DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
Description of place, person, thing, memory or event.

● Make use of the 5 senses

➢ Visual- what do you see?
➢ Auditory- what do you hear?
➢ Olfactory- what do you smell?
➢ Gustatory- what do you taste?
➢ Tactile- what it feels like to touch/ on the skin?
● A picture/image is formed in the reader’s mind.
● Allows you to experience what you read.
DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
Remember:
For describing a person:
● physical appearance / facial expressions
● attire/ choice of clothes
● background social, economic, cultural
● habits/attitudes / qualities/ traits
● gesture (body movements, mannerisms)
● perceived by others / impact on others
● comparisons (with anyone/ anything)
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Remember:
For describing a place:
● features
● location / surroundings
● changes/ development
● people / local milieu
For describing an event:
● tense chronological order
● details of event
● feelings / emotions
● learning
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Use Concrete language/ be specific:
Eg: It was a nice day.
The sun was shining and the light breeze blew across my face. It made me
feel alive./It invigorated me.

Use evocative language (simile/ metaphor/ imagery / personification help):

Eg: Everyone calls me lazy. No one expects me to complete my work.
Everyone looks upon me as the proverbial snail. ‘Lazy’ is the usual word
thrown in my direction, with no one expecting me to complete my work.
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Use humour for impact:
Eg: Everyone looks upon me as the proverbial snail. ‘Lazy’ is the usual word
thrown in my direction, with no one expecting me to complete my work. I
wish people thought of me as a tortoise. At least that would make them
expect me to beat the fast rabbit, someday.
TIPS:
● Avoid long introductions
● You cannot be older than you are
● Avoid dream sequence
● Avoid bloodshed/violence in any form
You had gone on a trekking expedition with a group of friends.
As night closed in, you realised that you were separated from the group.
Describe your initial feelings and the place where you got lost. How did you spend the night alone
before you were reunited with your group? (ISC 2019)

Introduction: Location/ how far from the city/ how did you reach/ group of how many friends, etc.
Body: 4-5 paragraphs:
Visual: Description of the place (eg: forest/ hills, trees, etc), how did you spend the night alone
Auditory: Sound of birds chirping, eerie noises at night, etc
Gustatory: What did you eat? Biscuits, snacks which you carried, felt hungry
Olfactory: Probably it rained at night, petrichor, enchanting smell of flowers
Tactile: Leaves rustling against your arm, drops of rain hitting you hard, wet and soggy clothes, breeze
on your skin/ hair
Feelings: Anxious, scared, wondering how to get out of this, fear did not allow you to enjoy your
favourite fragrance- the petrichor, feelings after meeting your friends again the next day
Conclusion: How did you manage to get reunited with your friends the next day?
COMMON ERRORS:

● Misinterpreting the meaning of the word ‘trekking’. Remember, it is not an ordinary trip to the
hills, forest, beach or even a mall

● Ignoring several parts of the topic-group of friends, get lost, night alone, met the friends next
day, did not spend night in a village, etc.

● Long introduction on preparation for the trek

● No description about the time spent alone

● No mention about feelings

● No proper conclusion