Definition of Descriptive Text

Descriptive Text is a text which says what a person or a thing is like. Its purpose is to describe
and reveal a particular person, place, or thing.

In a broad sense, description, as explained by Kane (2000: 352), is defined like in the following
sentence:
Description is about sensory experience—how something looks, sounds, tastes. Mostly it is
about visual experience, but description also deals with other kinds of perception.

Thus, if we conclude it from Kane’s explanation above, the descriptive text is meaningful text
that describes the experience related to the senses, such as what shape, sound, taste is. Most
descriptive text is about visual experience, but in fact experience other than the sense of sight, we
can also use it to make descriptive text.

But in particular, the descriptive text is, “…… is a text which says what a person or a thing is
like. Its purpose is to describe and reveal a particular person, place, or thing.”

So, it can be said that this descriptive text is a text that explains about whether a person or an
object is like, whether its form, its properties, its amount and others. The purpose of the
descriptive text is clear, that is to describe, represent or reveal a person or an object, either
abstract or concrete.

Generic Structure of Descriptive Text

When writing descriptive text, there are some generic structures (actually not mandatory) for our
writing to be true. The arrangement is:

# Identification: (contains about the introduction of a person, place, animal or object will be
described.)
# Description: contains a description of something such as animal, things, place or person by
decribing its features, forms, colors, or anything related to what the writer describe.

Purpose of Descriptive text

– To describe person, thing or place in specific

– To describe a particular person, thing or place.

Language Feature of Descriptive Text

– Specific participant : has a certain object, is not common and unique (only one). for example:
Bandengan beach, my house, Borobudur temple, uncle Jim
– The use of the adjective (an adjective) to clarify the noun, for example: a beautiful beach, a
handsome man, the famous place in jepara, etc.
– The use of simple present tense: The sentence pattern used is simple present because it tells the
fact of the object described.
– Action verb: verbs that show an activity (for example, run, sleep, walk, cut etc….

Example Descriptive Text – My Favorite Teacher

My favorite teacher is my history teacher, and he is by far the best teacher that I have ever had.
He has the ability to make a subject that many students find incredibly boring come to life
through his enthusiasm and passion for history, and his love of being a teacher. Going to his
lessons is something we look forward to, not dread, like we do with most other lessons.

It’s ever so funny to watch him get excited about something, which happens in every lesson. It’s
easy to know that he’s getting excited because he begins bouncing up and down slightly in a way
that no other sixty-something year old would ever managed without looking completely
ridiculous. He has this dark (with more and more grey streaks these days), springy hair that lines
the edge of his growing bald patch, and the hair bounces up and down with him like thousands of
tiny little springs. Then, he takes on his whole new persona, often going into role and becoming
the character or figure he is talking about, doing the voices, the actions, and parading up and
down the room gesticulating wildly, but all the while there’s a gentle ‘bounce, bounce, bounce’,
as though the springs are not just on his head but on the soles of his shoes too.

A teacher that doesn’t take himself too seriously always will be a big hit with teenagers, although
he’s not afraid to impose his authority if he has to. I’ve only ever heard him properly shout once
(although thankfully it wasn’t it me), but it isn’t an experience that I would like to repeat. When
he lost it, the room suddenly became more silent than I’d ever known it to be before. We all sat
slightly paralyzed, not even anting to breathe too loudly, because hearing such a jovial and jolly
little man lose his temper was a huge shock. It certainly had the right kind of impact though,
because he’s never needed to shout since.

It is actually this teacher that I have to thank for my love of history. In his lessons, history does
not mean copying out of textbooks and writing pages and pages of notes. History is alive; history
is something tangible, that you can see, hear and feel, and we can live it through dressing up and
acting out scenes or taking trips to important places of historical interest. And although he’s
getting on in years and may not be teaching for much longer, he will have an important place in
history for many of his students, because there has never been a teacher able to bring a subject to
life in quite the same way he does.

Descriptive Text about Person – My Best Friend, Ernesto

My best friend is Ernesto and he is my classmate. We go to school together.

