Sergio Colmena González.

Aprendizaje del Inglés.

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPHS
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.

When teaching my students how to write a descriptive paragraph, I

usually have them consider the five senses of touch, smell, sound,
taste, and sight. Before writing the paragraph, make five columns
and list words or ideas for the subject of the paragraph based on
these five senses. Like this:

touch smell sound taste sight

… … … … …

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 color, size, depth, height, width, etc.
Here's an example. I want to write a paragraph that describes a
lake:

touch smell sound taste sight

water air laughing sand the sun

sand fish splashing lotion sand

heat hot dogs music children

food trucks volleyball lifeguard

sun block toys

boats

canoes

Lake Harriet is a great place to to swim and relax. In the summer,

the water is warm and clean, and the beaches are large enough to
accommodate groups of people seeking relief from a midsummer
scorcher. In addition to swimming, visitors to the lake can go
canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, or fishing. The blue water is a
refreshing, tempting sight. The sweet scent of sun block wafts
through the air from sunbathers lying on the beach. Children laugh
and splash in the water, and nearby volleyball games stir passionate
shouts in the heat of competition. Meanwhile lifeguards sit atop
their towers and make sure everyone is safe. In the distance, sail
boats catch the soft breezes that ripple Lake Harriet's surface,
and canoeists glide quietly past. This is what summer is all about!

In this simple description, the reader should get a good sense of

what it's like to be in this place. The prewriting exercise of listing
different aspects of the experience as it relates to the five senses
is helpful when coming up with something to write.
ADJECTIVES & OTHER WORDS FOR DESCRIPTIONS
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