University of Algiers 2 Module: R/W

Faculty of foreign languages and Literature 1st Year

Department of English Dr L. Merzougui

Descriptive Paragraph
A descriptive paragraph describes a thing, a person, or a place. Detailed information allows
the reader to form an image in his or her imagination. The better the description, the
clearer the image.
A good descriptive paragraph is like a window into another world. Through the use of
careful examples or details, an author can conjure a scene that vividly describes a person,
place, or thing. The best descriptive writing appeals to multiple senses at once―smell, sight,
taste, touch, and sound―and is found in both fiction and nonfiction.
The sense of sight is the one that most writers consider first, but try to work on that one
last. Let's take, for example, a description of a place. What do you feel when you go there?
What do you feel on your skin? Is it hot or cold? Is it wet or dry? What do you smell? Is there
food? Are the smells good or bad? What do the smells remind you of? What do you hear? Is
it quiet or noisy? Are there cars moving about? Are people talking? What about the sounds
of nature? Are they present? Even a soft wind makes a sound. Taste is a difficult sense to
describe, and the degree to which you pay this any attention depends on the subject
matter. Sight comes last. Here you can describe colour, size, depth, height, width, etc.
A descriptive paragraph is a focused and detail-rich account of a specific topic. Paragraphs in
this style often have a concrete focus—the sound of a waterfall, the stench of a skunk's
spray—but can also convey something abstract, such as an emotion or a memory. Some
descriptive paragraphs do both. These paragraphs help readers feel and sense the details
that the writer wants to convey.
To write a descriptive paragraph, you must study your topic closely, make a list of the details
you observe, and organize those details into a logical structure.
Organization:
There are two keys to writing good descriptions:
1. Use space order to organize your description.
2. Use lots of descriptive details.
Space Order
Imagine that you are standing in the doorway of your classroom. How would y describe the
room to someone who has never seen it? Here are some possibilities.
• You might start at the left side of the doorway and work your way around the room in a
clockwise direction to the right side, ending at the doorway again.
• You might start at the front of the room and go from front to back, first describing the
chalkboard, the teacher's desk, and the area around the teacher's desk. Then you might
describe the students' desks in the center of the room, and finally the walls and/or windows
at the back and sides of the room.
This kind of organization is called space order. Here are other kinds of space order that you
can use to write a description:
top to bottom bottom to top right to left left to right
far to near near to far outside to inside inside to outside.
The second key to writing a good description is to use specific details. When you describe
something, you paint a picture with words. Your goal is to make your reader "see" what you
have described. The way to do this is to use a lot of specific details. Specific means exact or
precise. The opposite of specific is too general, or vague. The more specific you can be, the
better your reader can see what you are describing.
Here are some examples:

Descriptive Paragraph Outline:

Topic sentence:
The topic part of a topic sentence for a paragraph of description usually names the person,
place, or thing to be described. The controlling idea part usually gives a general impression
(beautiful, neat, messy, interesting, unusual, crowded, busy, noisy, and so on. Here are
some examples of topic sentences for paragraphs of description.
Supporting ideas: here when you show the reader the snapshot you have taken in your
mind. Here when you start drawing the picture using your words through supplying more
details and examples. Space order and specific details are useful at this stage.
Concluding sentence: it involves a description that may repeat the idea stated in the topic
sentence. It may also give the writer's opinion or feeling about the topic. Here are other
examples of concluding sentences for paragraphs of description.
In short, I doubt the old house will survive one more winter.