Paper II: Descriptive Essay
Unit Two
Instructors: Elisa, Steph, Wafa
Descriptive Essay
700-900 words
ENGL 101
Draft Due: Week Six
Due Date: Week Seven
Sunday @ 11:55pm
10% of final grade
It is easier to write about a topic that interests you . This unit is about people and how their influences
impact our global society. For this assignment, choose to write about people in history or people in
current events. This can be about a group of people or an individual. This choice can be based on a
topic that has special meaning to you or is about people (or an individual) that inspires you. This paper
is a DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY. This means that you need to give specific details and examples which will help
you be as descriptive as possible.
THE DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY (narrative style)
This assignment resembles the previous assignment: you are narrating a story, but this time you are
telling a story about someone else. Use the following to help you brainstorm and plan your paper:
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Topic: What are you going to write about?
Purpose: Why are you going to write about this topic?
Audience: Who are you going to write this topic for?
Genre: What type of writing is this? (*For this paper, it is a descriptive essay).
Stance: What is your attitude in this essay?
Here are the steps you to need to take to finish this paper:
1. You must have a clear focus that will allow your readers to gain a rich understanding of what
you are trying to say.
a. Example purposes:
i. To describe the life of an influential person or group of people.
ii. To write about an individual or group that inspires you and/or has made an
influential impact in society.
2. Decide how you want to organize the paper.
3. Write out a draft.
4. Format your paper according to course guidelines.
5. Get help with editing and proofreading.
6. Reflect on how you think you did personally.
A successful paper will…
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Draw the reader in with an interesting introduction;
Be clear in purpose, audience, genre, and stance;
Use vivid vocabulary that is appropriate, professional, and use correctly;
Utilize mechanical skills of grammar and punctuation accurately; and
Develop an unambiguous conclusion that reinforces your thesis.
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TIPS:
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Give relevant details that help develop your essay.
Be careful of repetition or wordiness.
Proofread for grammar and spelling mistakes.
Use your thesis statement as a guide to write your paper.
Make sure the purpose is clear throughout the essay.
Requirements:
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700-900 words
12 pt. Times New Roman font
1” margins
Double-spaced
Title that accurately reflects paper’s content
See “Paper Format” on the website for requirements (Step 6: Course Introduction)
Save document as Word doc or Word docx
In evaluating your essay I will be looking for:
CONTEXT
Purpose: You provide a clear defined purpose for writing this paper.
Introduction: Your introduction captures the attention of your readers and your main points (thesis
statement) are clearly defined.
SUBSTANCE
Scope: Key ideas are focused throughout the paper and descriptive examples of your ideas are included.
Depth: Complete and relevant development of ideas which is supported by the specific examples you
provide in your paper.
ORGANIZATION
Focus: Your paper is organized around a focus stated in a thesis statement. Your paper is written in a
logical or chronological order.
Relationship: The relationship of ideas is clear; transitional sentences are used to guide the reader.
Structure: All paragraphs support your main idea; paragraphs are structured around controlling ideas.
STYLE
Paraphrasing and quoting: If you choose to use an outside source, you need to cite (document) the
source using MLA style in-text citations and a works cited page (bibliography).
Conventions/Correctness: Your paper reflects careful proofreading (checking for errors).
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DELIVERY
Format: Use the correct format for papers and make sure the page layout is easy to read.
Visual: (Optional) Use a graphic or a photo and make sure it is properly formatted and integrated into
your paper. Also, use a caption line underneath the graphic or photo and give a brief description of
what this visual item shows.
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For more information about citation conventions, please go to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is the documentation method
typically used for undergraduate papers.
Give credit to other people’s work by citing their work within the context of your paper anytime
you use a direct quote or paraphrase from a source.
Remember that when you use information that isn’t your own, you must cite it. This means that
you must give the original author recognition for this information. If a source (like a book, an
article, or an online source) is where you got your information you need to give that source
credit in your paper.
You must use MLA in-text citations within your paper and include a MLA works cited page at the
end of your paper (this must be a separate last page of your paper).
Plagiarism is NOT acceptable. If you plagiarize, you are literally stealing someone’s intellectual
work and you are passing it off as your own. You must cite work when you obtain it from
another source.
Examples of In-text citations:
Author named in your text: According to Mitchell Gaynor, an economist from Stanford University, the
U.S. economy resembled a “postindustrial society” (3).
Author not named in your text: Studies show that the U.S. economy resembled a “postindustrial
society” (Gaynor 3).
Work by no named author: A movie review in The Des Moines Register of the new Batman movie, “The
Dark Knight”, called it the best movie of the summer (“Knight” 8).
Online source: Due to Hurricane Andrew’s great devastation, more than 200,000 relocated away from
the southern Florida coastline. (Meyer, par 4)
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Examples of Works Cited MLA documentation:
BOOK: Author’s name. Title of book. Publication information.
Mayfield, James. History of Victorian England. London: Oxford, 2005.
ONLINE SOURCE: Author’s name. “Title of document” and/or Title of Web Site. Print publication
information. Electronic publication information. Date of access <URL>.
Chen, Michael. “The Best and Worst of 2007.” Inside Video Games. 10 Dec 2007. Inside Video
Games. 24 January 2008 <http://www.insidevideogames/vg_bw_2007.htm>
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