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How to write a descriptive essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. This type of essay , like the narrative essay , is more creative than most academic writing .

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Descriptive essay topics, tips for writing descriptively, descriptive essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about descriptive essays.

When you are assigned a descriptive essay, you’ll normally be given a specific prompt or choice of prompts. They will often ask you to describe something from your own experience.

Describe a place you love to spend time in.
Describe an object that has sentimental value for you.

You might also be asked to describe something outside your own experience, in which case you’ll have to use your imagination.

Describe the experience of a soldier in the trenches of World War I.
Describe what it might be like to live on another planet.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to describe something more abstract, like an emotion.

If you’re not given a specific prompt, try to think of something you feel confident describing in detail. Think of objects and places you know well, that provoke specific feelings or sensations, and that you can describe in an interesting way.

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The key to writing an effective descriptive essay is to find ways of bringing your subject to life for the reader. You’re not limited to providing a literal description as you would be in more formal essay types.

Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and strong word choices to create a memorable description.

Use figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphor and simile that use words in non-literal ways to create a memorable effect. This is essential in a descriptive essay; it’s what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

Take the following description of a park.

This tells us something about the place, but it’s a bit too literal and not likely to be memorable.

If we want to make the description more likely to stick in the reader’s mind, we can use some figurative language.

Here we have used a simile to compare the park to a face and the trees to facial hair. This is memorable because it’s not what the reader expects; it makes them look at the park from a different angle.

You don’t have to fill every sentence with figurative language, but using these devices in an original way at various points throughout your essay will keep the reader engaged and convey your unique perspective on your subject.

Use your senses

Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details. This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to smell, sound, touch, and taste.

Obviously not all senses will apply to every subject, but it’s always a good idea to explore what’s interesting about your subject beyond just what it looks like.

Even when your subject is more abstract, you might find a way to incorporate the senses more metaphorically, as in this descriptive essay about fear.

Choose the right words

Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs , verbs , and even nouns.

It’s easy to end up using clichéd phrases—“cold as ice,” “free as a bird”—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices. Clichés provide conventional ways of describing things, but they don’t tell the reader anything about your unique perspective on what you’re describing.

Try looking over your sentences to find places where a different word would convey your impression more precisely or vividly. Using a thesaurus can help you find alternative word choices.

My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from above.
My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.

However, exercise care in your choices; don’t just look for the most impressive-looking synonym you can find for every word. Overuse of a thesaurus can result in ridiculous sentences like this one:

My feline perambulates the allotment proficiently and capers atop the palisade to regard it from aloft.

An example of a short descriptive essay, written in response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how a descriptive essay works.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

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The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

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Descriptive Essay

Descriptive Essay Examples

Descriptive Essay Examples & Writing Tips

13 min read

Grasping the Concept of Descriptive Essays

A descriptive essay is a type of essay in which a writer describes a specific subject in detail. The writer takes help from vivid language to paint a picture in the reader’s mind by engaging the human senses.

Whether you are writing about a person or an historical events, use strong adjectives and adverbs to present sensory details. The main objective of writing a descriptive essay is to describe a particular subject, person, place, or situation.

It is written in a way to make the reader feel the same way as you do. It is like a narrative essay where you provide a detailed description of the subject.

Descriptive essays vividly depict a subject, engaging the reader's senses. They transport readers to the scene described, making it feel real.

To help you grasp the essence of a descriptive essay and enhance your descriptive writing skills, here is a selection of descriptive essay examples pdf that showcase the art of painting with words.

Descriptive Essay Example 5 Paragraph

By following a 5 paragraph structured approach, you'll learn how to create a captivating essay that vividly brings your subject to life.

It consists of five distinct paragraphs, organised in the following sequence:

Introduction
Body Paragraph 1
Body Paragraph 2
Body Paragraph 3

Here's an example of a descriptive essay using the classic 5-paragraph structure.

Subjective Descriptive Essay Example

Subjective descriptive essays are written based on personal experiences. Take a look at the below examples to understand this descriptive essay format.

Objective Descriptive Essay Example

The objective descriptive essay is a type of descriptive essay in which you describe a person, place, or thing without any emotions or opinions.

Take a look at the below examples to understand this format better.

