NAME:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………… CLASS:…………………..…………………… DATE:……………….…………………..
DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE - WRITING TO DESCRIBE
Adjectives Describing words that describe a The sun – hot, bright, scorching, blazing, circular,
noun. Used to help create a fireball, burning, egg yolk
more vivid picture in our minds
about the named object. The moon – lonely, sad, cheese, golf ball, grey
The sky – blue, dark, ocean, cloudy, sunny, heavenly,
azure (blue), like Jesus is waving at you
The boy – effeminate, charming, lazy, like a sloth,
autistic, skinny, stout, lanky, like a bear
The house – dilapidated, enormous, resplendent,
haunted, mansion, lovely, humble abode
The building – tall, abandoned, modern, artistic,
ancient, Victorian, humble, aesthetically-pleasing
Adverbs Words used to describe verbs. late – extremely, infamously, notoriously, annoyingly,
They help to create a more vivid fashionably
picture in our minds about how
something is being done. early – early bird, on the dot
angry – furious, fiercely, ferociously, salty,
intention – insidious, nefarious, humble, evil, obscure
a lot – abundant, glut, numerous, myriad, plenty, an
array, paraphernalia of (merchandise), plethora of
(fishes, books)
too little – scarce, meagre, rare, mythical,
happy – ecstasy, euphoria/euphoric, joyful
sad – melancholy, depressed, despondent, crestfallen,
desolate
Onomatopoeia Use of words which echo their Sounds made by:
meaning in sound. For example,
'whoosh' or 'bang'. This The door – Creaked, Bang, Boom, Slammed, A loud
techniques can give the reader a thud, Screeched
real sense of the noise that is
happening within the writing. Nature – chirping, cricket, whoosh, crumpling of the
leaves, flapping of the wings,
The person – yodelling, moaning, humming
The animal – Bleating of goats, roar, chirp, howl, grunt,
horses neighed, mooing, purring, growl, quacking of
ducks
Sounds heard at/in:
School – Ringing of the bells, screaming
Home – Alarm rings, alarm buzzed, doorbell buzzed
A road – screeched, whirred, beep of the police siren
Alliteration Repetition of connected words S - The sound of a stick and a shambling step…
beginning with the same letter.
Used to highlight the feeling of B – The blue-eyed boy was blushing.
sound and movement, or to L – The lanky lad was eyeing the lady.
intensify feeling or to bind M – The madman had a mean mother.
words together.
Connotations An idea or feeling that a word eerie – haunted, gothic, spooky, dark, ghosts, death,
invokes for a person as well as macabre, abandoned, silence, tombstone, graveyard,
its literal meaning. Connotations skeletal remains, phantom, blood
evoke reactions in the reader
based on their experience of happy – lively, colourful, pets, money, cushiony, sunny,
certain words. For example, laughter
words like ghost and death can
evoke strong negative
angry – red, impatience, fights, tense look on faces,
connotations.
dead silence, awkward silence, boiling , erupt like a
volcano
sad – dead withered flower, black and white
photograph
beautiful – flowers, painting, nature, kindness, heart,
love, smile
rich – mansion, royal blood, property, rich in flavour,
gold colour, silver, diamonds
poor – rags, brown, rusty, junk, dirty, smelly,
unemployed, dire conditions, stray (animals)
Pathetic fallacy Where the weather in the story foggy – spooky, mysterious, cold, evil, enemy is waiting,
mirrors the emotion of the scene danger
or the people in it. For example,
when it is very hot the hot – rage, impatience, fatigue (tired)
characters are agitated or when
it is foggy, mystery is evoked. cold – sadness, comfort, lonely, isolation, home,
This adds atmosphere to the
distance (between two people), death,
writing and gives clues to the
reader as to what is to come,
especially if the weather is wet – annoyance, lonely, uncomfortable, empty, angry,
described before the event. cleansed, burdens washed away, problems washed
away
dry – thirsty, extreme heat, age withering away, a
desert, stuck, nothing is going away
Personification The technique of presenting doll – looking, crying (weeping), smiling, staring
things which are not human as if
they were. This can make book – teaching, calm, entice (gain your interest)
inanimate things seem as if they
are alive and able to do the shoe – walk all over, eating/ biting,
things that a person can.
sun – smiling, gazing,
moon – gazing,
tree – protecting/covering, waving (palm trees), hitting
(branches)
Repetition The action of repeating Cover your eyes, cover your mouth, cover everything.
something. This will either add
emphasis to the words being
repeated or create a rhythm
within the writing.
Simile A comparison based on a as busy as a bee
similarity between two things, as brave/proud as a lion
which suggests one object as obstinate (stubborn) as a mule
shares features with another but as happy as a lark
is not identical. This technique as beautiful as a rose
helps to create an image in the as wise as an owl
mind of the reader so that the
reader can identify with how
things appear or may be
happening. Hint - 'like' or 'as'
are key words to spot.
Symbolism When a word, phrase or image clock – time, death (time is ticking), hard work,
stands for or evokes a complex evolution,
set of ideas. For example, a red
rose can symbolise romantic house – family, security/safety, love, warmth,
love. Writers will sometimes happiness, attachment
use symbols in their writing so
that they can suggest things
tree – life/living/alive, connections, family, aging,
without actually explaining
elderly person, strength, roots (origins/ancestry
them.
flower – love, beauty, innocence, vulnerability, fragile,
memory, loneliness (dead flower), caring
blue – peace, calming, boring, water, sky, Monday
red – danger, evil, ego
book – education, knowledge, friend, academics
