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1 081-eng-wb-t1-(Descriptive Writing)

DESCRIPTIVE

WRITING GRADE 8 WRITING WORKBOOK

SURNAME, NAME: __________________________________________________

CLASS: ____________________________________________________________

COMPLETE

I C

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TERM 1 CALENDAR

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Term 1 Assessment 26 October 2015

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Take Home set 30 October 2015

Take Home Deadline 6 November 2015

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September 2015 Wk Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su

36 1 2 3 4 5 6

37 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

38 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

39 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

40 28 29 30

November 2015 Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30

October 2015 Wk Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su

40 1 2 3 4

41 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

42 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

43 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

44 26 27 28 29 30 31

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CONTENTS

SECTION TITLE PAGE NO.

Introduction 4

Keys to Descriptive Writing 5-8

Descriptive Writing techniques 9-15

Descriptive Essay planning 16-17

Descriptive Essay writing 18-19

Proofreading and Editing 20

Workbook evaluation 21

Notes 22-24

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DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

Descriptive writing is writing that vividly describes a person, place, thing or idea in such a way that the reader can

experience what the author describes. A successful descriptive essay or story can put readers into the author’s

shoes and let them feel the experience first-hand.

In this workbook, you are going to learn how to write a vivid, exciting, compelling descriptive essay. When you are

finished with the workbook you will understand how to:

efficiently plan for a writing assignment

use specific language and structure to make your writing stronger

write with a specific audience in mind

use proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary

proofread, edit and revise your own writing

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SENSORY DETAIL

Sensory detail refers to offering details that readers can see, hear, smell, taste or

even touch in their imagination.

Can you tell which text uses sensory detail? Circle all the examples you can find

in the example below.

1) Grandmother reached over and grabbed her grandson’s arm. He was

nervous because the staircase was so steep, but she leaned against him and

they began to climb.

2) Grandmother lurched over and grabbed the pale skin of Randal’s thin

forearm with her leathery hand. He bit his lip, his mouth filled with the

sweet, coppery taste of blood as she leaned in close toward him, breathing

her hot breath on the damp hair at the base of his neck.

Fill in the table below using descriptive words you can use to for each sense.

KEYS TO DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

When using descriptive writing, we need to ask ourselves: How can I make readers

understand or appreciate what I have experienced? How can I make readers feel as if

they have experienced it themselves?

The keys are to use sensory details, vivid verbs and descriptive adjectives to appeal to

the readers’ emotions.

By using these keys, we can make our descriptive writing more interesting and present a

clearer and more vivid picture of the experience.

Hearing Smelling Tasting Seeing Touching

Piercing

Pungent

Bitter

Round

Sharp

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Use each box below as a different sense and write in at least 3 words that describe the best dessert you

have ever eaten.

The best dessert…

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TOUCH

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TASTE

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SMELL

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SOUND

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SIGHT

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Write your own general (boring verbs) in the table below and then find vivid verbs to replace the boring ones on the

left.

VIVID VERBS

Replacing general verbs with vivid verbs allows you to provide a lot more detail in your writing. This makes a text

more interesting for the reader. Here are some examples of boring, general verbs, and vivid alternatives that you

can use:

General verb Vivid verb

Complete these sentences using a vivid verb from the table above.

1. The boy ran to the store to buy a carton of milk.

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2. I was hungry so I ate breakfast.

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3. I looked in the basement—it was scary.

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DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES AND VIVID VERBS

Descriptive adjectives describe a noun in detail. This helps the reader to visualize what you are writing about.

Examples: adorable girl, helpful friend, aggressive dog, wild horse

1. Read the passage below from The Giver.

2. First, circle all descriptive adjectives in red.

3. Then circle all vivid verbs in blue.

It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be

frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant

that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to

happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when

an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice.

He had seen it both times. Squinting toward the sky, he had

seen the sleek jet, almost a blur at its high speed, go past, and

a second later heard the blast of sound that followed. Then

one more time, a moment later, from the opposite direction,

the same plane.

At first, he had been only fascinated. He had never seen an

aircraft so close, for it was against the rules for pilots to fly

over the community. Occasionally, when supplies were deliv-

ered by cargo planes to the landing field across the river, the

children rode their bicycles to the river bank and watched, in-

trigued, the unloading and then the takeoff directed to the

west, always away from the community.