Descriptive Essay Example About an Object

Personal Descriptive Essay Example

In a personal descriptive essay, the writer vividly portrays a significant aspect of their life, allowing readers to connect emotionally.

Below is an example of an essay focused on a memorable childhood experience.

Descriptive Essay Example About A Person

Looking for a descriptive essay example about a person? Check out our outstanding example:

Descriptive Essay Example About A Place

Describing a place can be tricky. If you want to write a descriptive essay about a place, it is even more difficult. To understand this format better, let's take a look at this descriptive essay example about a place.

Short Descriptive Essay Example

Many students fail to understand the key to writing a short descriptive essay. If you are one of them, here is an example that will help you get an idea of how to write it.

Narrative and Descriptive Essay Example

A narrative descriptive essay is a type of descriptive essay where you narrate a story in an interesting manner. Take a look at the below example to understand how to write this type of essay.

Narrative Descriptive Essay Example

Descriptive Essay Example for Middle School

Middle school students often struggle to write essays. Descriptive essay assignments might even prove to be more difficult. Here is an example that will help middle schoolers understand this format better.

Descriptive Essay Example for Grade 6

Descriptive Essay Examples For Grade 7

Descriptive Essay Example for High School

High school students face similar challenges as middle schoolers when it comes to descriptive writing. It is difficult to describe something without being generic. If you're going through something similar, here are some examples for you.

Descriptive Essay Example for High School Students

Descriptive Essay Example for Grade 10

Grade 12 Descriptive Essay Examples

Descriptive Essay Example for University and College

College and University students have to deal with complex and more challenging descriptive essay topics. Mostly, they don't have time to write such lengthy essays. Here are some examples that can help them understand such essays better.

Descriptive Essay Example for University Students

Descriptive Essay Example College

Thesis for Descriptive Essay Example

How to Write a Descriptive Essay?

There are many elements to an amazing descriptive essay. For starters, it's important that the writer stays focused on one point when learning how to write a descriptive essay.

Also, uses figurative language so readers can imagine what they're reading about in their minds.

Below are some steps as well as how to write a descriptive essay examples that you should follow for writing.

1. Choose a Good Topic

The best way to make an interesting essay is by choosing a unique topic. It will allow you the freedom of creativity. Be careful not to choose something familiar because it might get boring quickly for readers.

Short on descriptive topic ideas? Check out our extensive list of descriptive essay topics to get inspiration.

2. Create a Strong Introduction

In your opening paragraph, introduce your subject and provide some context. Engage your readers' curiosity by offering a glimpse of what you'll be describing.

Your introduction should have a topic sentence and it must set the tone and establish the mood for the essay.

Here are samples for how to write introduction for your descriptive essays:

How to Start a Descriptive Essay - Examples

Introduction of a Descriptive Essay - Examples

3. Write a Thesis Statement

It is the most important part of any essay. When you are planning a descriptive essay, you need to come up with a strong thesis statement .

A thesis statement is usually one or two sentences that explain the whole point of your essay to the reader.

4. Collect Information

To write a good essay, you need relevant information supporting your thesis statement. Make sure that you get your information from reliable sources.

5. Make an Outline

An essay outline is a way to organize your thoughts and plan what you will say in your essay. In the outline, you should have an introduction, a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Don’t know how to make an outline? Visit our descriptive essay outline blog and learn to create impressive outlines for your descriptive essays.

6. Use Descriptive Language

The heart of your essay lies in the details you provide. Use vivid, sensory language to help your readers envision what you're describing.

Engage all five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — to make your description come to life.

7. Conclude Effectively

In your conclusion, summarise the key points and leave a lasting impression. Reinforce the emotional impact of your description and provide a sense of closure.

Make your readers feel like they've completed a journey with you.

How to End a Descriptive Essay - Examples

8. Proofreading

Proofreading is the process of looking for and correcting any spelling or grammatical errors in a written essay. Proofreading makes a document look more professional, so it is important to do it before submission.

How to Write a Descriptive Essay - Example

Tips to Write a Good Descriptive Essay

Writing a good descriptive essay is both a difficult and easy task. Here we have listed some useful descriptive writing tips that will make your writing process easy and simple.

