How To Write A Descriptive Essay? Helpful Guide

descriptive essay

The success of how to write a descriptive essay depends on the writer’s ability to create a vivid picture in the mind(s) of his reader(s) by employing the senses of sound, sight, touch, feeling, and the likes. Of course, there are different types of essays, such as narrative essays, expository essays and classification essays. For one, the narrative essay tells a story as it is, and just as the name goes, it is merely a narrative. The expository essay only gives information such as facts, serving to enlighten or educate the reader(s), while the persuasive essay serves the purpose of convincing the reader to accept a particular point of view.

Having given a brief description of the types of essays in existence; it is essential to note that a descriptive essay is something more profound.

What Is A Descriptive Essay?

A descriptive essay is a type of essay that describes either an event, a person or an object.

By nature, understanding description writing means your description essay has to be as elaborate as possible. Aside from this, what is a descriptive essay meant to do?

The function of a descriptive essay is to paint a mental picture in a reader’s mind using words.

In descriptive writing, the goal is to paint a vivid picture of the person or thing described in an elaborate manner. To further define a descriptive essay, it is an essay type that seeks to appeal to the mind’s of its reader/audience through the creative use of words and figures of speech.

This is a kind of writing, which a writer aims to connect with the reader(s) on a deeper level. This article will point out the details on how to write a thesis for a descriptive essay as well as the other information about the descriptive essay. Let us take a look.

Choosing Descriptive Essay Topics

Before you seat at your desk to write, you need to have a topic in mind. What is your essay meant to be centered around? You need to ask yourself what you are writing about because how to write a descriptive essay about a person is different from how to write a descriptive essay about a place or any other concept. In essence, you are going to be writing in such a way that the reader(s) can make out the meaning of your topic from your essay.

There must be a connection between the subject and the theme of your writing. Most times, the most effective way to get your reader(s) interested in your essay is to have a popular topic. Just like books, you get attracted not only by the cover print but also by topics that match your interest. Hence, get your reader interested in your topic by constructing it properly. Here are samples of some descriptive essay topics that will give us some descriptive essay ideas:

  • My first trip to the North
  • How to ride a bike
  • All you need to know about Canada
  • My first journey over the Pacific Ocean
  • How to operate an iPhone
  • Lionel Messi: The King
  • The game called soccer
  • The days of Benjamin Franklin
  • The beauty of Africa
  • Tooth brushing techniques in details

Descriptive Essay Structure Guideline

There are three structures to consider if you want to learn how to write a descriptive essay. This includes- an introductory paragraph, the body of the essay, and the conclusion. It helps you, as a writer, have a sense of chronology and order. This also gives the reader(s) an idea of what to expect. The reader(s) is encouraged to take up your piece as an invitation to a lovely end, following you systematically. Starting from the introduction, a writer gives his reader(s) a tip of the iceberg.

Writing A Descriptive Essay Introduction

Note that your introduction serves a great purpose of whether your essay would be worth reading or not.

In this case, a good introduction should have a “hook”, it could either be a line or sentences that piques the attention of readers and keeps them glued to the essay.

It must contain what the essay aims at achieving, that is, the scope of the writing. You may achieve this by posing some questions, which gets your reader(s) thinking and would necessarily be interested in finding answers to. Therefore, it must be a summary of your topic, captured in proper language, infused with an element to raise the hopes of the reader(s) and most importantly, to keep it short.

Descriptive Essay Body Paragraphs

Getting to the body of the essay while using the same descriptive essay format, the writer is more at liberty to express his mind on the topic of the essay, and he must do it in order. Paragraphs come into play here, as they help in conveying your ideas succinctly. Also, know that every paragraph must necessarily link into the other. This helps the flow of thoughts and sense the entire essay makes.

You may employ the use of connecting words and conjunctions such as “and”, “also”, “furthermore”. “in addition to”, “however”, “but”, “although”, and tons of other words you can find in the English language. The paragraph of your descriptive essay must also not be too long or too short. It must not exceed ten lines, while each of the paragraphs must contain a unique idea.

For effective connection between paragraphs or sentences in your essay, you can employ linking words such as:

  • And
  • Also
  • Furthermore
  • In Addition to
  • However
  • But
  • Although

There are so many more linkers to connect your paragraphs and sentences while writing an essay. The purpose of using linkers in the body of your essay is to enhance the quality of your sentences, making them look richer.

Writing A Descriptive Essay Conclusion

Now, to the conclusion of your essay. Have at the back of your mind, what you want the conclusion to be like. It is bringing your reader to a safe port, after coming with you. Through the whole essay, make use of words that will let your reader(s) know that you are nearing the end.

The conclusion is a paragraph or two, which supports the claims you made in the body of your work.

It is a restatement of all you had in the essay while setting the main ideas in summary. There must be no stories or descriptions in the conclusion since enough justice must have been done to that in the body of the essay. Only review the main points so that you may effectively capture all your ideas. You can also check a descriptive essay sample relating to the topic to get an idea on your conclusion.

It is also paramount to state that the conclusion of an essay is essential in giving your reader(s) a good feeling about what he or they just read. This is done using words. You may have your conclusions open-ended such as asking questions, which still has your reader(s) filling in the gaps or nicely tied up with quotes, idioms, and captivating statements. The conclusion is one of the most important things to note before writing. When learning how to start a descriptive essay, beyond the introduction and body, you must also have your conclusion in mind. For qualified assistance, we advise you to contact professional English writers.

Descriptive Essay Outline Sample

For descriptive essays, it follows a descriptive essay structure. Below is a descriptive essay outline example.

