Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing

Descriptive writing is painting a picture with words. Descriptive writing allows the reader to envision exactly what the author saw, felt, heard, tasted and smelled. Many teachers struggle with teaching students how to write descriptive pieces. The first thing a teacher should focus on when teaching descriptive writing is sensory details. These are words that create a sensory image or a clear impression on the readers mind. It is described so vividly that the writer feels he/she can reach out and touch whatever is being described. The reader gets a more accurate description of exactly what the writer wants to share. The purpose of the piece should always be evident. After reading it should be clear as to what the writer trying to describe. Redundancy and cliches should be avoided. For example, instead of  “the green grass” the writer could say, “the bright green blades of grass stand erect like a soldier on a battlefield.” Personifying the grass painted a more vivid picture of the grass rather than just mentioning its color. Vivid vocabulary is used including colorful adjectives and figurative language to attract the reader’s attention. Good descriptive pieces emphasize overlooked items. The light is shone on the things that aren’t really seen often. For example, rather than focusing on the waves at the beach the writer will spend extra time describing the colorful piece of glass in the sand.  Some of the things that can be described or some pictures that are painted when writing descriptive pieces are of a person, place, animal, thing, an event or occasion. Some tools which can be used to enhance a descriptive piece are, metaphors, personification, similes, adverbs, verbs and adjectives. Imagery is also very important when writing descriptive pieces.  Imagery helps you picture how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes and feels. Descriptive writing should be taught because It will help students' writing be more interesting and full of details. It encourages students to use new vocabulary words and it can help students clarify their understanding of new subject matter material.

There are many ways to teach descriptive writing, but teachers are to ensure that they develop descriptive writing skills through modeling and the sharing quality literature that is full of descriptive writing. The teacher can facilitate activities such as using a completed passage, erasing sentences one by one and allow students to rewrite them using tools which enhance descriptive pieces to paint a better picture. Students can also read a descriptive piece and draw exactly what was being described. Another activity can be placing students in groups and each group chooses a topic that they are interested in. they then will create a 5 senses cluster to vividly describe what they want to share. The first person in the group writes one first sentence and each member writes one sentence to complete the piece. The teacher will do an example for the class first before this activity begins. When the groups are finished, they get a chance to share their completed pieces with their classmates.

Not all students are at the same writing level and not all students share the same experiences. So the teacher should ensure that he/she, provides experiences that give students something to write about, encourage students to work with pairs or small groups to develop first drafts and Provides a word bank of interesting and descriptive words for students to incorporate into their writing. According to Stephen King, description begins in the writer’s imagination but should end in the reader’s. The purpose is always to live vicariously through the writer. Though it may not have been experienced by the reader, the piece should allow the reader to feel like they experienced that experience too.