

• Remember, you are trying to paint a picture in the mind of the reader.

• This means that all locations require some level of description.

 2. Character/ Person

• Character description is simply what characters look like.

• When describing a person, you should add his physical features and details
that appeal to the reader emotionally.

• Not all characters will need detailed descriptions, but you will need to give
every character enough description for your reader to form a mental image.
 3. Action

• Action description is the words you use to describe what your characters are
doing.

• The context of the action will dictate the level of description required.
 4. Emotion

• Emotion description is probably the only one of the four that raises an
eyebrow.

• It must avoid TELLING readers the way a character is feeling.

• This means we can’t say, “John was sad.” Instead, we must describe John
being sad, hence emotion description.
 How to write Descriptive Essays
1. Prewriting
• It is the planning stage of writing
• Select a topic
• Brainstorm
• Make an outline
• State a thesis
• Identify topic sentences for details
• Decide on the order of ideas

• Use as many senses as possible in describing a scene

 2. Drafting
• This is the writing stage
• Write a first draft
• Take into consideration
• your thesis statement
• topic sentences
• descriptive details
 3. Rewriting

• It is the evaluation stage of writing

• Cross check the following
• Thesis statement
• Clear details/ topic sentences
• Variety of details that appeal to the senses
• Relevant materials or details
• Well ordered essay
• Transitional words
• The conclusion