Writing Quick Start: Description: Portraying People, Places, and Things

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Description:

Portraying People, Places, and Things

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN TO

  • understand the purpose and function of descriptive essays,
  • use graphic organizers to visualize descriptive essays,
  • integrate description into an essay,
  • read and think critically about description, and
  • plan, organize, draft, revise, and edit essays using description.

WRITING QUICK START

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uppose you are moving to a large city and need to sell your car because the apartment you just rented does not include parking. You post the following advertisement on the local Craigslist: “5-year-old Smart Car. $7,000 or best offer. Call 555-2298.” Two weeks after you post the ad, you have gotten only a few calls and no offers. Then a friend advises you to write a more appealing description of your unique vehicle. Rewrite the advertisement, describing the car in a way that will convince prospective buyers to call you.

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© RIA Novosti/Topham/The Image Works

In rewriting the description of the Smart car in the Writing Quick Start, did you describe how it looks — its funky paint job and its snub-nosed appearance? Perhaps you focused on its compact qualities — easy to park, good gas mileage, and uncomplicated mechanical maintenance. If you did either or both of these things, you wrote a successful description. Description presents information in a way that appeals to one or more of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) by creating an overall (dominant) impression or feeling.

You use description every day — to describe a pair of shoes you bought, a flavor of ice cream you tasted, or a concert you attended recently. If you were an eyewitness to a car theft, the detective investigating the crime would ask you to describe what you saw.

Writers rely on description to present detailed information about people, places, and things and to grab and sustain their readers’ interest. When you write vivid descriptions, you not only make your writing livelier and more interesting but also indicate your attitude toward the subject through your choice of words and details.

USING DESCRIPTION IN COLLEGE AND THE WORKPLACE

  • In a chemistry lab report, you describe the odor and appearance of a substance made by combining two chemicals.
  • In an art history class, you visit a local gallery, choose a painting, and describe in a two-page paper the artist’s use of line or color.
  • As a nurse at a local treatment center for burn victims, you record on each patient’s medical chart the overall appearance of and change in second- and third-degree burns.