Ernesto comes from an educated family. His father is a school principal and his mother is also a
teacher.

He is punctual, well-educated, and has good manners. He is really hard working. He always does
his homework. He is also well-dressed and well-behaved. All teachers have a high opinion of
him.
Ernesto has a well-built body. He is gentle but fearless. He takes part in all sports, scout, trekking
and mountaineering activities. He has a good heart. He is truthful, honest and obedient.

He also plays the guitar, and he makes his parents very proud of him. He secures good marks and
is usually top of his class in examinations. He inspires me to work harder. He keeps me away
from bad company. I am happy to have such a friend.

Way Kambas National Park

Way Kambas National Park is a national park for elephant sanctuary located in Lampung
precisely in the Labuhan Ratu sub district, East Lampung, Indonesia. Way Kambas National
Park, established in 1985, is the first school for elephant in Indonesia. In the beginning of its
establishment, Way Kambas National Park was named the Elephant Training Center / Pusat
Latihan Gajah (PLG), but the last few years this name was changed into Elephant Conservation
Center / Pusat Konservasi Gajah (PKG), which is expected to become a center for elephant
conservation in taming, training, breeding and conserving elephants. Until now, this PKG has
trained for about 300 elephants which have been deployed to all over the country.

In Way Kambas National Park, there are some endangered animals such as Sumatran Rhinos,
Sumatran elephant, Sumatran tiger, Mentok Rimba, and Buaya sepit. There are also so some
plants which are mostly found there such as Api-api, Pidada, Nipah, and Pandan. On the marshy
coasts of Way Kambas National Park is often found various species of birds, such as, Lesser
Adjutant, Pheasant Blue, Kuau Raja, Pependang Timur, and some other birds.

THE DIFFERENTS BETWEEN DESCRIPTIVE AND REPORT TEXT

THE DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIVE TEXT REPORT TEXT

The object Talk about one specific thing Talk about one general thing
Based on the objective fact of Based on the careful
The resourses
the thing observation
My beautiful cat (describe the The cat (describe cat in
The example (title)
cat’s writer) general)

Tips to write descriptive text :

1. Make sure to choose a meaningful person, place, or thing. …
2. Introduce the person, place, or thing you are describing. …
3. Engage your reader’s sense of sight. …
4. Describe smells and tastes if you can. …
5. Describe how the moment or item feels. …
6. Describe how your subject sounds.
7. Make unique observations
8. Include some figurative language.
9. Wrap it up
RECOUNT

The following text is for questions number 1 to 4.

 Last week, Valerie and her friends from SMP Perdamaian Surabaya, learned how
to make donut in Ring Master Donuts and Coffee at Tunjungan Plaza, Surabaya.

 First, they listened to the story of Mister Ringo, the baker, and soon they had a trip
to the kitchen. The baker showed them how to shape the donuts, to restore, to fry
and add the donuts with various kinds of topping and filling.

 Finally, the students had their chance to make their own donuts. The baker only
gave each them a piece of yellow dough and some flour. Amazingly, the students
could make their own donuts.

1. Where did the students go last week?

 A. To SMP Perdamaian Surabaya 

 B. To Valerie’s Plaza

 C. To Mister Ringo 

 D. To Ring Master Donuts & Coffee.

2. Why did they visit there?

 A. To have some meals 

 B. To enjoy the special donuts

 C. To learn how to make donuts. 

 D. To see the process of making donuts

3. Which of the followings are the things done by the students?

 A. They went to the kitchen, made the donuts and tried to sell them.
 B. They made the donuts, restore them and ate them with some coffee

 C. They listened to the story, went to the kitchen and made their own donuts.

 D. They listened to the story, had some donuts and tried to make them

4. Did Mister Ringo give the students any donuts?

 A. No, they did 

 B. Yes, they didn’t

 C. Yes, he did 

 D. No, he didn’t.

The following text is for questions number 5 to 7.

 My family and I went on a recreation to Solo. We went there on Monday by car.
We stayed at grandparents’ house.

