J
Writing
Describirg People
í Look at the picture. What things should you have
in mind when you describe people?
E92 First look at the table and listen to the following
description to fill in the missing information. Use
the notes to describe Mary. Then, fill in the table
with information about your friend. Finally, look
at the notes and describe your friend.
fashionabletops, goes to the gym
twenties,tall, ' smallnose, shoulder-
....lips, length
green eyes
' ,'/hendescribingpeopleyourcomposition needsto be well
:'ganised.The compositionshouldhave an lntroductory
paragraphwhereyou brieflyset the scene (name,time/
/nÍroduci,bn
: aceyou met/saw himor her,etc.),a mainbody consisting Poregrep f
:'two or moreparagraphs describingphysicalappearance,
:ersonalitycharacteristics and hobbies/interests/everyday set the ,cene(naneof theperton.Lt_t;[ [ /of*'s
activitiesand a Íinalparagraphwhichsummarisesyourfeel- tÍne/p|aceyou net/sawhÍn/ieil + .in t ,
ngs aboutthe persondescribed.Each paragraphstartsa
c\,í1futlts
t"í
newtopic.Paragraphs
together
shouldbe welldevelopedand linked
witha varietyof linkingwords.
tlarh Eody a
Points to remember Poragnph 2
physha|appearance
í [*.,'l CL".({.-.)
When describingphysicalappearanceyou should give
detai|sin the fo||owing order:height/build/age, Íacia|Íea. Paragroph3 í r|
tures,hair, clothes movingfromthe most generaladjec- oq tA fi). ,
ttvesto the mostspecificones,e.g.Ann 's a Íaíl,
pasonatÍty characfunrtics-,( ,oL./\
thinwoman.
lvr.ít.t .o -{ta*ic--)
She has got a long face, blue eyesand an uptumednose.
Pengraph C 'J
She wears her long blond hair loose. She is ofren casually
activitieshe/shetakespart in; hobbies,interests
dressedin a T-shirtand jeans.
When describingcharacterand behaviour,supportyour (.2;r\irrblu*
\,.J. c l+ / ctr ciJt
l . r ^
LÜ.{'r1
descriptionwith examp|es,e.g. Tom Ís very reserued.He
neverlall<s abut hisfueÍngs.|fyou wantto describenegative
rl
V ,{r\# I
Ár i i\
qualitiesit is advisable
to use mildlanguage, e.g."He canbe Pengraph 5 U
aggrcssve attimes"is betterthansaying "Hels aggressle". annmts/feetngsaboutthe person/"*' ,rtel1'.-vfu-
We can finddescriptions of peoplein letters,
articles,
witness '-)
statements, novels,etc. Lu
0 ' \u h^.^
h^'"r- ltx
Ib. t- ^r..|,
$y n^ { .-,. Á-
l- V.t.-i
.r. i ,,,>r,r-
ltiJr t;\ {,.^ - / l*r
U
--
Unit 1 PeopleEJobs
Make your compositionmore interesting by usinga wide 4 Read the list of adjectives and identify which
range of adjectives(fabulous,superb, etc.)instead of a are used to describe physical appearance and
|imitedone (good,bÍg,nice, etc). which describe character. Then, read the text
Be carefulwith the use of tenses.You can use present and fill in the btanks. Finally. give the
tenseswhen you describesomeonein the present,and paragraph plan. Where could this piece of
past tenses when you describesomeonerelatedto the writing be found?
past.e.g.someoneyou had met beforeyou movedto this
city,someonewho is no longeralive,etc. intelligent, heart-shaped, tall, generou,s,
Avoid writingsimple short sentences.More complexsen- sociable, successful,sparkling, straight,
tencesjoinedwithconnectorsmakeyourcompositionmore
eye-catching.e.g. Insteadof saying:Johnisthin.He haslage
**_!::',!':'YY{-.-
blue eyes.He has long curly haÍr.He has full lips.He wears
his hair loose,you can say:John is a tall thinman withlarge A FamousModel
blue eyes and full lips.He wears his long curlyhaÍrloose.
Note: When you describesomeoneÍorofficia|purposes Claudia Schiffer!s a very
e.g. a policereport,you emphasisethe physicalfeatures successfulCerman super-
and try to give the most accuratedescriptionpossible. model. She has appeared
Whenyou writea letterto recommendsomeoneÍora job on the coversand fashion
you writeonlyabouthis/herpersonality characteristics. pagesof all the majorfash-
ion magazinesand is one
3 Read the following composition and put it in of the facesof Chanel.
the right order. Then answer the following Claudi4 now in her
questions. mid-twenties,is a very
beautifu!woman.She
T|Ju|ieisquiteshortandslim.She'sgotaroundface figure
hasa 1) ............
with beautifulalmond-shapedeyes and a slightly ......with
and is 2) .........
upturnednose.She oftenwearsher shoulder-length very long legs. Her most
fairhairin a ponytail.Juliepreferscomfortable
clothes stunningfeature,though,is
and can oftenbe seenwearinga bluejumper,a pair her attractive 3) .. face
of denimjeansand trainers. eyes and
with her 4) ................
Tlovertheyears,Ihavesharedmanygoodtimeswith 5) .......... nose. At the
Julie.She has beenone of my bestand mosttrusted
momentshe has 6).............
friends.! feelfortunateto havemet her.
blondhairbutits styleandcolour
Tl!'veknownJu|iesincemyfirstdayatschool,when
WeWereon|yfive.I can rememberhersmi|ingÍaceas are often changedto suit each
the teacher,Mrs Snow,asked me to sharethe same modellingassignment.
deskwithher. Not on|y is Claudiaa proÍes-
TloneofJu|ie'sfavouritehobbiesiscyc|ing.Shea|so sionalmodel,butsheis alsoa very
enjoysreadingpeople'shoroscopesandtryingto pre- 7) ...............businesswoman. Shehasherown fitness
dictwhatwillhappenin thefuture.Julie likesgoingto video and is a partnerin the new chain of "Fashion
the cinemaand is especiallyfondof adventure films. Catés,,. spendinga lot of
She is also very8) ...............,
TlA|thoughJu|ieisquitereserved,sheisakindperson her time working with various charity organisations
who willlistento your problemsand tryto helpyou. too,
helpingchildrenin need.Claudiais 9) ..................