Preplanning: Before you start writing, plan your essay, and write all the essential details. Please do not think that you will remember it just because you know something; it does not happen this way. Write down all the details and assemble them all in one place.
Use Descriptive Language: Employ vivid and specific language to paint a detailed picture. Instead of general terms, opt for precise adjectives and powerful nouns to convey a clear image.
Appeal to Emotions: Connect with your readers on an emotional level by describing not just the physical attributes but also the emotional significance of the subject. Help readers feel what you felt.
Create an Outline: Creating a descriptive essay outline before starting the essay will keep you focused on the essay topic. Include what you will add to each of the sections. Divide it into the introductory paragraph, thesis statement, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Edit and Revise: No writing process is complete without thorough editing and proofreading. Spelling and grammar checking the essay for plagiarism are the main steps before the final submission of the essay.

Want more tips to improve your descriptive writing skills? Here is a short video clip to help you out.

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A descriptive essay is the most creative of all essay types. It involves the use of sensory descriptors and impactful narratives to depict an object, person, or even something abstract like an emotion. This type of essay is administered by teachers and professors to gauge your understanding of language.

In this article, we will guide you through everything there is to know about descriptive essays. This includes the descriptive essay definition, some descriptive essay topics, and various examples. To help you in your essay-writing process, we have also included an outline of a descriptive essay.

But let’s start from the beginning: What is a descriptive essay?

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What is a descriptive essay?

A descriptive essay is a highly creative form of writing which describes an object, person, location, experience, emotion, or situation. It makes use of vivid imagery and different figures of speech to create a beautiful and immersive experience for the reader.

This type of essay is often assigned in creative writing courses in schools or colleges. It does not involve the presentation of arguments or information. It just involves creatively expressing yourself with the help of various language devices.

Unlike a narrative essay which involves telling a story, a descriptive essay only focuses on one particular object or idea. Although most essay topics are non-fictional, descriptive essay topics can either be fictional or non-fictional.

Let us look at a few examples of topics for a descriptive essay.

Descriptive essay topics

Since writing a descriptive essay is a creative form of writing, it can cover a wide range of topics. These topics can range from practical experiences such as “My Grandpa’s Couch” to thought experiments such as “Living in a world with no concept of time”.

Here are a few more descriptive essay topics:

Exploring a ghost town
A starry night in the mountains
A day in the life of an explorer
Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wandering through the Swiss meadows
My childhood home
Memories of grandma’s farm
Experiencing euphoria for the first time
My description of utopia
My most treasured possession

Descriptive essay structure

Since descriptive essays are highly creative in nature, the descriptive essay structure is much more fluid as compared to most academic essay types. Although they do follow a general structure, there is no specific descriptive essay format. It serves more as a guideline than a hard and fast rule.

Descriptive essays generally don’t revolve around proving a point or making an argument. The goal is to simply provide a vivid and detailed description of a particular subject.

Let’s study the basic structure of a descriptive essay:

1. Introduction

Wondering how to start a descriptive essay? Like all essay types, the introduction of a descriptive essay is composed of three key elements: A hook, some background information, and a thesis statement.

However, the thesis statement of a descriptive essay is different from the thesis statements of most academic essays. It simply makes a claim regarding the subject of your choosing.

Here’s an example of a descriptive essay introduction:

Background information
Thesis statement

The last day of school—a momentous occasion that marks the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work and growth. Excitement hangs in the air as students gather for one final day of shared experiences and unforgettable memories. The hallways buzz with chatter and laughter, mingling with the anticipation of summer freedom. It’s a day of mixed emotions, as the promise of lazy days ahead clashes with the bittersweet farewell to teachers and classmates who have become like family. The last day of school is a mosaic of emotions, a snapshot of a moment that holds the weight of an entire academic journey, and a prelude to the new adventures that lie just beyond the horizon.

2. Body paragraph

A descriptive essay usually has three body paragraphs. However, the length and number of paragraphs may vary depending on the complexity and scope of your essay topic.

A body paragraph comprises of a topic sentence that focuses on a particular aspect of the subject. The topic sentence is elaborated upon by sensory, contextual, and emotional descriptors. Each paragraph ends with a transition sentence that provides context for the next paragraph.

