Quiz #1

Description Writing
Prewrite & Plan
English 100BC
Answer the following on a separate
sheet of paper
Group 1
What is description?
Why record sense impressions in words?
Group 2
How do objective and subjective description differ?
What do you include or exclude from a description?
Group 3
How do you describe an object or a place?
How do you describe a person?
Group 4
How do you organize a description?
How do you revise a description?
Writing Description
What is description?
records and re-creates sense
impressions by translating them into
words
Writing Description
Why record sense impressions in words?
descriptions in words should never attempt to
capture a photographic reality
writer evokes feelings, senses, memories and
emotions
writer of description records what was seen
as important in the scene
two distinct advantages of translating sense
impressions into words
isolates most important aspects of the
experience, ruling out anything else that
might distract a readers attention
translating into words makes experiences
more permanent (sensory impressions decay
in seconds)
Writing Description
How do objective and subjective
description differ?
objective
record details without making any personal
evaluation or reaction
few descriptions outside of science or
technical writing achieve entirely
subjective
free to interpret details for reader
uses figurative language
Writing Description
What do you include or exclude from a
description?
cannot record every detail about a person,
object, place, or landscape
Answer - what am I trying to describe and
why?
remain focused on purpose
- solely to record facts
- evoke an atmosphere
- support subjective purposes
Writing
How do you describe and object or a
place?
be fresh and perceptive
keep details and arrangement relevant and
purposeful
Writing
How do you describe a person?
avoid excessive descriptions of physical
attributes
decide what it is about the person that is
worth describing
character best revealed through actions,
speech, and what character considers
important
Writing
How do you organize a description?
spatial (description moves as a camera would)
- front to back
- side to side
- outside to inside
- top to bottom
- general to specific
order of importance
- Most important to least
- Least important to most
chronological order
Revising
How do you revise a description?
use precise, vivid nouns and verbs
- avoid using too many adjectives and adverbs
use figurative language sparingly
- point of description is not to display
cleverness as a writer
- avoid clichs
keep focused
- dont attempt to describe everything about
person, scene, object
Prewriting
Play $25,000 Pyramid
Create sensory lists
Sensory List - Niles
Sight Sound Smell Touch Taste
1. Black 1. Things
crashing
1. Litter 1. Soft 1.
2.Yellow eyes 2. Cooing 2. Garbage 2. Sticky 2.
3. Cobwebs 3. Purring 3. Dryer
sheets
3. Wiry 3.
4. Dandruff 4. Scratching 4. Tuna 4. Dirty 4.
5. Feathers 5. Whining 5. Grass 5. Grainy
(hes a
licker)
5.
Answer the questions
What are you trying to describe and why?
I am trying to describe my cat Niles because he is quite
eccentric.
What is the most vivid and important to you about this
topic?
The most important and vivid aspect about Niles is his
ability to break and enter into just about anything.
Writing a topic sentence
What is most vivid and important to me
about this topic is...
Topic A vandalized car
Statement The vandalized car on
the side of the highway was battered.
Descriptive topic sentence The shell
of a car on the side of the road was
dented all over, apparently from a bat
or club, and surrounded by broken
glass.
Planning
I. Topic Sentence (gives main impression)
II. Body
A. First example to support main impression
1. detail to create picture of first example
2. detail to create picture of first example
B. Second example to support main impression
1. detail to create picture of second example
2. detail to create picture of second example
C. Third example to support main impression
1. detail to create picture of third example
2. detail to create picture of third example
III. Concluding Sentence (reminds readers of main impression)
Planning
I. Niles is able to break and enter into everything.
II. Body
A. Niles was trapped inside of the refrigerator.
1. I heard clinking and clanking noises coming from inside the
refrigerator.
2. When I opened the door, Niles jumped out, stopped, turned,
looked up at me, and hissed.
B. Niles fell out of the ceiling.
1. detail to create picture of second example
2. detail to create picture of second example
C. Niles opened the basement door which triggered the house
alarm.
1. detail to create picture of third example
2. detail to create picture of third example
III. Concluding Sentence (reminds readers of main impression)
For next Wednesday...
View PowerPoint on fragments, run-ons, and
sentence variety
Rough draft of either narrative OR
description
Sentence outlines of narrative & description
Read chapter about compare/contrast
Read in glossary definitions of conclusion
and introductions