writing – descriptive

8/9/2019 WRITING – DESCRIPTIVE

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TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS

WRITING

DESCRIPTION

1) STEP BY STEP

ARGUMENTATION1) TAKE A STAND

2) EVIDENCE

3) FACTS

4) ARGUE WHAT ISARGUABLE

EXPOSITION

1) EXAMPLES2) PROCESS

3) DEFINITION

4) CLASSIFICATION

5) CAUSE AND EFFECT

6) COMPARISON

NARRATION

1) STORY

2) TIME



W RITING n DESCRIPTIVE

/NARRATIVE/ EXPOSITORY / ARGUMENTATIVEc

THE MEANINGS

1) DESCRIPTIVE

Science-related essays often require background

description : of a thing, process or state of affairs ±

analyzing it into its parts. This can be donechronologically, serially, hierarchically, etc. It is a test

of your ability to select and synthesise ³factual´

information.



A description is a verbal picture of a person. it is a

word picture. use all five senses to portray a scene

in words. the senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell

and feel.to write a vivid description be precise on dominant

impression. it is the feature that stands out about

what you are describing.



>A narration is writing that tells a story in words.> It can be a make-believe story (fiction) or something

that actually took place (a personal experience).

> Narration is normally written to entertain, but it may

also function as an information text or a persuasive text.

> The narrative follows a time order, so the sentences and the paragraphs are best linked by using proper

transitions such as :

1) after wards 7) not long after that

2) presently 8) since then

3) later 9) soon at last

4) before 10) immediately

5) how 11) after a short time

6) the next day 12) lately

13) suddenly

2) NARRATIVE



3) EXPOSITORY

³Exposition´ is a rather formal term which really

means either ³information´ or ³explanation´, modes of

communication we might use to write a manual, offer

instructions on how things work or where to find

things, or recount what happened during arevolution, etc.

There are 4 types of expository essays :

i. Descriptive

ii. Explanatory

iii. Illustrativeiv. Analytical



4) ARGUMENTATIVE

Argumentative literally refers to everything that

involves debate and possible disagreement, and to

opinion as opposed to the uncontested facts of

exposition. It means agreeing or disagreeing with agiven proposition, either strongly or tentatively.

In more general terms it refers to a more

subjective style of writing, where writers engage in

defining their terms or interpreting and evaluating the

views, evidence or data very clearly from their ownperspective or viewpoint.



ARGUMENTATIVEESSAY

The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic, collect, generate, and evaluate

evidence, and establish a position on the topic in a concise

manner.

Argumentative essay assignments generally call for extensive

research of literature or previously published material.

Argumentative assignments may also require empirical research

where the student collects data through inter views, sur veys,

obser vations, or experiments.



THE STRUCTURE OF THE

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first

paragraph of the essay.

In the first paragraph of an argument essay, students should set the

context by reviewing the topic in a general way. Next the author should

explain why the topic is important (exigence) or why readers should

care about the issue. Lastly, students should present the thesis

statement. It is essential that this thesis statement be appropriately

narrowed to follow the guidelines set forth in the assignment. If the

student does not master this portion of the essay, it will be quite

difficult to compose an effective or persuasive essay.



C lear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and

conclusion.

Transitions are the mortar that holds the foundation of the essay

together. Without logical progression of thought, the reader is

unable to follow the essay¶s argument, and the structure will

collapse. Transitions should wrap up the idea from the previous

section and introduce the idea that is to follow in the next section.



Body paragraphs that include evidential support.

Each paragraph should be limited to the discussion of one general

idea. This will allow for clarity and direction throughout the essay. In

addition, such conciseness creates an ease of readability for one¶s

audience. It is important to note that each paragraph in the body of

the essay must have some logical connection to the thesis

statement in the opening paragraph. Some paragraphs will directly

support the thesis statement with evidence collected during

research. It is also important to explain how and why the evidence

supports the thesis (warrant).



However, argumentative essays should also consider and explain

differing points of view regarding the topic. Depending on the

length of the assignment, students should dedicate one or two

paragraphs of an argumentative essay to discussing conflicting

opinions on the topic. Rather than explaining how these differing

opinions are wrong outright, students should note how opinions

that do not align with their thesis might not be well informed or how

they might be out of date.



E vidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal).

The argumentative essay requires well-researched, accurate, detailed,

and current information to support the thesis statement and consider

other points of view. Some factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal

evidence should support the thesis. However, students must consider

multiple points of view when collecting evidence. As noted in the

paragraph above, a successful and well-rounded argumentative essay

will also discuss opinions not aligning with the thesis. It is unethical to

exclude evidence that may not support the thesis. It is not the

student¶s job to point out how other positions are wrong outright, but

rather to explain how other positions may not be well informed or up to

date on the topic.



A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but

readdresses it in light of the evidence provided.

It is at this point of the essay that students may begin to struggle.

This is the portion of the essay that will leave the most immediate

impression on the mind of the reader. Therefore, it must be

effective and logical. Do not introduce any new information into the

conclusion; rather, synthesize the information presented in the

body of the essay. Restate why the topic is important, review the

main points, and review your thesis. You may also want to include

a short discussion of more research that should be completed in

light of your work.



A COMPLETE ARGUMENTPerhaps it is helpful to think of an essay in terms of a conversation or

debate with a classmate. If I were to discuss the cause of World War II

and its current effect on those who lived through the tumultuous time,

there would be a beginning, middle, and end to the conversation. In

fact, if I were to end the argument in the middle of my second point,

questions would arise concerning the current effects on those who

lived through the conflict. Therefore, the argumentative essay must becomplete, and logically so, leaving no doubt as to its intent or

argument.