Let’s understand this better with the help of an example:

Topic sentence
Description
Transition sentence

Classrooms brim with finality and accomplishment. Doodles and scribbles now grace once-neat desks, testifying to idle daydreams and shared laughter. Colorful displays and academic achievements adorn the walls, silently witnessing each student’s growth. Empty lockers echo the countless exchanges and whispered secrets they once held. Yearbooks circulate like cherished artifacts, pages filled with smiling faces and heartfelt messages. Laughter and hugs fill the hallways as friends make promises to keep in touch and embark on summer adventures. The last day of school etches indelible memories, a tapestry of nostalgia and celebration that encapsulates the joy, camaraderie, and growth of their academic journey.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion of your essay should begin with the restatement of your thesis statement along with its broader implications. You can then provide a quick summary of all the important aspects mentioned in the body paragraphs.

Finally, you can end your essay with a powerful statement or a clincher. This can include anything from a powerful lesson to a thought-provoking quote. The goal is to leave the reader with something to think about.

Here’s an example:

Restated thesis statement
Summary of body paragraphs
Concluding statement

As the final bell echoes through the hallways and students scatter in all directions, school leaves behind a lingering sense of closure and anticipation. It is a day filled with mixed emotions—a blend of nostalgia for the memories created, gratitude for the knowledge gained, and excitement for the new chapter that awaits. The last day of school symbolizes a milestone in each student’s journey, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. It is a time to reflect on the growth, challenges overcome, and friendships forged along the way. The last day of school is not an end, but rather a stepping stone towards new horizons, where each student will continue to learn, explore, and thrive.

Now that we’ve understood how to structure a descriptive essay, let’s figure out how to write it!

How to write a descriptive essay

In order to write a perfect descriptive essay you must effectively make use of multiple creative writing devices. These creative writing devices include figures of speech, imagery, sensory and emotional descriptors, as well as evocative language.

If you find the essay writing process challenging, we’re here to equip you with essential tips on writing a descriptive essay. Let’s take a look at how to write a descriptive essay:

1. Use figures of speech

Literary devices such as similies, metaphors, and imagery are creative devices that describe an object or a person in a figurative sense. These creative devices add an element of interest to your essay, making it more vivid, vibrant, and colorful.

The use of figures of speech can turn an otherwise boring piece of writing into a masterpiece. Take a look at the following example:

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with thick bark and intertwining branches.

Although this example is a good start, it can be made much more interesting with the use of figures of speech.

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with its resolve as strong as iron. Its arms intertwined as they reached for the skies, yearning for the sun.

The use of literary devices such as personification and metaphor makes the banyan tree in the second example come to life. This is how you can make your writing more vivid, descriptive, and poetic.

2. Use your senses

Sensory descriptors are one of the most important aspects of a descriptive essay. The key is to make the reader experience what you’ve experienced. This means appealing to all five senses of the reader.

Although the visual aspect is important, you should also focus on how something sounds, feels, and smells. The experience of touching, smelling, or feeling something is more evocative than simply viewing it.

Some sensory descriptors are used in a literal sense:

The smell of rain in July takes me back to my childhood. The pitter-patter reminds me of my mother’s footsteps, bringing us delicious snacks.

They can also be used metaphorically:

The beautiful, cold gaze of the moon stunned us all.

3. Use evocative language

It is a good idea to use strong, evocative language that conveys an intense action or emotion. Creative use of words is an important factor in writing a descriptive essay since passive language leads to a dull, boring essay. Let’s take a look at the following sentences:

The 100-meter race was completed by Usain Bolt in under 10 seconds.

Usian Bolt whizzed through the 100-meter race in under 10 seconds!

The use of the word “completed” indicates no action and the use of passive voice makes the example dull. On the other hand, the phrase “whizzed through” indicates speed and intensity which makes the second example much more interesting to read.

Now that we’ve understood the different methods of writing a descriptive essay, let’s understand its outline.

Descriptive essay outline

The outline of a descriptive essay is less structured compared to most academic essay types. It merely serves as a guideline that you can use to flesh out your essay. It also helps you develop a coherent structure and logical flow for your topic sentences.

If you’re not familiar with creating an essay outline, you can take help of essay outline generators . In order to help you further develop your essay, we’ve created an outline for your reference. The following descriptive essay outline revolves around the nostalgia experienced when going through an old diary.

