Here you need to describe an experience using your feelings and responses. This work can awake empathy in readers. It can also be vague and disorganized. If you want to write a good personal essay, you should try to focus only on those aspects that most fully express your experience. Do not shy away from vivid, evocative language in this type of assignment.
For further information on how to write a thesis for a descriptive essay, check out the examples below.
As with any college paper, a descriptive essay introduction must contain the following points:
You can also write a descriptive essay about anything you can describe according to human senses: touch, sight, taste, smell, or hearing.
The Issues that Could be Described in Your Paper
The introduction serves to introduce your subject to the reader and give them enough context to fully understand your work—but keep it brief and interesting for the reader(s). When learning how to write a descriptive essay introduction, remember – the first paragraph of your paper is the part that can make your descriptive essay stand out from the others.
- Pre-writing stage. Here you need to examine all of the sources you have and define if they all offer important information on the topic of your choice.
- Writing the beginning. You should start your paper with a powerful, engaging hook that will grab the readers' attention. It may include an unusual metaphor or an interesting literary quote.
- Creating the first draft of your descriptive essay. Here is where you just need to write down all of the words that come to your mind
In this article, we examine the descriptive essay and present a step-by-step writing guide. Stick around for helpful writing tips near the end! Also, check out EssayPro — essay writing service, if you need private tutoring or additional help.
A standard essay should have 5 paragraphs. The introduction has one paragraph, body three paragraphs, and then the concluding paragraph. When you have sections, you can have lots of more paragraphs.
Creating a brief outline goes a long way to organize your work. The best way is to do it in sections. These are the introduction, body, and finally, conclusion.
A descriptive essay refers to a category of essays that requires students to describe something. It could be a person, an experience, an object, or a place among other things. Descriptive essays encourage students to give a written account of a specific experience. Also, it gives you a lot of artistic freedom.
Your professor or instructor will usually tell you how many paragraphs they want your essay to be or if you are free to use sections.
How to Write a Descriptive Essay for an A Grade
For example, you could say you have complicated feelings about your mom. “I feel sadness and joy at the same time. I’m sad that she made a lot of sacrifices for us and overjoyed for the good things I enjoy now purely because of her”.
Metaphors allow for comparison of one thing with another. They help you to show the reader your thoughts about the topic. For example, using metaphors can help you say that your mother sacrificed a lot for you. You could say: “My mom is a workhorse. She rarely takes a vacation”.
It not only states the essay’s purpose but also doubles as a guide for the entire essay. It should be in the introduction and also restated in the concluding paragraph.
5. Publishing a Descriptive Essay
Sharing a descriptive essay with the rest of the class can be both exciting and a bit scary. Remember, there isn’t a writer on earth who isn’t sensitive about his or her own work. The important thing is to learn from the experience and take whatever feedback is given to make the next essay even better.The clock stood by our family, faithfully marking the minutes and hours of our lives.
4. Editing a Descriptive Essay
At this point in the writing process, writers proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics. It’s also the time to improve style and clarity. Watch out for clichés and loading up on adjectives and adverbs. Having a friend read the essay helps writers see trouble spots and edit with a fresh perspective.- Does the essay unfold in a way that helps the reader fully appreciate the subject? Do any paragraphs confuse more than describe?
- Does the word choice and figurative language involve the five senses and convey emotion and meaning?
- Are there enough details to give the reader a complete picture?
- Has a connection been made between the description and its meaning to the writer? Will the reader be able to identify with the conclusion made?
Telling
Use descriptive and figurative language, as well as concrete images to describe the subject. Similes and metaphors work well. Here are some examples:
Enjoy the process of describing the subject—it can be a rewarding experience. A descriptive essay doesn’t rely on facts and examples, but on the writer’s ability to create a mental picture for the reader.
If readers come away from a descriptive essay with the feeling that they have really met a person, gone to a particular place, or held a certain object, the writer has done a good job. If readers also feel an emotional connection and deep appreciation for the subject’s significance, the writer has done a great job.
Always keep the reader in mind from opening to concluding paragraph. A descriptive essay must be precise in its detail, yet not get ahead of itself. It’s better to go from the general to the specific. Otherwise, the reader will have trouble building the image in their mind’s eye. For example, don’t describe a glossy coat of fur before telling the reader the essay is about a dog!
