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Descriptive Writing

Objectives:

To identify concrete nouns

To generate sensory details to describe given objects

To write a descriptive paragraph with concrete and sensory details and spatial transitions

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Concrete details

  • things that you can touch or see
  • specific objects, places, and people

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Concrete details

general noun

  • chair
  • shoe
  • toy
  • car
  • fruit
  • restaurant

concrete noun

  • rocking chair

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Sensory details

  • appeal to the 5 senses – sight, sound, touch, taste, smell.
  • often adjectives or adverbs
  • “Show; don’t tell”

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Share out sensory details: fruit

  • Sight
  • Sound
  • Touch
  • Smell
  • Taste

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Read this descriptive paragraph:

The landscape was full of mystery and of life. The autumn was in full bloom. The sun cast a golden light upon the adobe walls and the cornfields; it set fire to the leaves of willows and cottonwoods along the river; and a fresh, cold wind ran down from the canyons and carried the good scents of pine and cedar smoke, of bread baking in the beehive ovens, and of rain in the mountains. There were horses in the plain and angles of geese in the sky.

N. Scott Momaday

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What is the topic sentence?

The landscape was full of mystery and of life. The autumn was in full bloom. The sun cast a golden light upon the adobe walls and the cornfields; it set fire to the leaves of willows and cottonwoods along the river; and a fresh, cold wind ran down from the canyons and carried the good scents of pine and cedar smoke, of bread baking in the beehive ovens, and of rain in the mountains. There were horses in the plain and angles of geese in the sky.

N. Scott Momaday

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Identify the concrete and sensory details:

The landscape was full of mystery and of life. The autumn was in full bloom. The sun cast a golden light upon the adobe walls and the cornfields; it set fire to the leaves of willows and cottonwoods along the river; and a fresh, cold wind ran down from the canyons and carried the good scents of pine and cedar smoke, of bread baking in the beehive ovens, and of rain in the mountains. There were horses in the plain and angles of geese in the sky.

N. Scott Momaday

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Show; don’t tell

  • The little girl looked in the window.
  • Bundled up in her red wool coat and matching hat, the six-year-old girl cupped her hands around her eyes and pressed so close to the window that her breath fogged the glass.

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Show; don’t tell

  • My mother and I walked and looked at the glass window of the chapel.
  • My mother and I would take late-evening walks to watch the glow of the chapel’s stained glass.

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Show; don’t tell

  • I climbed the fence.
  • I scrambled up the wooden fence and got a splinter in the palm of my hand.

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“Show! Don’t Tell!”�Independent practice

The girl played at recess.

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Spatial Transitions

  • Indicate where things are
  • Flow logically through space/description
    • Near to far
    • Top to bottom
    • Left to right
    • Etc.

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Identify Spatial Transitions

The sun was still red and large: the sky above cloudless, and light blue glaze poured over baking clay: but close over the ground a dirty grey haze hovered. As they followed the lane towards the sea they came to a place where, yesterday, a fair-sized spring had bubbled up by the roadside. Now it was dry. But even as they passed some water splashed out, and then it was dry again, although gurgling inwardly to itself. But the group of children were hot, far too hot to speak to one another: they sat on their ponies as loosely as possible, longing for the sea.

Richard Hughes

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Descriptive paragraph assignment:

  • Choose a topic
  • Follow the writing process.
  • Use concrete and sensory details.
  • Use spatial transitions.
  • Final draft: double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, MLA-heading, title.