GEN - Description Lesson

Description

Descriptive writing vividly portrays a situation, a character, or an object in an attempt to offer the reader a sensory comprehension of the writer's own experience. If you take this definition and divide it into its constituent parts, you will have some clues as to how to write descriptively. First, we have a "vivid portrayal" as well as "sensory comprehension." So the focus of descriptive writing centers on imagery. Imagery allows the writer to dwell on an experience and provide descriptions of the senses that invite the reader to share specific sensations. Inviting the audience to understand or experience the "situation, character or object" is a key element of writing as communication. We can all imagine an image in our mind, however, when we write we need to be cognizant of our abilities to share this with our audience.

The following essay is a descriptive piece by Norman Mailer.  Mailer was one of the leading American writers of the late 20th century because he injected an energetic and honest description into his novels. 

Reading Assignment: "The Death of Benny Paret" by Norman Mailer

Click here to download Mailer's essay, "The Death of Benny Paret" Links to an external site.. As you read the piece, evaluate how his choice of images draws the audience into the ring, into this tragic event, and into Mailer's experience of the fight.

Self-Assessment and Practice

Match senses with images. You will have to look up any unfamiliar words. 

Drag the card from the bottom to the correct category.

Just as descriptive writing can not be contained within a single genre, descriptive writing does not just rely on sensory information. In Mailer's essay take note of how he shifts the perspective from the objective observer to a collective understanding.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.