1. DESCRIPTION

2. TRAITS Key Elements of a Descriptive Essay:
sense details (more than just sight)
arranged spatially
to support a Dominant Impression

3. ASSIGNMENT To describe a familiar object utilizing only SENSE DETAILS:
-sight -taste
-sound -touch
-smell
To describe only the physical characteristics;
To appeal to the senses; to use concrete details

4. PRACTICE TOPICS
1) Your living room or bedroom (the room in your home where you spend the most time);
2) Your automobile;
3) The master bedroom in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

5. PREWRITING

6. PREWRITING 1) 5 SENSES make 5 lists (one for each sense)
sight, smell, sound, taste, touch
under each, list as many relevant details regarding your topic as possible

7. PREWRITING 2) IMPRESSIONS
from the previous lists, make connections between items on the previous lists
group according to likeness
that is, certain sense details are related by the impression that they create
“eerie”
“messy”
“feminine”

8. PREWRITING 3) DOMINANT IMPRESSION
the longest list of impressions from the previous lists will be your dominant impression,
the most striking impression concerning your object
to this list add
adjectives
adverbs
similes/metaphors

9. PREWRITING ***Practice
4) SYNONYMS
Make a list of synonyms for your Dominant Impression
Consult a thesaurus
“Tidy”:
neat
orderly
organized
uncluttered
anal-retentive/obsessive-compulsive

10. INTRODUCTION-a run through of how it should look, follow along, no assignment here…yet

11. INTRODUCTION FUNNEL EFFECT Generalize 1st Narrow your focus
Introduce your topic
Most people, Most college students
Narrow your focus
Some
Others
Focus on you Me
End with Thesis Statement

12. -Most college students
THESIS
GENERALIZE 1st
-Introduce your topic
-Most college students
NARROW your FOCUS
-Some
-Others
FOCUS on YOU
-Me

13. INTRODUCTION FUNNEL EFFECT: EXAMPLES
1) Owning a car these days is a necessity, especially for students at a community college or high school. Looking around the parking lot at RCK, I usually see three types of cars: the new, high-end pre-graduation gift cars, the modified sports cars, and the run-down first cars. Unfortunately, my car is one of the latter.... (thesis with clear Dominant Impression: My gray 1986 Oldsmobile Omega is a junker, especially in terms of its exterior, interior, and trunk.)

14. INTRODUCTION FUNNEL EFFECT: EXAMPLES
2) Most people have a place to go to feel refreshed when life gets too tough. (OR) Most people have a place they visit to get away from everyday life. It could be a car, a place in nature, or a room at home. For me it is my bedroom. (then comes the thesis with clearly stated Dominant Impression)

15. Thesis Statement

16. INTRODUCTION THESIS STATEMENT
Comes at the end of the first paragraph (“Funnel Effect”)
TOPIC + MAIN IDEA + SUPPORT

17. INTRODUCTION THESIS STATEMENT
Example for Descriptive Essay:
My car is a junker in terms of its….
Three aspects of my car that make it a junker are the front seat, the back seat, and the trunk.
Contains the Dominant Impression and the 3 aspects/parts of your object that support it.
TOPIC: MY CAR
D.I.: JUNKER
SUPPORT: (1) FRONT SEAT
(2) BACK SEAT
(3) TRUNK

18. Dominant Impression

19. INTRODUCTION DOMINANT IMPRESSION
*CHARACTERISTICS of a Dominant Impression:
*ADJECTIVE or NOUN*
Declared in thesis statement
Unifying or controlling aspect; ambiance; this will link all of your sense details.
Without this, your details are like marbles without a jar.
The first adjective that comes to mind when you think of your car.

