Descriptive Writing
Either:
Describe a family visit to a large theme park.
Or
Describe what is like in your family on the day you return to school after
the summer vacation.
Descriptive Writing
Learning Objectives
To determine the skills and techniques needed to successfully
answer the Descriptive Writing Question in the Final Exam.
Descriptive Writing – The Question
Select one of the two topics listed below as a starting point for your writing.
Remember:
· This is a piece of descriptive writing so it is more important that you
describe people and places rather than narrate the events you describe.
[10 Marks]
· You should try to reference each of the five senses at least once in your
writing. [5 Marks]
· You should also try to describe the emotions associated with this event.
Describe what you think and feel as well as describing the emotions
shown by those around you. [5 Marks]
· There are 20 Marks for the quality of your writing and 5 Marks for
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.
Either:
Describe a family visit to a large theme park.
Or
Describe what is like in your family on the day you return to school
after the summer vacation.
Descriptive Writing
The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place
or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader's mind.
Capturing an event through descriptive writing involves paying close
attention to the details by using all of your five senses.
“You should try to reference each of the five senses at least once in
your writing. [5 Marks]”
Try to imagine yourself to be a kind of 4D 'human video camera'! With
your searching zoom lens you are going to 'record' what you saw,
smelled, touched, tasted and heard in the particular scene or situation
the question asks you to describe .A selection of the 'stills' from your
video will provide the substance for what you describe.
Descriptive Writing
What You see
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the things you saw there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. What strengthens description a great deal
is to use a few but carefully chosen and vivid similes and
metaphors e.g. ‘When he got off the ride he looked like a man just
back from a journey to Hell.'
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past using 'saw‘.
Descriptive Writing
What You Smell
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the things you smelt there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. At a theme park and most public places
there are always food concessions and so if you can’t think of
anything else you can always describe what the food smelled like.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: 'smelled’ [or
‘smelt’].
Descriptive Writing
What You Touch
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the things you touched or touched you there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. At a theme park if you are on a ride you
can always describe the sensation of the wind on your face.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: ‘touched’.
Descriptive Writing
What You Taste
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the things you tasted there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. At a theme park there are always lots of
things to taste, from a burger to a coke or even a piece of cotton
candy.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: ‘tasted’.
Descriptive Writing
What You Taste
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the things you heard there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. At a theme park there is always a lot of
noise, from the sound of the machinery to the screams of the
people on the rides.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: ‘heard’.
Descriptive Writing
Thoughts & Feelings
You should also try to describe the emotions associated with this event.
Describe what you think and feel as well as describing the emotions shown
by those around you. [5 Marks]
Whatever the event is that you are trying to describe you need to make some
reference to your emotional involvement with it. So if you are at a theme park
you might describe how scared you were going on a very large ride, or to
describe how bored you were waiting in line to get onto a ride.
Descriptive Writing
Your Thoughts & Feelings
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the emotions you experienced there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sentence that
is interesting and exciting. At a theme park fear and excitement will
probably be the principal emotions you experience.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: ‘scared’ & ‘
‘excited’.
Descriptive Writing
The Thoughts & Feelings of Others
You would normally go to a them park with other people, friends or
family and they will go on rides with you. How do they react?
1. Think of a theme park or funfair you have been to and write a list of
some of the emotions you saw other people experience there.
2. Take one or two objects from your list and put it into a sen1tence
that is interesting and exciting. At a theme park fear and excitement
will probably be the principal emotions you see other people show.
Note:
To be safe ALWAYS set the time frame in the past: ‘afraid’ .
SPG
Remember there are 5 Marks available for SPG so take care when you
write to make sure there is accurate Spelling, Punctuation and
Grammar in your work.