Preview

Sense and Descriptive Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
858 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sense and Descriptive Essay
English 9A, Unit 2
Descriptive Portfolio

Your second portfolio will be a descriptive essay about your favorite location. You will not be focused on building characters or telling a story in this paper - Your paper will purely describe. Remember that your descriptions should use imagery and sensory details, meaning that it should appeal to the five senses. While reading your paper, I should be able to picture your location.

Your favorite room of your house
Your favorite location in nature
An event you have attended that was particularly fun, such as:
A school field trip
A youth retreat
A summer camp
A tourist destination
Think about the following questions to help you brainstorm ideas for your description:

- What places in nature, such as the ocean or mountains, do you especially enjoy visiting? Think about places you have visited with friends or family.

- What unusual plants or animals in nature would lend themselves to being described in an interesting way?

- What is an object or place that you see often without really thinking much about it—for instance, your backyard? Try observing it more closely.

Observe and Record Details (Prewriting)

A descriptive essay is most effective if it is packed with details that vividly portray the object or place being described. Set aside some time to observe your subject closely and write down the details you notice using the Sensory Chart Prewriting Activity Sheet (attached). Record sensory details (sights, sounds, scents, flavors, and textures) that you can include in your descriptive essay.

As you record sensory details, it helps to pretend that your reader has never seen the object or scene you are describing. Even if some details seem obvious, write them down! Remember that your reader can’t see what you’re seeing, so you want to record as much detail as possible in order to paint a mental picture of your object/scene for your reader

When you record what you see,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The story The Flowers, by Alice Walker, is the story that has the best use of description. You can tell the author loves to write descriptively because she uses it throughout the whole piece. In the beginning, there is much description about the day the story takes place. For example, “The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch.” and, “... made each day a golden surprise...”. “A keenness that made her nose twitch” is an extremely pure description because it is deeply felt and understood by the reader. “A golden surprise” is exceptional description also. These quotes show the importance to the author of describing the setting in detail, and establishing relatable feelings for the reader. In the same fashion, the author continues to convey…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Space and Place

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Describe the process whereby that space became a place for you. Identify in what ways you learned how to “read” this place. In other words, how did you learn to see this particular location as a three-dimensional, meaningful place that is different from what you knew of it as a space.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A descriptive essay is a type of essay strives to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader of the item being described. It is often creative, personal. The purpose of a descriptive essay is to describe a person, place, or thing in such vivid detail that the reader can easily form a precise mental picture of what is being written about. The author may accomplish this by using imaginative language, interesting comparisons, and images that appeal to the senses.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Some places have significant importance and many people work to protect those places of deep natural or open space value. In part II, “Speaking of Place”, from the anthology Wildbranch, the authors focus on personal connections and responses to particular places. These writers emphasize on sense of place, making their chosen spot quite different from any other place around, and also making their surroundings worth caring about. Nature is rapidly weakening in front of our eyes, and these places, frequently defined as cultural landscapes, play a massive roll on our environment; therefore, and taking this into consideration, the conservation of nature, in general, requires resources or a reserve for the welfare of people today and making sure…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A descriptive essay is a form of writing used to describe various objects or physical places. The author has an objective to create a vivid portrait of an object so that the audience can have a clear image of the thing being described. An effective descriptive essay will make the reader imagine the object in a very realistic way through utilizing various senses and not merely describing physical appearance. The audience has to be able to see, smell, touch, taste and feel the object being described. This form of…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Descriptive Essay

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    American NFL football is the greatest sport in the world. Many would ask why I think this. The Gridiron as we all know it is a very magnificent, strategic, and violent sport. Football can easily catch the unknowing eye of anybody. American football is the greatest sport in the world because of the tailgating, my personal opinion, and the strategy of the game.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descriptive Essay

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I push the door open. The bell rings, with a soft but shrill ring. A wave of rubber gloves and disinfectant masked with air freshener smells are in the air . Chairs are cluttered in the waiting room of the dentists. Clusters of magazines lie on the wood coffee tables, shiny bright plastic showing logos and slogans. A little way forward from where I stand is a desk. A smiling receptionist sits there. She seems to have been expecting someone somehow, as she points me to go wait near the couches and chairs.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sense and Essay

