Description
Writing That Creates Pictures in Words
Understand What Description Is
Description is writing that creates a clear and vivid impression of a person, place, or thing, often by appealing to the physical senses.
Four Basics of Good Description
In the following student paragraph, the numbers and colors correspond to the Four Basics of Good Description.
Scars are stories written on a person’s skin and sometimes on his heart. 1 My scar is not very big or very visible. 2 It is only about three inches long and an inch wide. It is on my knee, so it is usually covered, unseen. 3 It puckers the skin around it, and the texture of the scar itself is smoother than my real skin. It is flesh-
Being able to describe something or someone accurately and in detail is important in many situations.
COLLEGE | On a physical therapy test, you describe the symptoms you observed in a patient. |
WORK | You write a memo to your boss describing how the office could be arranged for increased efficiency. |
EVERYDAY LIFE | You describe something you lost to the lost- |
In college assignments, the word describe may mean tell about or report. When an assignment asks you to actually describe a person, place, or thing, however, you will need to use the kinds of specific descriptive details discussed later in this chapter.