Turning the Pages of Time

I. Introduction

A. Hook: Engaging opening sentence to grab the reader’s attention.

B. Background: Briefly explain the significance of finding your old diary and the memories associated with it.

C. Thesis statement: Clearly state the main idea of the essay, highlighting the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

II. The discovery

A. Setting the scene: Describe the circumstances and location where you stumbled upon your old diary.

B. Initial emotions: Express the range of emotions that flooded your mind upon finding the diary.

C. Anticipation: Share the anticipation and curiosity about what lies within the pages of the diary.

III. The diary’s contents

A. Opening the pages: Describe the physical act of opening the diary and the smell and texture of the pages.

B. Memories unfolded: Reflect on the memories and experiences captured in the diary entries.

C. Emotional impact: Discuss the emotional response evoked by reading your own words and reliving past moments.

IV. Nostalgic reflections

A. Time traveling: Explain how reading the diary transported you back to the time and place when the entries were written.

B. Reconnecting with your past self: Describe the process of reconnecting with your past self and reevaluating your thoughts and experiences.

C. Lessons and insights: Highlight any valuable lessons, self-discoveries, or personal growth revealed through the diary’s contents.

V. Resonating with present self

A. Relevance to current life: Discuss how the insights and reflections from the diary still resonate with your present self.

B. Perspective shifts: Explain any shifts in perspective or newfound understanding that arose from revisiting the diary.

C. Appreciation: Express gratitude for the diary and its role in preserving and enriching your personal history.

VI. Cherishing the rediscovery

A. Preservation: Discuss the steps you took to preserve and protect the diary after finding it.

B. Future reflections: Share your intentions and plans for continuing the habit of journaling or preserving personal memories.

C. Closing thoughts: Reflect on the lasting impact of finding your old diary and the value of personal reflection and self-expression.

VII. Conclusion

A. Recap: Summarize the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

B. Significance: Emphasize the personal and emotional significance of reconnecting with your past self through the diary.

C. Closing remarks: Conclude with a reflection on the power of personal artifacts and the importance of preserving one’s history.

Now that we have taken a look at the descriptive essay structure let’s look at an example.

Descriptive essay example

To help you better understand the process of descriptive essay writing, we’ve constructed an example. The following example revolves around an imaginary situation. It describes the writer’s voyage through the cosmos.

Exploring the Cosmos

As the rocket engines ignited, the powerful thrust propelled us into the vast expanse of space. The vibrations rattled through the cabin, merging with the palpable anticipation that filled the air. We were embarking on a remarkable journey through the cosmos, leaving behind the familiarity of Earth and venturing into the unknown.

Outside the small window, the twinkling stars grew brighter, casting a mesmerizing glow on the infinite darkness. The view was awe-inspiring as if we were floating amidst a sea of diamonds, each one beckoning us to explore its mysteries. The depth and grandeur of space stretched out before us, reminding us of the minuscule nature of our existence in the universe.

As we traversed through the cosmic void, weightlessness engulfed our bodies, releasing us from the Earth’s gravitational pull. Every movement became a ballet, effortlessly gliding from one corner of the spacecraft to another. The sensation was both exhilarating and disorienting as if the boundaries of physical limitations had dissolved.

The silence in space was profound, a symphony of tranquility. Without the interference of atmospheric sounds, we were left with the gentle hum of the spaceship’s systems and the rhythmic beating of our own hearts. It was a humbling reminder of the vastness and serenity that lay beyond our home planet.

Farther into our journey, celestial bodies came into view, captivating us with their sheer beauty. The fiery hues of neighboring planets illuminated the darkness, displaying their own distinct personalities. We marveled at the majestic rings of Saturn, a delicate masterpiece encircling the giant planet, and the crimson swirls of Jupiter, a tempestuous giant with its own cosmic dance.

Time seemed to lose its grip on the vastness of space. Hours felt like mere moments as we traveled through light-years, witnessing the unimaginable beauty of celestial phenomena. We were reminded of the sheer magnitude of the cosmos, a testament to the wonders that lie beyond our earthly confines.

Eventually, the time came for us to return to our home planet. As we reentered Earth’s atmosphere, the fiery descent illuminated the sky, marking our triumphant return. The journey through space left an everlasting mark on our souls, forever changing our perception of our place in the universe.