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages

    3. Write down the author’s main point. Actually copy his main point from the essay so I can see that you see his thesis.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Narrative essays and Descriptive essays can be similar but they are different in nature. The narrative essay “I Want a Wife” is more compelling than the descriptive essay “Homeless” because the narrative essay has a point of view, uses humor and satire, and uses tone and language that can draw the reader in.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Describe Lake Lopez

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Everyone has one location within their minds that they can instantly recall. For me it’s the mountains near Lake Lopez. The constant fresh smell of trees come over you. The sun light gleams off the still lake water which lights the mountains. Only pure serenity remains with you when on those mountains.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descriptive Essay

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An apartment is a self contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments may be owned (by an owner/occupier) or rented (by tenants). My first apartment was located in Brooklyn in the Flatbush section. It was a small but very conveniently located third floor apartment in a elevator building. The building only had five floors with a see through glass lobby entrance. The building had a doorman that worked from four until midnight. He was a very pleasant middle aged gentleman with a carribean accent. The lobby had a sunken waiting area with black leather sofa and arm chairs that looked like they were bought in the 1960`s, but well maintained. When you came into the building in the evening you could smell the strong scents of all types of seasoning especially curry due to the Indian family living near the elevator. When riding the elevator up to my apartment it would shake from side to side and occasionally would hold someone captive until the elevator repairman came to get them out. My apartment was located on the third floor. It had a small foyer with a small closet to the left, a living room that measured 11 feet by 17 feet . It also had a very small kitchen that only one person could cook in at a time otherwise you would be constantly bumping into the other cook. Next to the small kitchen was a half size bathroom whose vanity mirror would steam up due to not having any windows or a proper working ventilation duct. When you came out the bathroom to your right was a small bedroom that you could only get a minimal amount of furniture in. Basically this apartment was in the shape of a box that was sectioned off into four areas. To make it into a home I started with the living room, I painted the walls chocolate brown and bought a sofa to match. The sofa was made of a furry material so I bought an orange chaise lounge to go with the sofa. I also bought earth tone curtains to mellow out the loud look of the orange chaise. I placed the orange chaise…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Textual Analysis Examples

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    More than many other types of essays, descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this affect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It takes a long time for me to get to the best place in the world. Usually three of four hours will but us in Savannah, Tennessee, unless I'm driving. Although the drive is long and tedious, the nature around me on the way is so beautiful. There are hills, trees, pigs, cows, and green grass as far as I can see. My family and I always have the best time on that very long drive. We fill the car with country music, and we all join in and sing along. Laughter, singing, and wonderful conversation fill my ears all the way there. I always love to be able to have good conversation with my mom and brother. Without the long drive and enormous amount of time, the visit wouldn't be the same. The best memory that I have would have to be how every time, like clockwork, we stop right in the middle of the drive and do the same things. We stop in the same spot, we buy the same things, and we always use the restroom. Although it's more of a tradition and not a memory, I can always count on stopping there for a midway drive snack. When we almost reach our destination, there is one special road that my brother and I get very…

    • 1251 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Assignment 1: Brainstorming

    • 2390 Words
    • 10 Pages

    For experiences, make a note of specific portions of your experience. You could even write a small summary or story of an event that happened during the experience that stands out. Images, sounds, or other sensory portions of your experience work, as well.…

    • 2390 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For my visual description, I chose to write about a photograph captured by Jason Vaughn, The Quiet Beauty of a Hunter’s Lair. The picture is part of a series called Hide. The picture was taken in Columbus, Wisconsin in the year 2013. Photographs from Hide were placed in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Wisconsin Triennial and the State of the Art exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The photo, which is twenty-four inches high by thirty inches wide, shows the beauty of a deer stand in a still setting deep in the woods. The hazy sky and the distant trees in the background without much clarity put emphasis on the deer stand, making the stand the focal point of the photo. The lighting…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays