DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

WRITING INTRODUCTIONS
 An effective introduction is one that provides your readers a
background of your composition.
 It must compel them to read the rest of your composition.
 For descriptive compositions, there are several conventions and tips
to apply to your writing.
1. Set the dominant impression.
It is an integral par of your writing in which you illustrate your
mood towards your subject. This mood is what we call dominant
impression.
WRITING INTRODUCTIONS
As a child, my family and I always spend Christmas together. At midnight, we
would welcome it with a humble feast of ham, cheese, bread and hot
chocolate. I can still remember the smell of hot chocolate filling the air with a
sweet, milky scent. I would always snuggle close to my mother as she poured
the rich, dark chocolate drink into our mugs. My father would then prepare
sandwiches for me and my brothers. In the background, we would listen to a
special Christmas tape my older brother made for the occasion.

Can you feel the tone of this paragraph?

What feeling is the writer trying to evoke?
WRITING INTRODUCTIONS
2. Gradually build your tone
Set the background of your composition before building up to your dominant
impression. Then, slowing prepare for the more intense emotions.

3. Subjective vs Objective
Objective descriptive is precise and unemotional
Subjective descriptive is the one that is more personal

4. State your main idea

Write a clear and specific main idea
Avoid general statements that are difficult to expound on and harder for readers to
understand.
WRITING INTRODUCTIONS
General statement : The ferris wheel is scary.
Clear and specific : Riding the ferris wheel was a frightening
experience because we were stuck in it for hours.

5. Use sensory details

Read the following paragraphs and try to compare them
The dominant Impression
Practise your skills
1. School – persistence, determination
2. Family – love, happiness, warmth
3. Place – excitement, thrill
4. Friends – trust, camaraderie
5. Object – longing, nostalgia
 Place – Excitement and Thrill

 It was Halloween night and I was attending a Halloween party at Mary’s

house. It was one of the most unforgettable nights in my life. The first time I
entered the house, my heart instantly skipped a beat. It was massive and the
decorations looked so realistic. Witches’ cackles filled the air and there was
smoke coming from one of the rooms. On its door hung the sign ‘Enter if
you dare’. When I finally mustered the courage to open the door, my
classmates came out of nowhere and surprised me. I screamed and they all
laughed because they told me that I looked really pale. That was the
beginning of an exciting and thrilling night.
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Paragraph 1
My brother and I ran around the block this afternoon. We felt the breeze and
heard our neighbours talking to one another. As usual, we stopped by our
favourite food stall in the street. Afterwards, we headed home to rest.

Paragraph 2
My brother and I ran around the block this cool afternoon. We felt the cool
breeze against our skin as we listened to our neighbours’ distinct chattering.
As usual, we stopped by our favourite hot dog stand in the street. We ate the
tasty hot dogs and headed home to rest.
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6. Use vivid language
The food served in the party was uncooked.
The pale pieces of chicken swam in the colourless and runny gravy, giving
the impression that they were raw.

The group was very tired.

The mall was very crowded.

 Standing alone, the abandoned abode
cowered from the new world. It was as if
it were from another time. Another place,
long gone, where life was much simpler. It
hadn’t kept up with the pace of time,
ticking on. It had paid the price for this
and been left to rack and ruin.
 The natural word around it was beginning
to encroach. Claiming its walls with ivy
and wisteria. Nature crept over the house,
claiming it for its own. Windows had been
taken by the weather, battered during a
storm. The word had been filched by rot
and wood worm. The roof was in the
process and being entirely snatched by
moss and lichen.
 The path leading to the house with
shambolic pot holes and ruts littered it. No
one cared to maintain it anymore as the
farm had lost its purpose. Agriculture gave