She is also quiteactiveand enjoysoutdooractivities.
and likesbeingwith famouspeople.
Whichparagraphsmakeup the mainbody of the compo- WhenClaudiais notmodellingor doingcharitywork,
sition? she likes readingand watchingold films. She also
b Whichparagraphsets the scene? How does it begin? enjoysgoingto parties,but she rarelystaysout late.
c Which paragraphsummarisesthe writer'sfeelingstowards Although Claudia's popularityas a model rises
the personhe describes? andfallswiththe season(asit doesfor all supermodels),
d Are Julie'spersonality justified?
characteristics Claudia is so beautiful,talented and most of all
e Are therecomplexsentences?Underlinethe connectors. thatshewill be famousfor a longtimeto
10)...............
f The writeruses presenttenses.Why does he do this? come.
g Has the writergivenJulie'sphysica!and personality
char-
acteristicsequalimportance?
Unit 1 PeopleÜ|obs
- :: larrativetechniquesin your descriptivecompositionto
: : - .,,our
reader'sinterest.For example,whilegivingthe name
'- ? persondescribedand thetimeand placeyou metor saw uy grandmother died Mo yeors
' - 'er you can setthesceneby narrating the incident.lnstead ago,but I stifl hovefond memories
--,:ng: "/metJohn at Jane's birthdayparty lastSaturday.He of the timewe spenttogetherwhenshewas alive.
'Ás soon as /
. '2 , skinny with spil<yhair," you can say She usedto live in Australiabut she movedback to
:'.J Jane's flat lastSaturdayI noticeda strangemixtureof Eng|and to |ivein a |íttlehouse.Shewos a sweet,p|ump
- : 3 gatheredto celebrateher birthday.lt wasn'tlong before
ladyandshewos rathershort.shehada roundface,short
fell on a tall,skinnyman with spikyhair. His name was greyishcurlyhairand friendlygreeneyes.Herrosycheeks
l,t,
gaveher wrinkledface a childlike appearance. She always
usedto wear perfectly-ironed dresses.
5 The following models describe a relative My grandmother wasa very generous and understand-
of yours who is no longer alive. Read the ingwoman.Shealwayshad something for everyoneand lir
compositions and compare and contrast tenedto us withoutintrudingintoour lives.
them. Which is purely descriptive? Which My grandmother,s maininterestwas writíngand she
involves narrative techniques? Underline the managed to publishseveralbooksof poetrywhifeshewas
narrative parts. Finally, give the paragraph afive.Asweflas that,shehadmanyotherhobbies andinter-
plan. estsandtherewas alwayssomething to talk about.
My grandmother wasa fantasticwomanwhogaveme
comfort,adviceand supportwhenever I neededit. I shall
neverforgether.
l'||neverÍorget
metmy grandmother.
theÍirst
timel
She had Self Check
beenlivingin Australia, but
decidedto movebackto 0 Answer the following T/F statements.
England.
Whensheanived I stood í Use of variousadjectivescreatesinterest. E
nervously pullingon my 2 Only presenttensesare used in descriptionsof EI
people.
Íather'scoat,ha|Íhiding
behind him.lt hadnever 3 Personalitycharacteristicsshould be supported EI
by examples.
occurred to me thatthis
sweet,plump, elderly
lady 4 All sentencesshouldbeginin the same way. EI
wouldbe so excitedto 5 You must set the scene (name,time/place you Ef
met/sawsb, etc.) in detail.
meetme.Shewasshorter
:arr I hadimaginedandhada round Íace,short,greyish 6 Narrationshouldbe avoidedin descriptions. EI
green
;:-íyhairandÍriend|y eyes.Herrosycheeks gaveher
ennlded Íacea childlike
appearance, andwhenshesmiled 7 Write any of the following compositions
i ne Icouldn't giving
resist hera bighug,ignoring herper- using 120 - 180 words.
EÍIy.lroneddress.
ttwasn'tlongbeÍoreIrealised howgenerous andunder. 1 A youthmagazineis running"TheBest Mumof theYear"
=ndingshewas.Shealways hadsomething foreveryone competitionand has asked its readersto submit their
rC wasthereto listento uswithout intruding
intoourlives. compositionsdescribingtheirmothers.Writeyour com-
Shewasdetermined to buya |itt|e
house oÍherownso positionfor the competition.
-rucou|d Íindthepeace andquiet thatsheneeded towrite Your teacher has asked you to write a composition
-'í poery.Shehadso manyhobbies andinterests that describingthe personwho has influencedyour life the
:ríe lYasa|ways something tota|kabout. most.Writeyourcomposition.
Thatmeeting withmy grandmother led to a close Your teacher has asked you to write a composition
zaonship whichlasteduntilherdeathtwoyearsago. describing a famous person from history whom you
3-errasa Íantastic
ladyand! sha|| a|waysbegrateÍu| Íor admire.Writeyourcomposition.
re comÍort, adviceandsupport shegavemewhenever l 4 A TV channelhas asked its youngviewersto submit
-ffded it. fi|mstar.The prizeis two
a descriptionof theirÍavourite
ticketsto MGM Studios.Writeyourcomposition forthe
competition.
