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6Describing: Media and Popular

Culture

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Learning Outcomes

• Identify real world applications for writing a description.

• Understand the steps for writing a description.

• Interpret images and descriptive readings about media and popular culture.

• Analyze the rhetorical star for description.• Apply the steps for writing a description.

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Real World Applications (LO 6.1)

• School– Describe what

you see under a microscope.

– Describe your observations during field work.

• Daily Life– Describe a dream home to a real estate agent.– Describe your symptoms

to a physician.

• Career– Describe your past

achievements on a job application.

– Describe the products or services your company offers.

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Steps for Writing Descriptively (LO 6.2)

• Begin by creating a dominant impression.

• Use an objective or a subjective approach.

• Appeal to the senses.

• Include similes and/or metaphors.

• Organize your description logically.

• End with something memorable.

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Pop Culture: Images & Descriptive Readings (LO 6.3)

Writing about an image• Describe image.

• Tell how it appeals to the senses.

• Explain what aspect of popular culture the image represents.

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Popular Culture: Images & Persuasive Readings (contd.)

Media connection for describing• Watch, read, or listen to the

suggested media for examples.

• View various types of media to better understand methods of description.

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The Rhetorical Star (LO 6.4)

Subject• Choose a topic that you can observe

firsthand or through a picture,

television show, or other medium.

• You might describe an interesting place, an exciting event, a unique person or animal, or an unusual object.

• Capture something interesting to share with your readers.

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The Rhetorical Star (contd.)

Audience• Know your readers.

• Determine what about your subject

will interest your readers.

• Select the audience characteristics you can appeal to in your description.

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The Rhetorical Star (contd.)

Purpose• Consider what you want to

accomplish.

• Decide if you want to inform, persuade,

or entertain your readers.

• Describe your subject so you readers feel as if they have observed it themselves.

• Keep your purpose in mind at all times.

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The Rhetorical Star (contd.)

Audience • Consider if your audience will be

supportive, hostile, or undecided.

• Select details that will appeal to your specific audience.

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The Rhetorical Star (contd.)

Strategy• Determine if other writing

strategies are needed.

• Consider what additional information may be necessary.

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The Rhetorical Star (contd.)

Design• Select the number of

details necessary.• Determine if graphics or

other design elements are needed.

• Design your document to be as descriptive as possible.

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Applying the Writing Process (LO 6.5)

Discovering• Search for a subject in the chapter that would

be interesting to describe.• Go somewhere scenic, such as a beach, the

woods, or a mountainside to find something beautiful to describe.

• Make a list of sensory details. • Freewrite what comes to mind about your

topic.• Make a rough sketch of your subject to

determine what details to cover.

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Applying the Writing Process (contd.)

Planning• Create a list of adjectives you would like

to include in your description.• Determine the order in which you would

like to present the descriptive details: left to right, top to bottom, near to far, and so on.

• Organize your ideas with a graphic organizer, a cluster, or an outline.

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Applying the Writing Process (contd.)

Composing• Write a first draft.

• Keep your dominant impression in mind.

• Don’t focus on grammar or punctuation.

• Keep the steps for descriptive writing in mind.

Getting Feedback• Have a peer read your rough draft.

• Utilize the peer review questions if possible.

• Get a second opinion, if possible.

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Applying the Writing Process (contd.)

Revising• Make sure your description is full of sensory details.

• Add, delete, or rearrange ideas as needed.

Editing• Read your essay again.

• Check for grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.

• Use transitions to help your descriptive details flow smoothly .

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Applying the Writing Process (contd.)

Proofreading• Read your essay at least one more time.

• Look for typographical errors.

• Make final corrections.