Writing a description of a person

What I need to have in mind before writing:

Type of text: Description
Role: Young student
Purpose: To describe a person
Audience: The judges of the creative writing competition and, perhaps, readers of the winning entries.

Three paragraphs at least

Paragraph 1: Physical description of the person and family background (Facial Features, Origin, Family)
 Who is the person?
 How old is he/she?
 What does she/he look like?
 What can you say about his/her family
and his/her background?
Paragraph 2: Abilities, Interests, Personality
and Behaviour
 What are this person’s talents and
abilities?
 What are his/her interests?
 What are his/her personality traits?
 How does he/she behave to others?
Paragraph 3: General Impression and
Feelings
 What is your general impression of this
person?
 What are your feelings about him/her?
Vocabulary:
General appearance: pretty, beautiful, good – looking, handsome, ugly, attractive, plain, ordinary-looking,
smart, well – dressed, scruffy, untidy-looking
Height, body and age: tall, short, medium height, tallish, slim, muscular, well-built, medium built,
overweight, plump, thin, skinny, fat, fattish, young, middle-aged, elderly, old, thirtyish, in his/her
(early/middle/late) fifties
Facial features and hair: wavy, curly, straight, fair/dark-haired, blond, brunette, thin-faced, round-faced,
dark-skinned, full/thin lips, straight crooked nose, small/slanting eyes
Special features: beard, moustache, bald head, receding hair, freckles, wrinkles, crew-cut, tattoo, fringe,
pony-tail, earrings, middle/side-parting, double chin
Intellectual/Manual ability: intelligent, bright, clever, smart, shrewd, gifted, talented, stupid, foolish, silly,
cunning, handy, good with one’s hands, good at, clumsy
Attitudes towards other people: sociable, quarrelsome, easy-going, honest, rude, polite, reliable, trustworthy,
impolite, jealous, envious, moody, violent, patient, aggressive
Attitudes towards life: optimistic, pessimistic, relaxed, tense, practical, down – to -earth, sensible, sensitive,
brave, independent, lively, adventurous, hard-working, lazy, cheerful, miserable, mature
Personality traits that can be positive or turn negative: determined/obstinate, stubborn, economical/mean,
tight-fisted, confident/arrogant, original/weird, eccentric, broad-minded/permissive, generous/extravagant,
innocent/naive, ambitious/pushy, curious/nosy