20. ALL SENSE DETAILS RELATE TO & SUPPORT DOMINANT IMPRESSION

21. INTRODUCTION DOMINANT IMPRESSION
*HOW TO CREATE a Dominant Impression:
Write the 5 senses on a blank sheet of paper with room beneath each to write;
Then, list as many details that appeal to a particular sense under its name;
Go from the front of the car to the back & from the outside to the inside;
Then, see which details are related to each other, that paint a similar picture of the object, and group them together;
What these details relate to will be your Dominant Impression.

22. INTRODUCTION DOMINANT IMPRESSION: EXAMPLES
ROOM:
oasis of peace,
tranquil refuge,
feminine/masculine,
reflects personality (*you must briefly define your personality; use the appropriate adjective before the word “personality”: creative personality, artistic temperament),
reflects my musical tastes,
disaster area,
pig sty

23. INTRODUCTION DOMINANT IMPRESSION: EXAMPLES
CAR:
total embarrassment, Bondo Buggy,
off-road monster,
Junk Mobile,
typical college student’s (in terms of mess, neglect, ...),
typical first car (in terms of price, efficiency...),
“The Black Beauty,” “The Polar Bear”
giant toy, sporty car, Daddy’s car,
accessorized car (“Pimp My Ride”) (tricked out)

24. BODY

25. (3 paragraphs = 3 parts of your object)
BODY
3 Body paragraphs
(3 paragraphs = 3 parts of your object)
TOPIC SENTENCE –
starts each paragraph
reiterates your thesis, Dominant Impression
DESCRIPTION –
sense details, figurative language
that supports only your Dominant Impression
CLINCHER SENTENCE –
ends, wraps up the paragraph
reiterates your Dominant Impression

26. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
1)*** DESCRIBE—DO NOT LIST!!
Describe items found in your car/room;
Lists do not describe; lists are more exemplary than descriptive;
This is a descriptive essay using sense details, not an illustrative essay using reasons;
Show rather than tell
Make us see, smell, taste, feel, hear it as you want us to…to fit your Dominant Impression

27. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
2) SENSE DETAILS only:
Appeal to the 5 senses, not just sight
Appeal to as many of the 5 that are relevant
Consult your prewriting lists
Relying solely on sight  leads to LISTS
Number, size, shape, texture, material, odor/scent, taste, sound

28. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
3) SIMILES & METAPHORS:
use similes & metaphors to reinforce your D.I.
EX: “The smell is like…” OR “The smell reminds me of wet, moldy leaves soaking in a crammed rain gutter for a month. (not a pleasing D.I.)
rust = cancer, leprosy, flesh-eating bacteria;
“angry red beast:” headlights = giant glaring eyes, grill=hungry chrome jaws, bumper=chin with battle scars (continue the metaphor throughout, only those details that support “beastly”)
*Warning: Similes only support your sense details; they do NOT replace the need for sense details.

29. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
4) Relate all SENSE DETAILS to your DOMINANT IMPRESSION:
all details should reinforce your D.I.
if it does not, omit the detail
all sense details and metaphors should support a single impression
this is NOT a “word picture” in which you describe every aspect of your car
instead, focus your description on your D.I.

30. BODY Relate all SENSE DETAILS to your DOMINANT IMPRESSION
Repeat THESIS:
“Another aspect of my room that makes it a pig sty is….”
at the start of each paragraph
ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS that are synonymous with your Dominant Impression
ADJ: busy = hectic, energetic, bustling, crowded, swarming, packed, jammed, overrun, popular, populous, active, lively

31. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
5) Use TRANSITIONS:
between sentences (logically or spatially connect details in each sentence) AND
between paragraphs (repeat thesis)
6) Use proper PN REFERENCE:
*especially when generalizing in Introduction
Everyone has a place he/she could call his/her own.
see how the use of “he/she” gets old fast
so go plural: Most people have a place they could call their own.

32. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
7) DICTION:—use creative, selective, and pointed details & words (employ concrete/specific word choice)
8) Include an INTRODUCTION (see above) and a CONCLUSION (see below or consult the textbook)
9) Have a CLEAR VISION of the object (best to visit the place you will describe)

33. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
10) Have a CAREFUL SELECTION of DETAILS
only those that support your DI
11) Maintain a consistent point-of-view (POV)
no second person POV “you”
your room, your car, your impression, your details  your POV (speak from the “I”)

34. BODY: DO’s Qualities of a Strong Descriptive Essay
12) COHERENCE:
develop a logical flow of ideas/details
“camera angle” -- spatial organization
13) Paragraph Structure:
3 Body paragraphs = 3 parts of car/room
do NOT arrange the essay around the senses (each paragraph is not one of the senses)
14) *REMEMBER:
this is NOT a “why” or “because” essay which is supported with reasons
instead, use aspect, feature, characteristic, portion

35. BODY TAKE THE HINT SENSE DETAILS ONLY
ONLY THOSE SENSE DETAILS THAT SUPPORT YOUR DOMINANT IMPRESSION
IF ANY DETAIL DOES NOT SUPPORT YOUR DOMINANT IMPRESSION—NO MATTER HOW “COOL” OR INTERESTING IT MAY BE—OMIT
IT FROM THIS ESSAY

36. SENSE
DETAIL
DOMINANT
IMPRESSION
LISTS

37. BODY: DON’Ts
1) ***DO NOT LIST items found in your car/room; this does not describe; lists are more exemplary than descriptive (this is a descriptive essay using sense details, not an illustrative essay using reasons) (show rather than tell)
2) Do NOT just throw ideas onto the page; make sure you have a Dominant Impression -- a clear purpose, a point; be a movie director and limit what you want the audience to see, to see it/them from your perspective

38. BODY: DON’Ts
3) Do NOT describe emotions, feelings, personality (these are not sense details)
4) Do NOT use pat expressions/clichés (rough around the edges), contractions (I’ve, it’s), poor diction (“things,” “a lot”), or abbreviations (especially CD=compact disc)
5) *NUMBERS: 3+ syllables/numerals = 350, 1 or 2 syllables/numerals = six, twenty-five;
year = 1998, 2005)

39. CONCLUSION

40. CONCLUSION PURPOSE of CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS
To stress the importance/relevance of your thesis (SO WHAT?!)
To repeat your purpose
To repeat your thesis (moral, point, lesson, Dominant Impression)
To repeat your main ideas
To give the essay a sense of completeness/finality
To leave the reader with a final impression (*this is your last chance to convince/persuade the reader, so make the most of it!)

41. CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS
Discuss in full the lesson learned
Suggest larger implications of your findings
Suggest future papers or research
Refer back to your purpose and/or scenario mentioned in your Introduction
Pose rhetorical questions
Offer a 3rd side to the issue
End with a CLINCHER SENTENCE

42. CONCLUSION CLINCHER SENTENCE
Just as you ended each Body paragraph with a concluding sentence that wrapped up that point/paragraph, so too will you end the entire essay
(Thesis Statement : Topic Sentence :: Clincher Sentence : Paragraph Clincher Sentence)
Avoid the empty cliché
Wrap it all up
Relate to your point (for example, if you wrote a process paper on making a PB&J sandwich, end by saying that you are now hungry for one)

43. VISUAL IMPRESSIONS

44. BEDROOM #1

45. BEDROOM #2

46. BEDROOM #3

47. CAR #1

48. CAR #2

49. CAR #3

50. CAR #4

51. Descriptive Essay VS Example Essay

52. Descriptive Essay VS Example Essay
SENSE DETAILS
Dominant Impression
BODY STRUCTURE:
3 Body paragraphs
3 parts of the room/car
Each supported by:
sense details ONLY
metaphors to support DI
LISTS = prohibited
SHOW
SPATIAL ORDER
REASONS
Argument/Claim
BODY STRUCTURE:
3 Body paragraphs
3 reasons
Each supported by:
examples
descriptive details
narratives
types/roles
LISTS = permissible
TELL
EMPHATIC ORDER