1. A Brief Guide to Writing Descriptive Essays
There are several methods writers use to describe something in an essay. They may choose
vivid, fresh language, or they may use examples, or they might take something ordinary and
by comparing it with something extraordinary, make it interesting, or they may use their
senses.
When someone asks you to describe something, the first step you might take is to jot down
the first words that come to you. If I say "egg," for instance, you might write down the
following string of associations: "round, white, brown, fresh, scrambled, farmer, chicken,
goose, over-easy." But another student might write down "ostrich," while yet another chooses
"dinosaur." Then a medical student might chime in with "ovulation, zygote, baby." At some
point, someone else may take it a step further and mention "fragility." The point is that the
one little word "egg" can conjure up a number of associations, all coming at the subject in a
different way. So when you are asked to describe an event or a person, start with the
obvious, but don't stay there.
Features
A well-focused subject can be ordinary or extraordinary, but you should strive to make it as
interesting as possible by emphasizing what makes it interesting or new and unusual. Pick
something specific, an event or a person or an animal.
How you treat your subject is directly related to how your reader will react to it. Give plenty
of specific descriptive detail. If you're describing an event, watch people moving and hear
them talking. Create a dominant impression for your reader.
Create a clear pattern of organization. Your introduction should work from general to specific,
ending in a thesis sentence. You should have several paragraphs that develop and describe
your topic, and your conclusion should restate your thesis or conclude your event.
Let's say I'm writing a paper about my Uncle George. Watch how I work from general
sentences to specific ones:

2. When I was little, I loved visiting my relatives. Although I was a country girl, I didn't
have any brothers or sisters that were close to my age, nor did my parents enjoy some of
the outdoor events that my extended family did. But my aunts and uncles in Manchester,
Tennessee, were always doing something fun, especially my Uncle George. Uncle George
loved to laugh and he loved to fish and he loved me.
In this first paragraph, I have moved from general (visiting relatives) to more specific
(Manchester, Tennessee and Uncle George) to even more specific (Uncle George loved to
laugh, fish, and he loved me). My paper now falls into three natural paragraphs, one on
laughing, one on fishing, and one on how Uncle George showed his love and how it affected
me. Now it's not imperative that you have three paragraphs in your body, and oftentimes, the
three-paragraph body seems trite and boring. Usually, however, that's not a result of the
organization, it's a result of the writing itself.
Here's one descriptive paragraph about fishing:
Uncle George and I would head out before it got light. The trek to the pond was always
exciting. The earth smelled fresh and new, promising warmth, and as the birds awoke,
they'd tentatively practice the prologues to their songs. We'd walk past the apple trees,
and I could smell the sharpness of the rotten fruit that had dropped to the ground.
Occasionally, I'd slip on a peel, so I learned to be careful not to run too quickly. We'd
walk past the water troughs where the tadpoles were busy wiggling their way to
froghood and pick up the pond trail on the other side of the musty-smelling old barn. At
this point I had to be careful not to get my pole tangled in the underbrush--which
constantly grabbed for my dangling hook and bobber--while Uncle George's flashlight
jumped and weaved as he made sure the small circle of light was set for my height. He
would hold my hand and tell me about the fish, and I was never scared.
Notice that I use my senses to describe the scene. All of the senses can be used in a
descriptive paper--touch, smell, hearing, taste, and vision, although you may just pick one or
two. Notice the language, too. "Froghood" is not a word, but it seems to me that it's better
than "adulthood," which I wrote first. And "froghood" works, does it not?
© 1988 Jennifer Jordan-Henley