But the aircraft a year ago had been different. It was not a

squat, fat-bellied cargo plane but a needle-nosed single-pilot

jet. Jonas, looking around anxiously, had seen others — adults

as well as children — stop what they were doing and wait,

confused, for an explanation of the frightening event.

Vivid verb

Descriptive

adjective

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CHARACTERIZATION

Characterization refers to the process of describing the appearance, action, and thoughts of the persons discussed

within a text. To help readers understand motivation, an author should give each of his or her characters:

If this can be accomplished, the text will achieve a heightened sense of believability.

Think about characters you know well—for example, Dory from Finding Nemo. Fill in the table below showing all

the things you know about him.

Appearance What does he think about

himself?

Personality

Likes

Dislikes

Education / job

Values / beliefs

History

Family

Best memory

1. A unique way of behaving

2. A unique way of speaking

3. A unique appearance

4. A unique way of thinking

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING TECHNIQUES

There are a few tricks and techniques of descriptive writing that will help make your writing stronger and more

interesting. In this section, you will learn how to use characterization and observational writing to improve your

descriptions, as well as the difference between showing versus telling.

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Choose a hero, a villain, a student, a teacher or another character. Use the same mind map and create your own character.

Appearance

Personality

What does he think about

himself?

Likes

Dislikes

Education \ job

Values / beliefs

History

Family

Best memory

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OBSERVATIONAL WRITING

Observational writing is about showing your reader people, places, events, or objects through the use of specific detail.

In The Prentice Hall Guide For College Writers, Stephen Reid explains the process of observational writing:

If your reader is going to learn from your observations, you need to give the exact details that you learned from, not just your conclusions or generalizations. Even in writing, experience is the best teacher, so use specific details to communicate the feel, the data, the sights and sounds and smells.

Below you will find activities for a bunch of different observational writing techniques.

METAPHORS

Definition: Metaphor is when you compare two things that are not similar. Unlike with a simile, you don't use

"like" or "as" in the comparison.

Examples: John is a real pig when he eats.

All the world’s a stage.

Can you think of any metaphors? Pick from the list below and write four metaphors of your own.

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School Love Winter Death

Roller coasters Mosaic cake Ferryboat rides

My hair New shoes Football Sunshine

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COMPARATIVES

Comparisons most often come in the form of analogy or simile. An analogy demonstrates

the similarity or similarities between two things or concepts, while a simile compares two

distinctly different things using the word "like" or "as." Comparisons can help readers

connect something they have not experienced with something they are very familiar

with. Not many people have jumped out of an airplane but many have ridden on a

rollercoaster, so a writer can compare the experience of skydiving with that first drop on a world class rollercoaster.

Example: "Cameron's house is like a museum. It's very cold, and very beautiful, and you're not allowed to touch

anything."

Complete the comparisons below, then write a description of why it’s true.

1. Darkness is like ________________________________________________________ because ___________

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2. Ice cream is like ________________________________________________________ because ___________

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3. School field trips are like _________________________________________________ because ___________

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Now write 3 sentences of your own using like. If you have time you can draw pictures to illustrate your

sentences

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POINT OF VIEW The phrase "point of view" refers to the position from which an object, person, or

event is observed. Before beginning to write, an author must decide upon which

point of view would best suit the subject matter. Perhaps a story might be better

told from the point of view of the grandfather as opposed to the daughter? Point

of view holds the power to determine the audience's response to writing. As

Stephen Reid explains in The Prentice Hall Guide For College Writers, "what is

seen depends on who is doing the seeing."

The narrator is the main

character in the story. Uses “I”

Rarely used. Narrator uses

“you”. Used in essays. The narrator knows everything

and isn’t part of the story. Uses

“he, she and it”

I felt awful. My whole body was

fighting against me.

He felt awful. His whole body was

fighting against him.

First, choose a subject from the box on the left. Then choose a point of view from which to write about that

subject, and write three sentences. You may only use each subject and point of view one time!