NARRATIVE ESSEY

DEFINATION OF NARRATIVE ESSEYAs a mode of expository writing, the narrative approach, more than any other,offers writers a chance to think and write about themselves.We all have experiences lodged in our memories, which are worthy of sharingwith readers.Yet sometimes they are so fused with other memories that a lot of the timespent in writing narrative is in the prewriting stage.

When you write a narrative essay, you are telling a story. Narrative essays are told from a defined point of view, often the author's, sothere is feeling as well as specific and often sensory details provided to get thereader involved in the elements and sequence of the story.The verbs are vivid and precise. The narrative essay makes a point and thatpoint is often defined in the opening sentence, but can also be found as the lastsentence in the opening paragraph.



How to Write a Narrative

Essay Writing a Narrative Essay

There's nothing like reading a great narrative.Whether in novel or essay form, a narrative pieceof writing transports readers into the time andspace of the world portrayed by the writing.

There's also nothing like w riting a greatnarrative. Through reflecting upon an event, and

through recreating the experience for otherreaders, writing a narrative essay can enable youto develop new, subtle, and rewardingperspectives



Basic qualities of a narrative essay:

A narrative essay is a piece of writing thatrecreates an experience through time.

A narrative essay can be based on one of your

own experiences, either past or present, or it

can be based on the experiences of someoneelse.

In addition to telling a story, a narrative essay

also communicates a main idea or a lesson

learned.



First steps for writing a narrative essay:

Identify the experience that you want to write

about.

Think about why the experience is significant.

Spend a good deal of time drafting yourrecollections about the details of the

experience.

Create an outline of the basic parts of your

narrative



Writing about the experience:

Using your outline, describe each part of yournarrative.

Rather than telling your readers what happened,use vivid details and descriptions to actuallyrecreate the experience for your readers.

Think like your readers. Try to remember that theinformation you present is the only informationyour readers have about the experiences.

Always keep in mind that all of the small andseemingly unimportant details known to you arenot necessarily known to your readers



Communicating the significance of the

experience:

It's often effective to begin your narrativewith a paragraph that introduces the

experience and communicates the

significance. This technique guarantees that

your readers will understand the significanceof the experience as they progess through the

narrative.



You might also consider introducing the

experience in the first paragraph but delaying

your expression of the significance of theexperience until the end of the essay. This

approach heightens your readers' sensitivity

to the significance of the narrative.



Potential prompts for your narrative essay:

If you're having trouble choosing an

experience to write about, take a quick glancethrough these prompts. They might help you

remember or identify a particularly

interesting or significant experience to focus

on.



A childhood event. Think of an experience whenyou learned something for the first time, or whenyou realized how important someone was for

you. Achieving a goal. Think about a particularly

meaningful achievement in your life. This couldbe something as seemingly minor as achieving agood grade on a difficult assignment, or this

could be something with more long-lastingeffects, like getting the job you desired orgetting into the best school to which youapplied.



A failure. Think about a time when you did

not perform as well as you had wanted.

Focusing on an experience like this can resultin rewarding reflections about the positive

emerging from the negative.

A good or bad deed. Think about a time

when you did or did not stand up for yourself or someone else in the face of adversity or

challenge



A change in your life. Think about a time when

something significant changed in your life. This

could be anything from a move across town to a

major change in a relationship to the birth or

death of a loved one.

A realization. Think about a time when you

experienced a realization. This could be anything

from understanding a complicated math

equation to gaining a deeper understanding of a

philosophical issue or life situation



How To summarize, the

narrative essay is told from a particular point of view

makes and supports a point

is filled with precise detail uses vivid verbs and modifiers

uses conflict and sequence as does any story

may use dialogue



The purpose of a narrative report is to describesomething. Many students write narrative reportsthinking that these are college essays or papers.While the information in these reports is basic toother forms of writing, narrative reports lack the"higher order thinking" that essays require. Thusnarrative reports do not, as a rule, yield high gradesfor many college courses. A basic example of anarrative report is a "book report" that outlines a

book; it includes the characters, their actions,possibly the plot, and, perhaps, some scenes. That is,it is a description of "what happens in the book." Butthis leaves out an awful lot



What is left out is what the book or article isabout -- the underlying concepts, assumptions,arguments, or point of view that the book or

article expresses. A narrative report leaves asidea discussion that puts the events of the text intothe context of what the text is about. Is the textabout love? Life in the fast lane? Society? Wealthand power? Poverty? In other words, narrativereports often overlook the authors purpose orpoint of view expressed through the book orarticle



Once an incident is chosen, the writer should keep threeprinciples in mind.

Remember to involve readers in the story. It is much moreinteresting to actually recreate an incident for readers than

to simply tell about it. Find a generalization, which the story supports. This is the

only way the writer's personal experience will take onmeaning for readers. This generalization does not have toencompass humanity as a whole; it can concern the writer,men, women, or children of various ages and backgrounds.

Remember that although the main component of anarrative is the story, details must be carefully selected tosupport, explain, and enhance the story.



Conventions of Narrative

EssaysIn writing your narrative

essay, keep the following

conventions in mind.Narratives are generally

written in the first person,

that is, using I. However,

third person (he, she, or

it) can also be used.

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