Description
Descriptive writing emphasizes a reader’s
ability to paint vivid pictures using words
on a reader’s mind. This relies on the
writer’s ability to appeal to his/her five
senses: the sight, smell, touch, taste, and
hearing.
To rouse feelings, emotions and
reactions from the readers is what
descriptive paragraphs aim for. Simple
adjectives will not simply cut it for readers
desiring for appropriate description of an
event, thing, place or person.
Our lives at home converged around the
pleasantly-shaped kitchen table. It was the
magnet that drew our family together quite
warmly. Cut from the sturdiest oak, the table was
tough, smooth, and long enough for my mother,
my sisters, and me to work or play on at the
same time. Our favorite light blue ceramic tile,
stationed in the right corner, was the table’s sole
defense against the ravages of everything from a
steaming teapot to the latest red-hot gadget from
the magazine.
More often than not, however, the heat
would spread quickly beyond the small tile
and onto the checkered oilcloth, which just
as quickly exuded a rank and sour odor.
Yet no matter how intensely the four of us
competed for elbow room at the table,
none dared venture near the lone dinner
place arranged securely to the left of the
tile. There was no telling when Father
would get home from work, but, when he
did, he expected the food to be ready—
steaming hot. He liked to eat right away—
steak mostly—two bloody but thick pieces.
Let’s take a look at this example descriptive paragraph:
The kitchen table is rectangular, seventy-two inches
long and thirty inches wide. Made of a two-inch-thick piece
of oak. Its top is covered with a waxy oil cloth patterned in
dark red and blue squares against a white background. In the
right corner, close to the wall, a square blue ceramic tile
serves as the protective base for a brown earthenware
teapot. A single white placemat has been set to the left of the
tile, with a knife and fork on either side of a white dinner
plate, around nine inches in diameter. On the plate are two
thick pieces of meat. (
According to Dagdag (2010), there are two types
of description: objective and subjective. Objective
description is a factual description of the topic at
hand. This relies its information on physical
aspects and appeals to those who crave for facts.
Meanwhile, subjective description allows the writer
to explore ways to describe an emotion, an event,
a thing, a place or person, appealing to emotions.
Often, this is an artistic way of describing things,
mostly from the eye and perspective of the writer.
But you should always
remember that in both types of
description, the author appeals
to the reader’s five senses.
SIGHT SOUND SMELL TOUCH TASTE
Sparkling Yelp Musty Sticky Spicy
Gloomy Shriek Rotten Grainy Sweet
Glossy Whisper Fragrant Smooth Sour
Bright Hiss Fresh Satiny Bitter
Dazzling Screech Pungent Pointy Bland
Cloudy Chortle Fruity Clammy Creamy
Blurred Sneeze Stinky Furry Delectable
Description gives information of what a
person, an object, a place or a situation is
like.
It appeals to the reader’s senses.
A descriptive paragraph has concrete
and specific details, which are carefully
chosen by a writer to paint a picture in the
mind of the reader.
Activity 3: Try these writing activities.
Use your imagination!
A. Imagine yourself somewhere in the
forest. You cannot find your way to get
back home. Write a short paragraph
describing your sensations. You may use
the word bank list to help you express
your sensations.