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Subjects

Fishing Buying a car Training for football

Sleeping Driving a motorcycle Getting sick

Carrying a cat Going to the cinema Eating peanut butter

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SHOWING VERSUS TELLING

Showing vs telling is an important aspect of creating effective description. Writing which

"tells" is plain and straightforward, yet often has difficulty involving the reader. An

example of a "telling" sentence would be: "Kathy was sad." This sentence tells the reader

what judgment needs to be made about Kathy, yet does not provide the evidence to

support that judgment.

“Showing” answers questions such as: How do we know that Kathy is sad? How is she behaving? What does she

look like? Writing which "shows" guides the reader in coming to their own conclusions.

Example:

Mike was mad. = TELLING

Mike’s face reddened and he felt his fingers wrap tightly around the smooth metal base of the lamp. = SHOWING

Read the following sentences from The Giver and decide if they are showing or telling. Circle which one it is first.

If it is a showing sentence, write what the author is trying to show. If it is a telling sentence, then rewrite it as a

showing sentence.

A. But there was a little shudder of nervousness. SHOWING or TELLING?

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B. Many of the students were biting their lips to keep from laughing. SHOWING or TELLING?

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C. He was fascinated. SHOWING or TELLING?

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D. Jonas was surprised. SHOWING or TELLING?

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E. But again and again during free time, I found myself drawn to the new children. I spent almost all my

volunteer hours in the nurturing center. SHOWING or TELLING?

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HOW TO SHOW...

Embarrassed

wanting to run away and hide

cheeks burning with heat

taking shallow breaths

needing to swallow, but throat is dry

mind going blank—can’t think of what

to say or do next

feeling heart speed up

Hungry

dreaming about cheeseburgers

stomach gurgling and growling

mouth watering at the smell of food

shoveling food into mouth

imagining random objects as food

trying to remember when last ate

Write on the post-it notes below ways you could show the following.

Happy Nervous

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WRITING YOUR DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Now it’s your chance to use all the descriptive writing keys, tricks and techniques you have learned and put them

into your own writing. You will plan and write a descriptive essay in this section. Good luck!

PLANNING

Choose a topic from the list below. This will be your essay topic—choose something that interests you!

You arrive on an island. Write a description of your first impressions of the place and its people.

You are a dog. Describe a day in your life.

You are the only survivor of a virus in Istanbul. Describe your life as the only person in the city.

You are waiting to visit the dentist to get a tooth removed. Describe your experience in the waiting room.

You are skiing down Mount Everest. Describe the experience.

Once you have chosen your topic, brainstorm some ideas for your essay in the space below. Make sure to

brainstorm key descriptive terms and phrases, story order, as well as the techniques and keys we practiced

earlier.

Topic:

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General adjective Descriptive adjective replacements

General verb Vivid verb replacements

In the chart below, write down some general adjectives that could apply to your topic. Then, come up with at

least three descriptive replacements for each general term. You can use these in your essay!

Now, do the same with general and vivid verbs. Remember—at least three descriptive replacements.

Finally, jot down some of the sensory details that are associated with your topic. Write three for each sense.

Sight Sound Taste Touch Smell

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PROOFREADING AND EDITING

Proofreading, editing and revising your own writing is one of the most important parts of writing an essay. Your job

doesn’t end with just writing—you have to go back and check for mistakes! Your argument won’t be very strong if

you misspell your subject and forget to put a period at the end of your Thesis Statement.

For proofreading and editing, it’s all in the CUPS …

For revising, use your

C U P S

Capitalization: names, places, months, titles, I, sentences

Usage: nouns and verbs matched correctly (I am, you are, etc.)

Punctuation: periods, commas, question marks, quotes, etc.

Spelling: check everything—use the dictionary if you need to!

A R M S

Add: sentences and words to strengthen your arguments

Remove: unnecessary or incorrect sentences and words

Move: change the placement of sentences and words

Substitute: trade in sentences and words that work better

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In the space below, pick four sentences from your essay and revise them using your ARMS.

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What do you want to see more of in the

booklet?

What do you want to see less of? Offer an

alternative.

What parts of the booklet were

easy?

What parts were ok? What parts were difficult?

Do you have any other comments or feedback about the booklet?

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NOTES

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