Our journey was more than a physical exploration; it was a voyage of wonder and introspection. It taught us the fragility and interconnectedness of all things and ignited an insatiable curiosity to continue unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. We were forever transformed by the immensity and beauty that awaited us beyond our pale blue dot in the vast expanse of space.

After writing the essay, it’s important to edit and proofread it, which is a not easy. If you find essay editing challenging, you can consider taking the help of an essay editing service .

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of a descriptive essay, how to conclude a descriptive essay, how long should a descriptive essay be, what are the five parts of a descriptive essay, what are the two types of descriptions.

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What is a Descriptive Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

A descriptive essay is a type of creative writing that uses specific language to depict a person, object, experience, or event. The idea is to use illustrative language to show readers what the writer wants to convey – it could be as simple as a peaceful view from the top of a hill or as horrific as living in a war zone. By using descriptive language, authors can evoke a mental image in the readers’ minds, engaging readers and leaving a lasting impression, instead of just providing a play-by-play narrative.

Note that a description and descriptive essay are not the same thing. A descriptive essay typically consists of five or more well-written paragraphs with vivid imagery that can help readers visualize the content, as opposed to a description, which is typically one or more plain paragraphs with no particular structure or appeal. If you are still unsure about how to write a compelling descriptive essay, continue reading!

What is a descriptive essay, types of descriptive essay topics.

Characteristics of descriptive essays

How to write a descriptive essay using a structured outline

Frequently asked questions.

A simple descriptive essay definition is that it is a piece of writing that gives a thorough and vivid description of an object, person, experience, or situation. It is sometimes focused more on the emotional aspect of the topic rather than the specifics. The author’s intention when writing a descriptive essay is to help readers visualize the subject at hand. Generally, students are asked to write a descriptive essay to test their ability to recreate a rich experience with artistic flair. Here are a few key points to consider when you begin writing these.

Look for a fascinating subject

You might be assigned a topic for your descriptive essay, but if not, you must think of a subject that interests you and about which you know enough facts. It might be about an emotion, place, event, or situation that you might have experienced.

Acquire specific details about the topic

The next task is to collect relevant information about the topic of your choice. You should focus on including details that make the descriptive essay stand out and have a long-lasting impression on the readers. To put it simply, your aim is to make the reader feel as though they were a part of the experience in the first place, rather than merely describing the subject.

Be playful with your writing

To make the descriptive essay memorable, use figurative writing and imagery to lay emphasis on the specific aspect of the topic. The goal is to make sure that the reader experiences the content visually, so it must be captivating and colorful. Generally speaking, “don’t tell, show”! This can be accomplished by choosing phrases that evoke strong emotions and engage a variety of senses. Making use of metaphors and similes will enable you to compare different things. We will learn about them in the upcoming sections.

Capture all the different senses

Unlike other academic articles, descriptive essay writing uses sensory elements in addition to the main idea. In this type of essay writing, the topic is described by using sensory details such as smell, taste, feel, and touch. Example “ Mahira feels most at home when the lavender scent fills her senses as she lays on her bed after a long, tiring day at work . As the candle melts , so do her worries” . It is crucial to provide sensory details to make the character more nuanced and build intrigue to keep the reader hooked. Metaphors can also be employed to explain abstract concepts; for instance, “ A small act of kindness creates ripples that transcend oceans .” Here the writer used a metaphor to convey the emotion that even the smallest act of kindness can have a larger impact.

Maintain harmony between flavor and flow

The descriptive essay format is one that can be customized according to the topic. However, like other types of essays, it must have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The number of body paragraphs can vary depending on the topic and available information.

It is crucial to remember that a descriptive essay should have a specific topic and goal, such as sharing personal experiences or expressing emotions like the satisfaction of a good meal. This is accomplished by employing exact language, imagery, and figurative language to illustrate concrete features. These language devices allow the writer to craft a descriptive essay that effectively transmits a particular mood, feeling, or incident to readers while also conjuring up strong mental imagery. A descriptive essay may be creative, or it may be based on the author’s own experiences. Below is a description of a few descriptive essay examples that fit into these categories.

