How to design a good descriptive essay outline

Like all other essays, a descriptive essay will need you to come up with a specific format to
ensure quality content. The outline of a descriptive essay contains the segments that should be
included in your essay writing. It is the structure of the essay that will guide you on how you
should format your essay to meet the requirements. A descriptive essay can be divided into
three parts, the introduction, the body and the conclusion.

Introduction

Tips on how to come up with a good introduction:

It is the introduction of your essay that sets footing for the reader in your work. Before
heading to the body, the reader will first come across your introduction. It is the introduction
that makes the first impression of your work, so should it be attractive. From reading the
introduction, the reader will either get bored with the rest of your work or gain the zeal to
proceed. It is through the introduction that you can be able to make the reader understand
what is to be shared in the essay. The following tips will guide you in writing a good
introduction to your descriptive essay:

Start the introduction with suspense – you have to choose the right words in the introduction
to capture the eye of the reader. To achieve this, you should apply phrases or even questions
so that the reader can find the answers later in your essay.

Go straight to the points – the introduction should not constitute a lot of description; you
should give a brief overview of what you intend to talk about in the body paragraph. At the
same time, you should not reveal the objective of the essay in the introduction, because it
would make the reader disinterested with the rest of your work. When the reader gets a hint
of what you intend to achieve in the first paragraph, they will see no need to head to the body.

Write a thesis statement at the end of the introduction – a thesis statement is a single
sentence that mentions the objective of the essay in summary. The thesis should act as a guide
for the reader on what to expect in the body; it is like a table of contents for a particular book.
When you read through the table of contents for a particular book, you will be able to know
what the book is all about and when you proceed in reading it, you get to understand it better.
A good thesis should:

Define the scope of the essay – the thesis should be narrow for clarity purposes. Do not
include an explanation of your thesis as it will mislead the reader on the major points, be short
and clear in your points.

Avoid common words (clichés) – you should be creative in the choice of words so that your
thesis does not look common. Most writers would start their thesis with statements such as
‘This essay will talk about….’ Try to be unique in your thesis if you want to score highly.

Create suspense in your thesis – you should make your thesis attract the reader to the body of
your essay.

Body

After the introduction and the thesis, what comes next is the body. The body is the main part
that constitutes your essay. All the points should be covered there. The body should support
your thesis statement. To achieve great body paragraphs, you should:

Use topic sentences at the start of every paragraph. The idea should come out clearly at the
beginning before you proceed to give descriptions. After the topic sentence, proceed with your
description to back up your idea.

Link your paragraphs using good transition words for descriptive essays. Most of the transition
words are usually conjunctions, so you should be able to select appropriate conjunctions to
suit your explanations. If you are connecting contradicting sentences, you should use
contradicting conjunctions such as ‘however’ if you are adding, use addition conjunctions such
as ‘in addition to.’

Organize your paragraphs appropriately – the organization of your work is fundamental for the
merit in essay writing. You have to place each idea into its paragraph. The length of the
paragraphs should also be standard, do not make your paragraphs too short or too long. A
body paragraph should constitute at most six sentences.

Conclusion

The last part of your descriptive essay is the conclusion. A conclusion is the last chance that
you have as a writer to impress the reader of your work. The last part that the reader can
contain in their mind about your essay is the conclusion, and so it is also the determiner of the
grading level that you will be categorized, so you have to pay all attention to this section. Make
sure that the reader knows they are approaching the end of your paper, by use of words that
suggest ending, such as ‘to finish with.’
Restate the thesis statement – this is just to remind the reader of what the essay was obliged
to cover. After reminding them of the thesis support it with a summary of the points in the
body paragraphs. You should state the main points briefly without much description as a
support for the thesis. Your last parting shot with the reader should be intriguing so that they
can leave thinking about your essay. After writing the conclusion, make a review of your essay
by proofreading. The importance of reading through your paper is that it enables you to
identify the mistakes and maintain a good tone throughout your work.