 On Tuesday we interested went to Tawangmangu. We enjoyed the scenic view

with its waterfall and had lunch there. We had traditional foods like gudangan,
tempe bacem, fried fish and fried chicken. Then we continued our trip to Taman
Jurug.

 The next day, we went to Kasunanan Palace. We saw many kinds of historical
heritage of the palace. After that we had shopping at Klewer Market and Solo
Grand Mall. I bought some souvenirs for my cousins. In the evening, we went
sightseeing the town.

 On Thursday morning, we said goodbye to our grandparents and went home. I
really enjoyed my holiday. It was fun

5. What did the writer and his family do on Wednesday evening? They….

A. Had shopping at Klewer Market and Solo Grand Mall.

B. Saw many kinds of historical heritage of the palace

C. Bought some souvenirs for the writers cousins

D. Went sightseeing the town

6.‘ On Thursday morning, we said goodbye…….’ The word we refers to….

 A. The writer 

 B. the writer and his family.

 C. The writer’s parents 

 D. the writer and his grandparents

7. ‘ In the evening, we went sightseeing the town.’ The bold typed word is closely
in meaning with…

 A. Going around 

 B. going shopping

 C. Having dinner. 

 D. watching a movie

The following text is for questions number 8 to 10.

My Day

 I had a terrible day yesterday. First, I woke up an hour late because my alarm
clock didn’t go off. Then, I was in such a hurry that I burned my hand when I was
making breakfast. After breakfast, I got dressed so quickly that I forgot to wear
socks.

 Next, I ran out of the house trying to get the 9:30 bus, but of course I missed it. I
wanted to take a taxi, but I didn’t have enough money.

 Finally, I walked the three miles to my school only to discover that it was Sunday!
I hope I never have a day as the

8. What happened to the writer yesterday?

A. He has a terrible day. 

 B. He gets a terrible day.

 C. He had a terrible day. 

 D. He got a terrible day.

9. How far did the writer walk?

 A. He walked for two miles. 

 B. He walked for three miles.

 C. He walked for four miles. 

 D. He walked for five miles.

10. What does the writer hope?

 A. The writer hopes to discover that it was Sunday.

 B. The writer hopes to take a taxi.

 C. The writer hopes he never had a day like yesterday.

 D. The writer hopes that yesterday will be better.

The following text is for questions number 11 to 15. 

 On Saturday night, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a
large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock.

 It would strike twelve in twenty minutes’ time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at
five to twelve, the clock stopped.

 The big minute hand did not move.

 We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted,”It’s
two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!”
 I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New
Year. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.

11. When did the clock stopped?

A. At 5.12 

B. At 11.55

C. At 12.00 

D. At 12.02

12. Why did the people gather under the Town Hall clock?

 A. To welcome the New Year 

 B. To see the newly bought clock

 C. To strike the laughing people 

 D. To stop people who shouted

13. Based on the text, where was the writer?

 A. At the center of the town

 B. At home

 C. At the beach

 D. At the market

14. When did the event happen?

 A. in the middle of the year

 B. the end of the year

 C. Christmas celebration

 D. at the weekend as usual

15. Which of the following is not true according to the text?

 A. the writer was waiting to celebrate the New Year.

 B. the writer brought a watch.

 C. the writer was very happy.

 D. The writer celebrated the New Year with his family

The following text is for questions 1 to 5

 Once upon a time, there lived a happy family in a village. A man and his wife
lived happily on a little farm, breeding their flock of geese and selling their eggs at
the market. They were not rich, but they were happy with their life together.

 Then one day, a new goose flew in among their flock. The couple was surprised to
find a shiny golden egg in her nest. Each and everyday after that, the goose laid
another egg of solid gold.

 The couple was soon richer than they had ever dreamed of but they were not
happy. They grew impatient with only one golden egg a day. The farmer said to his
wife, “our goose must be full of gold. Why should we wait to have more egg?”

 “If we cut her open,” his wife agreed, “we can get all the eggs at once.” So they
killed the goose! They were very surprised to find that it was just like any other
goose inside. Even worse, there would never be any more golden egg.

