The document describes a student's assignment to write a descriptive essay about a vegetable using their five senses. The student chose to focus on French beans. Through touching, smelling, hearing and tasting French beans, the student learned about their physical characteristics like being green, cylindrical and 3-4 inches long, as well as their grassy smell and tender yet crispy taste. The student discovered French beans are a healthy vegetable containing fibers and vitamin C.

1. 1
The French Beans
English 2 (ENGL 0205)
Class Assignment 1
Tan Wei How (0310707)

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4
Physical Details Inner Process Details
Sight
- Green color
- 3 to 4 inches long
- Cylindrical shape with narrow ends
- Edible pods at both ends
- Two small indentations along the
surfaces
- Have tiny peas inside
Touch
- Hard
- Cool temperature
- Uneven surface with a layer of wax
- Tough string connecting with the ends
of the bean
Smell
- Grassy
- Clean
- Freshly
Sound
- Squeak sound produced while rubbing
it
Taste
- Tender
- Crispy
- Sweet
- Grassy
Sight
- Feel common when I looked at the
beans because I could always easily
see it during my daily life.
Touch
- Feel interesting and curious when I
snapped off the ends of the bean that
connect the tough strings.
Smell
- Feel freshly and awake when I tore
the beans and smelled the grassy
smell.
Sound
- Feel interesting when I heard the
squeak sound produced by rubbing it.
Taste
- Feel strange because it is the first
time I eat the French bean when it was
raw.
FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Tan Wei How

5. 5
The French Beans
Last Friday during my English class, my lecturer told us to think and
writea vegetable on a paper, then we were asked to produce an descriptive
essay about the vegetable that we have chosen. When I checked the
dictionary about “French Beans”, itshowed me “a bushy or climbing tropical
American plant (Phaseolus vulgaris) widely cultivated for its narrow green
edible pods.” But in my mind, French beans are narrow green beans that can
be eaten as a vegetable in my daily life. These beans are medium sized and
have a small indentation. They are also called green beans or snap beans
and string beans. Usually my mother will cook these beans by steamed, stir-
fried or fried.French beans are defined as the unripe fruits of any kind of
beans, especially common beans, the pods of which are known as string
beans. In daily life, French beans are usually cooked and eaten in every
family. For agriculture, green beans are a common but popular plant among
home vegetable gardeners.
By the next day, I was in my hometown, Seremban. I followed my
mother to the market early in the morning in order to buy some French beans
before starting to write my essay. My lecturer mentioned that we have to
observe and describe our vegetable in five senses, which is sight, smell,
touch, hearing and taste. After grabbing RM2 of the French beans, we went
back home and I started to observe my beans in the kitchen. The length of the
French beans was about 3 to 4 inches long, which is shorter than the long
FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Tan Wei How

6. 6
beans.The color of the beans is bright green in cylindrical shape. There are
long and edible pods at both their ends and also tiny lime-green colored peas
inside the beans. If I see it more clearly, I could see two small indentations
along their surfaces. Then when I tore the French beans, I saw around 8 to 9
tiny and light green colored peas inside. All the peas were not in the same
size, some are big and some are small.
After that, I started to touch all the parts of a French bean. Firstly, I
touched the pod of the bean, I could feel it was quite hard and it was not
easily to be snapped. After I touch it for around 2 minutes, the temperature of
the French bean body changed from cool to warm. Then I slightly press along
the body of the French bean, I could feel the surface was uneven, which
indicated that there are some tiny peas inside the French bean. Besides, I
also felt that there is a layer of wax on the surface of the bean that made it
smooth and glassy. Next I began snapping off the ends of the French bean, a
tough string was connecting with the ends of the bean. Usually, before my
mother cooked the beans, she will remove the string by snapping off all the
ends. I used to wonder why she can’t just line all the French beans up, and
chop off the ends with a sharp knife? Why spend so much of time snapping
them? Is it just to feel old fashioned and traditional? I think there might be
some practical benefits to snap the ends so that one can tear off the tough
string if one is present. Moreover, I could feel that it was crispy and hard when
I was snapping along the French bean.
After snapping the French bean, I took it nearer and smell it. The bean
FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Tan Wei How

7. 7
smells grassy and clean, which made me feel that it smelled like apple. I felt
fresh after smelling the bean. The next step was to hear the bean. I took a
new bean and started to rub against its surface. When I put it nearer to my
ear, I could hear the squeak sound by rubbing it. Tasting the French bean was
the final step. I snapped a small part of the bean and chew it. The first time
was not clearly tasted due to the part was tiny, so I snapped a bigger part and
chew it. As I was chewing it, I could taste the tender but crispy feeling of the
bean. It distributed the sweet and grassy tastes inside my mouth. That is quite
delicious!
After finished observing all my five senses of the French beans, I threw
away those that had been “destroyed” by me and gave the rest of them to my
mother for our dinner. She cooked them by stir-fried together with garlic and
shrimps. Actually French beans are filled with healthy dietary fibers that help
people to prevent cholesterol. These fibers are also beneficial for diabetic
people as they help in preventing the sugar levels from rising up immediately
after having a meal. Furthermore, the Vitamin C inside the beans also help in
improving the immune system of the body so that a person can be stronger to
avoid from diseases. In conclusion, French bean was the vegetable that I fully
recommended everyone to eat it as it has nice taste and was beneficial for us.
FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Tan Wei How