Personal descriptive essay example

A personal essay can look like a descriptive account of your favorite activity, a place in your neighborhood, or an object that you value. Example: “ As I step out of the front door, the crisp morning air greets me with a gentle embrace; the big chestnut tree in front, sways in the wind as if saying hello to me. The world unfolds in a symphony of awakening colors, promising a day filled with untold possibilities that make me feel alive and grateful to be born again”.

Imaginative descriptive essay example

You may occasionally be required to write descriptive essays based on your imagination or on subjects unrelated to your own experiences. The prompts for these kinds of creative essays could be to describe the experience of someone going through heartbreak or to write about a day in the life of a barista. Imaginative descriptive essays also allow you to describe different emotions. Example, the feelings a parent experiences on holding their child for the first time.

Characteristics of descriptive essay s

The aim of a descriptive essay is to provide a detailed and vivid description of a person, place, object, event, or experience. The main goal is to create a sensory experience for the reader. Through a descriptive essay, the reader may be able to experience foods, locations, activities, or feelings that they might not otherwise be able to. Additionally, it gives the writer a way to relate to the readers by sharing a personal story. The following is a list of the essential elements of a descriptive essay:

Sensory details
Clear, succinct language
Organized structure
Thesis statement
Appeal to emotion

How to write a descriptive essay, with examples

Writing an engaging descriptive essay is all about bringing the subject matter to life for the reader so they can experience it with their senses—smells, tastes, and textures. The upside of writing a descriptive essay is you don’t have to stick to the confinements of formal essay writing, rather you are free to use a figurative language, with sensory details, and clever word choices that can breathe life to your descriptive essay. Let’s take a closer look at how you can use these components to develop a descriptive essay that will stand out, using examples.

Figurative language

Have you ever heard the expression “shooting for the stars”? It refers to pushing someone to strive higher or establish lofty goals, but it does not actually mean shooting for the stars. This is an example of using figurative language for conveying strong motivational emotions. In a descriptive essay, figurative language is employed to grab attention and emphasize points by creatively drawing comparisons and exaggerations. But why should descriptive essays use metaphorical language? One it adds to the topic’s interest and humor; two, it facilitates the reader’s increased connection to the subject.

These are the five most often used figurative language techniques: personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and allusion.

Simile: A simile is a figure of speech that is used to compare two things while emphasizing and enhancing the description using terms such as “like or as.”

Example: Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving – Albert Einstein

Metaphor: A metaphor are also used to draw similarities, but without using direct or literal comparisons like done in similes.

Example: Books are the mirrors of the soul – Virginia Woolf, Between the acts

Personification: This is the process of giving nonhuman or abstract objects human traits. Any human quality, including an emotional component, a physical attribute, or an action, can be personified.

Example: Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world – Louis Pasteur

Hyperbole: This is an extreme form of exaggeration, frequently impractical, and usually employed to emphasize a point or idea. It gives the character more nuance and complexity.

Example: The force will be with you, always – Star Wars

Allusion: This is when you reference a person, work, or event without specifically mentioning them; this leaves room for the reader’s creativity.

Example: In the text below, Robert Frost uses the biblical Garden of Eden as an example to highlight the idea that nothing, not even paradise, endures forever.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay

– Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost (1923)

Descriptive essays need a combination of figurative language and strong sensory details to make the essay more memorable. This is when authors describe the subject matter employing senses like smell, sound, touch, and taste so that the reader can relate to it better.

Example of a sensory-based descriptive essay: The earthy fragrance of freshly roasted chestnuts and the sight of bright pink, red, orange fallen leaves on the street reminded her that winter was around the corner.

Word choice

Word choice is everything in a descriptive essay. For the description to be enchanting, it is essential to utilize the right adjectives and to carefully consider the verbs, nouns, and adverbs. Use unusual terms and phrases that offer a new viewpoint on your topic matter instead of overusing clichés like “fast as the wind” or “lost track of time,” which can make your descriptive essay seem uninteresting and unoriginal.

See the following examples:

Bad word choice: I was so happy because the sunset was really cool.

Good word choice: I experienced immense joy as the sunset captivated me with its remarkable colors and breathtaking beauty.

