DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
GRADE IX
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To practise building up atmosphere in a descriptive piece of writing.
• To include five senses, feelings, and thoughts in descriptive writing.
• To focus on details.
LET’S WATCH!
• https://youtu.be/OMFQtY6655E?feature=shared
Garden at Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?
• Two minutes to jot down what you remember about the picture.
DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
• Descriptive writing works well when it refers to things that relate to the senses such as
sounds and sights. This is called ‘sensory description’.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
• I was really scared to ride the roller coaster. I felt a little sick, but excited at the same time. When
the bar clicked into place, I held on tight. When the ride started, I hoped for the best.
• As I slid into the red plastic seat of the roller coaster, my mouth went dry and my hands felt
clammy. The bar in front of my clicked into place and I gripped it so hard my knuckles turned
white. I could taste the cotton candy I’d eaten earlier at the back of my throat. When the car jolted
forward, my stomach dropped, I held my breath, and I told myself I would survive.
EFFECTIVE WRITING
• SHOW, don’t TELL.
• Focus on specific details
• Use precise vocabulary.
• Use vivid and original figurative language.
IDENTIFY – PRECISE LANGUAGE, SIMILES, METAPHORS
She was waiting for me, a white face behind a dusty window. She smiled, her painted
mouth unfurling as a red flag caught in a sudden breeze. Her hair was dyed dark-auburn.
Her legs were a Mesopotamia of varicose veins. She still had the tatters of an extraordinary
beauty. She had been making pastry and the grey dough clung to her hands. Her blood-red
nails were cracked and chipped.
Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia [p.61]
INSPIRATION FROM THE MASTER
WRITING TASK
• Choose a position in the picture.
• Write your position on top of the page.
• Describe
• What can you see?
• What can you hear?
• The smells around.
• How the temperature makes you feel
• How your body feels – are they standing, sitting, does anything hurt or is something particularly pleasant?
• How you feel in general – sad, happy, tired, awake.
• Do you have feelings towards others in the picture?
• Do you think of anything that is not in the picture?
Garden at Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet
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