1. How did the man and his wife make their living?

A. By planting rice

B. By breeding geese

C. By selling eggs

D. By selling geese

2. How many golden eggs did the couple get each day?

A. One
B. Two

C. Three

D. Four

3. They grew impatient with only one golden egg a day (paragraph three). The
opposite of the underlined word above is …

A. Patient

B. Generous

C. Wise

D. Greedy

4. They were not rich (paragraph one). The opposite of the underlined word
above is …

A. Simple

B. Poor

C. Cruel

D. Arrogant

5. What moral value can we learn from the story?

A. We must be impatient to be richer

B. We should not work hard to get richer

C. We must be patient, we must not be greedy to be richer

D. We should be impatient, we should not be greedy to be richer

The following text is for questions 6 to 10

 Once upon a time, there lived an old lady crow who was mean and ugly. One day,
Miss Crow had stolen a big piece of cheese. And then, she flew on to a branch to
enjoy it.

 On the other place, under the tree, a sly creature, Mr. fox, who wanted the cheese
for himself, came up and spoke politely to her.

 “Oh. Miss Crow, how beautiful you are! What a lovely beak, what lovely feathers
you have! What pretty eyes! If you only could sing, you would be the most
beautiful bird in the world!”

 Very pleased to hear all of this about herself, Miss Crow gave a loud croak to
show that she could, sing. Of course, the moment she opened her beak, the cheese
fell down, and Mr. fox ran away with it, laughing loudly.

6. What is the best title of the story?

A. Old Lady Crow

B. Beautiful Miss Crow

C. The Fox and The Crow

D. Ugly Mr. fox

7. Why did the crow gave a loud croak? Because it wanted …

A. To show her pretty eyes

B. To show her beautiful beak

C. To show her lovely feathers

D. To show that she could sing

8. “…Very pleased to hear all of this….” (paragraph 4). What is the same
meaning of the underlined word?

A. Guilty

B. Happy
C. Angry

D. Worry

9. “… an old lady crow who was mean and ugly.” The opposite of the underlined
word is …

A. Bad

B. Poor

C. Beautiful

D. Rich

10. Miss Crow gave a loud croak to show that she could, sing. The underlined
word means …

A. Expand

B. Exhibition

C. Expense

D. Expedition

The following text is for questions 11 to 15

 Once upon a time, there were a king and his queen who lived in the Kingdom of
Belinyu. They didn’t have any child. Until one night, the queen had a dream of a
turtle. It said that the queen would have a baby, and she had to give a Komala
necklace to her baby. The queen woke up and she was holding a Komala necklace
in her hand. She told her dream to the king, and he was very happy.

 Shortly, the queen’s dream became reality. She delivered a beautiful baby girl.
The king named her, Komala. She grew up as a pretty girl. However, she had a bad
attitude because her parents always spoiled her too much.

 One day, Komala heard her parents were talking about the turtle in her mother’s
dream. She thought that the turtle was very interesting animal, so she wanted it as
her pet. She insisted to find it, and the king allowed her to look for the animal.
 Accompanied with the king’s guards, Komala searched the turtle, and finally, she
found it in a beach. She shouted to it, “Penyu busuk, wait for me,” in several times,
but the turtle kept swimming. Komala ran after it into the sea, she tried to catch it.
Until then she finally drowned and disappeared, and all of her guards could not
save her. Now, people call the beach, Penyusuk.

11. What does the story tell us?

A. A bad attitude girl

B. A kingdom in Belinyu

C. The legend of Penyu Busuk

D. The legend of Penyusuk Beach

12. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. The king permitted Komala to find the turtle

B. The celebration of Komala’s birthday

C. Komala drowned into the sea

D. The turtle disappeared

13. Komala had a bad attitude because …

A. She was a princess

B. Her father was a king

C. She was a beautiful girl

D. Her parents spoiled her very much

14. “Until then she finally drowned . . . “ (last paragraph). The synonym of the
word “drowned” is …

A. Disappeared

B. Floated
C. Swam

D. Sank

15. Until then she finally drowned and disappeared. The underlined word means
…

A. Vanished

B. Appeared

C. Disappointed