Writing Descriptions
REVISION NOTES
Source: English Compositions: Writing Guide for O-Level Prepared by: Ms Tan MH
Descriptions…
•appeal to the five senses
•create a vivid mental image in the reader’s mind
You are usually required to describe one of these:
•A place, a scene, a building, or an object
•A person
•An event, an incident, an occasion or an experience
Checklist for Writing Descriptions
•Introduction: It should contain a thesis statement that tells
readers what will be described
•Paragraph development: Each paragraph should have a
main idea; the description should be built around a
dominant impression
•Conclusion: It should be interesting and relevant to the
topic.
Tips for Descriptions
•Provide vivid and specific details.
•Include details that appeal to the senses.
•Use metaphors, similes, and personification.
•Do not turn it into a narrative.
•Sequence the body paragraphs spatially, chronologically,
logically, or in order of importance.
How to describe a place or scene
•Build your descriptions on a dominant impression (e.g. the
liveliness or tranquillity of a place)
•Think about its history, structures, unique attributes,
inhabitants, atmosphere.
•Use both objective and subjective descriptions.
• Objective descriptions tell you what the place is like in a
straightforward way, for example, ‘My bedroom walls are yellow.’
• Subjective descriptions reveal your feelings about the place being
described, for example, ‘The bright yellow walls in my bedroom
cheer me up immensely.’
How to describe a person
•You can describe these aspects of a person:
• Appearance • Character or personality
• Hobbies • Habits and quirks
• Speech and voice • Body language or mannerisms
• Beliefs or philosophy Likes and dislikes
• Job or goals • What endear him/her to others
• How this person impacted you • What you admire about him/her
•Include anecdotes that show what the person is like.
How to describe an object
•When describing an object, think about its size, texture, and
function.
•You can describe these aspects of the objects:
• size, shape, functions, drawbacks, parts or structure, materials or
texture, usefulness, why it is important to you
•Use descriptive details that appeal to the SENSES:
• touch and texture, colour, smell and taste, sound
How to organise a description of a scene
•SPATIAL ORDER
• From left to right (or right to left)
• From top to bottom (or bottom to top)
• From foreground to background (or vice versa)
• By prominence or importance
•CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
• Follow the sequence in which the events happened
•SENSORY IMPRESSIONS
• Group and sequence paragraphs by sensory impressions – sight, taste, touch, smell,
and sound.
• For e.g., when describing a night market, you can describe the sights first, then move
on to touch/taste, followed by smells, and lastly, sounds.
How to write a stronger description of a
place or scene
•Use vivid details
• ‘A dog barked.’ vs ‘In the distance, a dog’s insistent barks echoed
throughout the neighbourhood.’
• ‘The sun is shining on the roads.’ vs ‘The proud orb does not seem to
care that no one appreciates it as it pours its brilliance from the
vertiginous sky onto the tarmac roads.
•USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• Simile: The darkness covered the city like a thick blanket.
• Metaphor: The thick blanket of darkness covered the city.
• Personification: The minutes crawled by as the rain eased into a drizzle.
How to organise a description of a
person
•An example:
• Para 1: Hook + thesis statement (e.g. Faiz, a classmate, a joker, a likeable
persom)
• Para 2: Physical appearance
• Para 3: Character traits
• Para 4: Anecdote
• Para 5: A trait that I admire e.g. sense of humour
• Para 6: Another trait that I admire e.g. soft-heartedness beneath his
cavalier nature
• Para 7: Conclusion
How to write a stronger description of a
person
•Use vivid details
General He had a thin face and thick hair.
Vivid He had a skeletal face, and a mop of thick, black hair which clung to his head like a helmet.
General Her lips were dry and she had yellowed teeth.
Vivid Her lips, parched as dried leaves, shielded a set of cigarette-stained teeth.
General She had expressive eyes.
Vivid Her eyes flamed and smouldered when she was angry.
How to write a stronger description of a
person
•USE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS TO HIGHLIGHT PERSONALITY
EXAMPLE:
She was a tiny woman with drooping, sunken shoulders that
gave her a defeated air. Her thin, wrinkled neck and two tooth-
stick thin arms reminded me of a scarecrow. The coffee-brown
face, mottled with a dusting of still-browner freckles, was home
to a pair of limpid eyes that peered nervously from behind wisps
of grey hair swept carelessly across the forehead.
How to write a stronger description of an
object
•Give vivid physical details
• When describing a large object, order the details spatially, from left to
right, or vice versa, front to back, and so on. At times, you can even
describe it using a chronological approach as it is observed through
time, for instance, a favourite bag you have used for years. Generally,
you can consider the following aspects in the description of an object:
• parts / structure
• shape
• material / texture
• functions
• usefulness
• drawbacks
How to write a stronger description of an
object
•WEAVE IN PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS
Objective The wood colour has faded, but it is still sturdy.
Subjective The wood colour has faded through the onslaught of time and use, but this piece of ‘treasure’
is still as sturdy as a rock.
Objective It is an old guitar.
Subjective The old guitar is so beat up it is beyond repair.
Objective A new picture hung on the wall.
Subjective The wall had a new resident – an ugly painting bought at a flea market!
To write a stronger personal recount
•Give specific details. Provide concrete and vivid details to
SHOW readers instead of telling them. Some examples are:
Ordinary She was greatly grieved.
Imaginative A wall of grief cascaded upon her, dashing all hope.
Ordinary He had white hair.
Imaginative A shock of silver-white hair greeted me when he removed his cap.
Ordinary Slowly, I recalled what had happened that day.
Imaginative Fragments of the day resurfaced like pieces of a puzzle, until finally, I was able to piece them
together into a meaningful whole.