You should fully realize the difference between a descriptive essay and a simple description while preparing the assignment. The latter includes a short paragraph with no definite structure. Unlike it, a descriptive essay is made of at least five paragraphs and has a strict organization. Also, there are two classical approaches to the descriptive essay.
Here are a few topics that better suit a formal approach to a descriptive essay:
- An introductory part (a hook sentence, some background details, thesis statement)
- Main body (topic sentence, extra details, main details)
- A conclusion (a summary, final statement)
Usually, a descriptive essay includes at least three paragraphs that reveal various arguments or points. Anyway, the total number of paragraphs depends either on your decision or on the professor’s requirements. Some stories need a few paragraphs, while some require whole books to be described.
A Descriptive Essay: Two Classic Approaches
Look at the extract from a good descriptive essay called “What is it Like to Play Rugby”:
- You can use a topic sentence for presenting your idea. For instance: The orange seems to be familiar. The form of this citrus is round, and the color sounds the same as the name.
- Include sensory description. Add phrases that appeal to senses while describing orange.
- Mention actual details. Descriptive information is a must for body paragraphs. Each one must end with the introduction of the next paragraph. Mind using good transition sentences since they create a gripping effect for the entire text. It will become better and will not be associated with an ordinary list of facts.
Describe an emotion. Recall the sincerest emotion that you have ever experienced during your lifetime. It may be anger, love, passion, etc. It should not be obligatory personal
Approximately 2200 years ago, the Silk Road was established. It was about 4000 miles long or more, connecting the East and West using both the land and sea. It was a trade route that connected the known world at that point in history. Well, today we boast of the internet, airplanes, ships, and electric trains as a means of connecting the world. The Silk Road got its name from silk, a rare but highly demanded commodity. This route encouraged interactions between civilizations through monetary and cultural exchanges.
This is the moment that I had been working towards, not just to emerge the best but I was sure my project would have an impact on the environment. I wanted that recognition because I believed it would propel my ideas further and into the world. I had wandered off, pondering on what could have been or might be, but I was not about to throw the towel in just yet. There was not much that I could do at that moment except hold on to the hope and belief that I had done a fantastic job.
The silence was deafening, the only sounds that could be heard coming from our beating hearts. The moment we had eagerly waited for had finally arrived. Who was going to emerge victoriously? That was the question that lingered in everyone’s thoughts. I knew I had given it my whole and definitely deserved to emerge the winner. But was it enough? There is no denying that all participants had given their best. Therefore, we all had equal chances of taking the top position. The science contest was an annual event, where students from various schools within the districts competed in, all with an aspiration of emerging the top. The judges were going to have a tough time identifying the best student
The example of descriptive essay below describes an event that took place. Take note of how the paragraphs are organized in chronological order, avoiding any confusion that might arise in the process. The first paragraph introduces the event
Descriptive Essay Sample 1
The descriptive essay example below describes trade in the ancient times. The Silk Road is what connected the east to the west and vice versa. The author uses literal tools to make an essay that would otherwise be primarily factual and boring, be interesting and exciting while still highlighting the facts.
The silk came from ancient China, in exchange for rare commodities from the known world. The Silk Road revolutionized the globe spreading both good and societal evils. Although it helped transform civilizations by offering them goods they lacked, they were those that took advantage and used it to spread evil. The route snaked through the valleys of the Tibetan plateau, the highest point on earth, the Himalayan mountain ranges, Indian subcontinent, the hot Arabian deserts to the Mediterranean Sea and the rest of Europe. It also ran on the Asian coastline connecting to the African coasts.
The dream and desire to emerge victoriously was something that started the moment I stepped foot in college. I remembered attending my first contest while I was a freshman, two years later, I would also get the opportunity to be a participant. In that period, the competition had grown bigger, better and more competitive. Standing in that room on that day awaiting the judges’ decision was almost enough for me. It had been a month-long completion, and a majority of the participants had already been eliminated, and only ten of us remained out of the over one hundred that had entered the competition.
Unlike other years where only a maximum of eight people entered the final round of the competition, they had made adjustments allowing two more individuals. That is how good everyone’s presentation was, to the extent that they had made changes to the rules. The more I reminisced about my journey to that moment, the more I got convinced that even if I did not get the top prize, getting to the top ten was an achievement in itself. Was I going to give up on my dream so easily? Or was it just a ploy to console myself just in case I did not get the top price?
