Descriptive Paragraphs

WHAT IS A DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH?

Everyone loves to travel. Visiting new places is always interesting especially when you travel to different countries. However, the most frustrating part may be the time spent at the airports.  Crowd, chaos, people’s voice or announcements, smells from nearby restaurants can be annoying for people. Describing all these details to the reader is what a descriptive paragraph does.

      A descriptive paragraph describes how a person/thing looks or feels. In descriptive paragraphs, you can describe people, places, objects, or events. The main purpose is to create an image in reader’s minds. In short, it is a kind of painting with the words.

MODEL PARAGRAPH 1 MY FRIEND MARILYN      My best friend Marilyn is a very nice girl whom I have known for ten years. One of the reasons why I like her so much is that she has such a nice appearance. She has beautiful long blonde hair and she has a nice haircut, too. Her big blue eyes are like a deep ocean. With her physical appearance, she looks like a movie star. Also, the freckles on her face make her so cute. They remind me of my aunt who passed away a few years ago. Secondly, I like her character a lot. She is a fair-minded person who treats everyone with equal respect. Furthermore, she is very calm and she can keep her temper in the most difficult situations. Lastly, she has some interesting hobbies and interests. She spends a lot of time working in the garden. She really likes planting different kinds of flowers or plants. In addition to this, she is fond of travelling. Although she is so young, she has already visited ten countries so far and she likes bringing souvenirs from these countries. As you can see, there are so many reasons why I like her so much. I hope we will be friends forever. (Written by Inst. Seda Kızıldağ)

MODEL PARAGRAPH 2 COFFEE HOUSES IN TURKEY      Coffee houses are essential places for lots of men who are over forty or retired. Although they are simply and colorlessly decorated, they have a special atmosphere. There are lots of brown wooden chairs and tables there; people chat when they drink tea or Turkish coffee. Some of them smoke and read newspaper; some of them play card games like “Elli Bir”, “Yanık”, or “Pişti”; some of them play “Tavla” or “Okey”. The waiters who always shout like “Is there anyone who wants one more?” are one of the symbols of these coffee houses. While playing games, two or three people sit around the table and they begin to follow the game. They are called “yancı” in Turkish. “Yancı” is the one who talks during the game, gives some clues to the players, and drink tea or coffee without paying. After the game ends, chatting or kidding goes on, and people have an enjoyable time together. In Turkey coffee houses are not just places; they are an important part of Turkish culture. (Written by Inst. Serap Yılmaz)

USING FIVE SENSES       We perceive the world around us with five senses which are sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. We see with our eyes, hear with our ears, taste with our tongues, smell with our noses, and touch with our skins/hands. Creating a sensory image in the readers’ minds will enhance your writing as it makes the topic specific and clearer for the reader. Senses I can… Something may…     Sight See people, a bird, a house, river, baby, etc. Look beautiful, ugly, handsome, cute, thin, adorable, etc.         Hearing Hear noise, cars,  music, etc. Sound loud, soft, noisy, etc.         Taste Taste cake, coffee, soup, etc. Taste salty, delicious, bitter, sour, etc.      Smell Smell flowers, roses, meals, etc. Smell sour, spicy, sweet, etc.     Touch Touch texture, skin, books, etc. Feel soft, gentle, hard, firm, cold, hot, etc.

USING ADJECTIVES       A descriptive paragraph cannot be thought without adjectives. Most writers use variety of adjectives in order to make their writing more interesting. Thus, readers can have a clearer picture of what is being described. An adjective modifies a noun. That is, it comes before the nouns. If it the noun is singular, do not forget to put a/an.               Example: Jack brought beautiful flowers.                                     She has just bought a beautiful jacket. An adjective can come after certain verbs like be, seem, get, feel, look. Connect the adjectives with and if there is more than one.               Example: Ted is ill today.                          Your mother seems worried.                                      The students got bored of the lesson.                                      Garcia always feels lonely.                                      You look fantastic!                                      Helen is a talented and kind woman.  The form of an adjective does not change. Use the same adjective with both singular and plural nouns.               Example: She has got a gold ring.                                     She has got three gold rings.                                    She has got golds rings. Colors and numbers are adjectives.               Example: a yellow hat                                      two cars This/that/these/those are adjectives.               Example: this book                                     these books, etc.                 Some/few/many/enough/less/more are all adjectives.               Example: enough time                         less money, etc. Nouns can also function as adjectives.               Example: costume party                                     rose garden You can write more than one adjective in order to describe a noun. However, the order of the adjectives must be kept in mind. Here is the order:     Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Origin-Material-Purpose + Noun                               Example: A beautiful ancient blue Ottoman vase  DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION Denotation: Denotation refers to the dictionary definition or the literal meaning of                           a word. Connotation: Connotation refers to the emotional suggestions related to a word.        The writers should be careful with these two meanings as some words in English have positive and negative connotations. Your word choice here is very important because your readers shouldn’t be confused about what you mean. Therefore, what you need to do is to check both meanings from the dictionaries.       Example:                       The following words express praise or admiration (+)                           Slim: pleasantly thin. It is often used to describe women who have                             controlled their weight by diet or exercise.                           Slender: a girl/woman who is thin and graceful.                           Lean: a man who is thin and fit.                        The following words are negative in meaning (-)                            Skinny: very thin, often in a way that is not attractive.                            Bony: it describes parts of the body when they are so thin that the bones                                        can be seen.                                             Gaunt: describes a person who is little too thin and looks sad or ill.                            Underweight: it is used in medical contexts to describe people who are too                                                   thin because they are ill or have not had enough                                                    food.                                         Anorexic: a medical term but is now also used informally to describe a girl                                                            or woman who is so thin that you are worried about them.

PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATION       In a descriptive paragraph, writers mostly use space order. Space order is needed in order to create a picture in reader's minds. To do this, prepositions of location such as next to, between, above, etc., can be used.  When you give the location of something, it is easier for readers to follow what is being described. Common Prepositions of Location above            before             far from                  on across           behind             from                        on top of after             below              in                            opposite against          beneath           in back of                outside                   ahead of       beside             in the middle of        over along             between          in front of               past among            beyond            inside                      throughout    around           by                   near                         under        at                   close to           next to                    underneath

Use and Punctuation Note    A prepositional phrase is a preposition followed by a noun.               Example: on the floor                              under the bed Prepositional phrases can be put at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. When we use a prepositional phrase at the beginning, we use a comma. However, when it is at the end of a sentence, comma is not necessary.           Example: In the living room, there was a cat.                     There was a cat in the living room. When you use a prepositional phrase at the beginning of a sentence with the verb be,invert the subject and the verb and remove the comma after the prepositional phrase.            Example: The bookshelf is next to the bed.                                Next to the bed is the bookshelf.                                Next to the bed, the bookshelf is.  When you use a prepositional phrase at the beginning of a sentence with there is/are, you can drop there and remove comma after the prepositional phrase.               Example: In the bedroom, there is a DVD player.                              In the bedroom is a DVD player. Read More: http://ydyo.izmir.edu.tr/akademik-yazma-merkezi/for-students/paragraphs/2438-Descriptive-Paragraphs.html