1. Duration 1-hour 50 minutes Essays under discussion: descriptive, narrative and discursive essays Objectives: Teach the usage of different descriptive tools in descriptive essays. How to plan a descriptive essay How to devise activities for different essays. Identify the difference between a Narrative and a Descriptive essay.. The use of thesis statements on discursive essays

2. 1. Can descriptive writing be a narrative? 2. Can Descriptive Essays have dialogues? 3.’ If I exceed the word count will my grade be affected?’ 4. `How long should a Descriptive essay be?‘ 5. ‘My teacher said to get a good grade O-level students should use good vocabulary. Every time i use difficult words i do not get a good grade’. Why? 6. How will I know that I am not overusing difficult words? 7. Is there a difference between writing a descriptive essay in section 2, paper 1 and describing an account of an accident in section 1 (Directed Writing) 8. ‘ My teacher says that the candidate can get more marks in descriptive essays and they are the most easy to attempt.’ 9. Are descriptive essays are based on real incidents only? 10. Should we only use the sense of sight when we describe something? 11. Do we have a thesis statement in descriptive essay writing?

3. Purpose The purpose in the piece of descriptive writing is to make it come alive for the reader., by painting a picture with words. The best descriptions are based on your experience or at least what makes the description special to you. Types of Descriptive Writing Describing people Describing events Describing places Five senses + feelings Smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing

4. SIMILE ADVERBS METAPHORS VERBS TOOLS FOR DESCRIPTIVE WRITING ADJECTIVES PERSONIFICATION

5. Answers to the Quiz: 1. Descriptive writing may have narrative element to it, yet it must not lose its identity as a piece of descriptive writing. It must not “rely too much on narrative.” Someone who does that will be placed in Band 4 and awarded marks between 15-18 according to CIE marking scheme. 2. It should be roughly between 500- 600 words. That makes 5 to 6 paragraphs. long. It depends if your written expression is weak, there are no good sentences and no desirable descriptive images presented, then exceeding the word limit would definitely affect in lowering your grade. However,.the examiner will always mark your written essay as a whole. If you fulfil the demands of a BAND 1 or 2 he/she will overlook the word limit. Hence,your marks will not be deducted. 3 No dialogues are expected in descriptive essays, so focus must be on descriptions and not on development of a story. Using all the techniques as imagery, personification,

6. concrete nouns, adjectives, metaphors, verbs e.t.c for descriptions are the prime importance here. But it is not wrong if the writer intends to write some dialogues only if they are to arouse feelings. In that case minimum of dialogues could be written.. 4. Students often misunderstand with what is meant by the use of good vocabulary and an unnecessary use of difficult words. It is a fact that those students who use good words will put a positive impression however, it should not be overdone. No matter what, the words used should help to clarify the meaning of the text rather than obscure it. Avoid the overuse of difficult words. (see essays on Descriptive Essays in the student resources section) Such essays may fall between BAND 4 and 5- between 11 to 18 marks. 5. PRACTISE, PRACTISE AND PRACTISE! A self-check is to see that a paragraph should not have more than 3 to 4 difficult words ( this is just a rough idea). The best way is to get it checked by your teacher or ask your friend to go through it to know whether the meaning is clearly conveyed. Secondly, try to read it yourself thinking it to be written by someone else. Remember you are not only assessed on the use of good vocabulary but also using it accurately.

7. It is difficult to write interesting descriptions, so this type of composition should not be attempted unless you have had practice and success at this type of writing. Argument has the interest of other people’s views, and narrative has curiosity as a driving force, but description must rely on range of vocabulary and use of imagery to engage reader interest. Unless the reader can see the picture they will not be able to relate to the experience. 6. If you are asked to describe an incident e.g. car accident, bank robbery …your description should be very direct and unemotional. Describing an account in directed writing is actually reporting to some one of what happened and how it happened. It is not a descriptive essay. There you can list down events and things as they are witnessed without using descriptive tools. 7. Wrong. Like all other types of essays, descriptive essays also need considerable practice. The candidate needs a technical awareness.. 8. No. Descriptive essays can be imaginative and also be based on real incidents. 9. Try to use variety of senses (hear, touch and smell) to make your writing interesting.

8. CIE EXAMINERS’ TIPS

9. Descriptive compositions must not become a narrative, which means character and event should not be dominant. It is difficult to write interesting descriptions, so this type of composition should not be attempted unless you have had practice and success at this type of writing. Argument has the interest of other people’s views, and narrative has curiosity as a driving force, but description must rely on range of vocabulary and use of imagery to engage reader interest. Unless the reader can see the picture they will not be able to relate to the experience. Use exotic and unusual vocabulary, and a variety of sentence structures. All forms of repetition should be avoided. Use all five senses to create an environment and atmosphere, as well as details of size, shape and colour. Make colour precise, e.g. ‘scarlet’, ‘azure’, ‘off-white’, ‘bluish- grey’. Avoid common, overused, vague, short and childish vocabulary, such as ‘nice’, ‘big’, ‘little’, ‘a lot of’, ‘good’, and ‘bad’. Each noun needs one or more adjectives in front of it to give sufficient detail. A temporal or spatial framework will give structure and progression to your description e.g. moving towards or through something, such as a street market, or going through a period of time, an hour or a day for instance, and recording the changes. Avoid presenting a grocery of lists of events- show them through the use of descriptive tools

11. Alphabet ‘O’ Why did you think of it and are there any personal associations? Name Place Country Thing Activity 1: Work your imagination! Teaching Descriptive writing for Beginners.

12. Activity 2: What instantly comes to your mind ? What makes you think of it? Metaphor/ Simile SoundTouchHearing Visual Image Emotion Colour Monday Weather Food Love reminds me of summer storm because it can be sunny and warm one minute and cloudy and stormy the next.s

13. Look at the sentence beneath Sara walked in the sun. the birds sang on the trees. and the grass was so fresh to walk on. Sara skipped through the sun-slapped woods. Birds sang sweetly from the lush, green trees and the ground felt soft beneath her feet What kind of the atmosphere/picture do you perceive from these lines?. Sara crept through the storm-struck woods. Birds sang screeched menacingly from the bare, overgrown trees and the ground felt brittle beneath her feet. Did the substitution of words change the picture? Now what is it like? Activity 3 Close your eyes and jot down all the words you hear in this class room Remember to think of all the metaphors you can think to be associated with these sounds. Now write a paragraph using these words.

14. YesNoTo some extent 1 Good use of vocabulary 2 Varied sentence structures used e.g. complex, simple, compound, long and short 3 Words are appropriately and accurately used 4 No spelling mistakes 5 Essay is coherent and well structured 6 Meaningful images used to create effective atmosphere. 7 Descriptive Tools appropriately used 8 Word Limit obeyed 9 No overdone of vocabulary Check-list

15. Skill: All students should be able to: Those taking the Extended examination should also be able to Ways in which the skills might be practised (appropriate contexts Checklist – tick if you have worked on something similar Writing1. Describe, discuss, argue and narrate Carry out longer writing tasks on a range of topics, paying attention to structure, sequence and style Writing descriptions of events,places, people using all five senses and imagery Planning openings and endings to stories Structuring and supporting points for an argument

16. 2. Use language for a specific purpose, e.g. to persuade, to consider, to evaluate, to inform, to entertain, to convey an impression Create sustained and cohesive responses to continuous writing tasks,showing an awareness of the generic characteristics of different types of writing Writing (and performing) debate speeches Balancing ideas for and against a discussion topic Analysing the devices used in letters, articles and editorials stating a point of view Writing stories which have gripping openings, pace, dialogue, climax,strong endings