  1. Descriptive Introduction: Background Information on the Essay Topic
    • Start with a hook sentence
    • Explore the background in succinct details
    • Dive into the main idea of your essay
    • Outline or give an overview of your writing points
  2. Body
    • First Paragraph
      • Start with a topic sentence of the descriptive essay
      • Provide more information supporting the topic sentence by describing in details the information from the topic sentence
    • Second Paragraph
      • There should be a creative gliding succession from the first to second paragraph
      • Topic sentence here should also have supporting sentence(s) following the descriptive text structure
      • Provide further description of the points mentioned in the topic sentence
    • Third Paragraph
      • Also show a transaction from the second to third paragraph
      • Highlight a topic sentence and its supporting sentence(s)
      • Explore your points in a descriptive text structure
  3. Conclusion
    • Indicate that your essay is coming to an end
    • Your sentences should have a “falling tone.”
    • Summarize the entire essay.

What Is A Good Descriptive Essay?

A descriptive essay must be true to its characteristics of describing events in clear and detailed terms. The writer needs to widen the scope of his thoughts in a bid to effectively capture the environment and ideas with appropriate words. It is necessary for the writer of a descriptive essay to be creative and open-minded, while also painting ideas to create compelling imagery in the mind(s) of the reader(s).

Needless to say that a writer must have extensive use of vocabulary that appropriately depicts situations and events. How do you write a descriptive essay goes beyond telling the reader(s) about something, but showing them in such a way that they feel everything, see everything, hear everything, think everything, and smell everything. In essence, it is engaging their very senses as though they were included in the event, which the essay presents.

In addition, when planning on writing a descriptive essay, it is important to note the format of a descriptive essay before you begin your essay. Whether you are writing it as a descriptive essay assignment or not, following this process for your English assignment, for example, will enable you to understand how to write a description essay.

  • Makes use of sensory details to relate to the subject matter in description essay writing.
  • Creates great mental pictures of ideas pointed out
  • Can either be objective or subjective
  • Finely uses tenses, grammar and punctuation
  • Involve the readers by making the essay engaging
  • Paragraphs must show a neat transition structure
  • Sentences must be connected in a logical and sequential manner
  • The essay must have a similar recurring tone
  • There should be the use of imagery in the essay
  • There should be the use of figurative languages such as metaphor and simile.

There are so many more characteristics to a good descriptive essay. These are some of the most important ones to note as without embedding these characteristics while writing your essay, your essay wouldn’t look like a nearly done writing. Every form of writing has its formats and guiding process. For the descriptive essay, it’s characteristics and format is equally as important.

Create a Sense of Suspense

The critical factor that makes a descriptive essay attractive is its power to create suspense. Indeed, this encourages the reader(s) to go on reading until the very end. Hence, the writer needs a build-up of events to a mounting point (which is known as the climax of the description) leading to a gradual decline and then the conclusion. Infusing words that capture feelings would do justice to creating suspense in work.

After all, has been said and done, we conclude that the success of writing a descriptive essay is not merely in telling but in showing the course of events or ideas in clear and chronological terms. Hence, writers need to read widely, experience things with open minds, as these would be instrumental in describing ideas without confusing the reader(s).

Example Of Descriptive Essay

A good descriptive essay sample is illustrative and creatively explores an experience. While there could be several descriptor essay examples, here’s an interesting descriptive essay example. Consider this sample:

Dogs are said to be the most common pet in the world. There are several types of domesticated dogs at homes as helpers for a variety of needs or as companions. They are adored because of the unparalleled display of intelligence, their sense of kindness that enables them to establish long-term association with man, and their perceived usefulness. The fondness of man for dogs is a scenario that frequently manifests in our lives. It is common to find people walking with their pet dogs on a beach or even strolling at a park. In addition, it is common to find a house with one or two dogs. Dogs are also used by the police and military force for tracking people or identifying illegal items. One of the most common and respected type of a dog is the German Shepherd Dog.

The German Shepherd is among the variety of breeds that are available for keeping. They stand out as the most common owned dog breeds. It is said to have been bred in mid-Western Europe in the 1800s. In the modern, they are used by the police and the military units as sniffers and attack dogs during operations carried out by the police. German Shepherd Dogs own an unmistakably unique feature. At first sight, they create a significant amount of fear from or display a specific level of aggression to the people. They have a straightforward and proud character.

They also look unbending and confident when they stand while appearing serious for most of the time. Their attentiveness is evident from their towering ears which in most cases are upwardly erected and pointing to the front. In addition, they possess a dark and protruding skull that creates fear among the people to avoid it because in most times, they look prepared to strike or attack an impending enemy. They possess round and black eyes as much as their noses are. The constitution of their teeth resembles how typically canine breeds can contain. There gums are very red and also ranging from being dark red to crimson and also covered with a tight lining with a black like color.

Male German Shepherd Dogs are noticeably larger and bulkier than the female ones. They commonly weigh approximately 115 lbs which categorizes them under the large breed dogs. The dogs are commonly muscular when they are adequately cared. When they are mature, at the age of 2 years, they begin possessing a well-defined structure of the body with features such as dense bones, dominant skull, and finely carved muscles. Their speed is pretty fast and possess enough energy to hold onto an attacker with the use of their strong teeth.

In a nutshell, German Shepherd Dogs are gifted with their individual features that makes them different and preferable by human beings especially the police and the military. They are among several canine breeds that are regarded highly for the usefulness and beauty. The many features of the German Shepherd Dogs makes them the best for consideration as home pets.

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