Descriptive essay format and outline

Descriptive essay writing does not have to be disorganized, it is advisable to use a structured format to organize your thoughts and ensure coherent flow in your writing. Here is a list of components that should be a part of your descriptive essay outline:

Introduction
Opening/hook sentence
Topic sentence
Body paragraphs
Concrete details
Clincher statement

Introduction:

Hook: An opening statement that captures attention while introducing the subject.
Background: Includes a brief overview of the topic the descriptive essay is based on.
Thesis statement: Clearly states the main point or purpose of the descriptive essay.

Body paragraphs: Each paragraph should have

Topic sentence: Introduce the first aspect or feature you will describe. It informs the reader about what is coming next.
Sensory details: Use emphatic language to appeal to the reader’s senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).
Concrete details: These are actual details needed to understand the context of the descriptive essay.
Supporting details: Include relevant information or examples to improve the description.

Conclusion:

Summarize key points: Here you revisit the main features or aspects of the subject.
Restate thesis statement: Reinforce the central impression or emotion.
Clincher statement: Conclude with a statement that summarizes the entire essay and serve as the last words with a powerful message.

Revision and editing:

Go over your essay to make sure it is coherent, clear, and consistent.
Check for logical paragraph transitions by proofreading the content.
Examine text to ensure correct grammar, punctuation, and style.
Use the thesaurus or AI paraphrasing tools to find the right words.

A descriptive essay often consists of three body paragraphs or more, an introduction that concludes with a thesis statement, and a conclusion that summarizes the subject and leaves a lasting impression on readers.

A descriptive essay’s primary goal is to captivate the reader by writing a thorough and vivid explanation of the subject matter, while appealing to their various senses. A list of additional goals is as follows: – Spark feeling and imagination – Create a vivid experience – Paint a mental picture – Pique curiosity – Convey a mood or atmosphere – Highlight specific details

Although they both fall within the creative writing category, narrative essays and descriptive essays have different storytelling focuses. While the main goal of a narrative essay is to tell a story based on a real-life experience or a made-up event, the main goal of a descriptive essay is to vividly describe a person, location, event, or emotion.

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Descriptive Essay: Your Guide to Writing an Effective One

A descriptive essay is one of the four main types of essays, alongside narrative, argumentative, and expository essays. Among these, descriptive essays can be particularly challenging because they demand a keen eye for detail and an appreciation for aesthetics. By vividly describing scenes and details, you engage your reader’s senses, making your essay memorable and engaging. In this guide, our essay writers will break down the writing process for you, offering step-by-step instructions, practical examples, and clear definitions to help you excel in your next assignment.

What is a Descriptive Essay?

Descriptive writing aims to vividly portray something through essays, helping readers visualize and feel the scene or object being described. Such essays draw on detailed descriptions to create a clear and impactful image that not only presents the subject but also evokes emotions and memories.

There are three main techniques used in descriptive writing: naming, detailing, and comparing .

Naming identifies the subject and its characteristics, answering questions like 'What is it?' and 'What features does it have?'

Detailing elaborates on these features, providing answers to detailed questions such as 'How many are there?' and 'What is its value?' Techniques like synesthesia and comparisons enhance these descriptions.

Comparing uses similes and metaphors to make descriptions more vivid, linking the subject to familiar concepts.

What Is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay?

The purpose of a descriptive essay is multifaceted. Primarily, it allows writers to give readers a vivid impression of a person, place, or event, making the subject come alive through words. By using detailed descriptions, writers can help readers visualize settings and characters as if they were seeing them firsthand.

Additionally, descriptive essays can serve to clarify abstract ideas. By describing these concepts with concrete images and examples, writers make complex ideas easier to understand and more relatable to the reader.

Descriptive essays also aim to make information more memorable. When details are vivid, they are more likely to stick in the reader's mind, enhancing recall and engagement with the text.

Lastly, it can bolster an argument by providing concrete, detailed evidence that supports a point of view. This helps persuade the reader by making the argument more tangible and credible.

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Descriptive Essay Topics

When you're tasked with writing a descriptive essay, you'll usually get a prompt that asks you to describe something. These descriptive essay prompts allow you to explore different settings, time periods, and imaginative scenarios in your essays.

Personal Prompts:

Describe a favorite childhood memory.
Describe a treasured family heirloom.

Imaginative Prompts:

Describe a day in the life of a pirate.
Describe what it would be like to explore an underwater city.

Historical Prompts:

Describe the atmosphere of a bustling ancient marketplace.
Describe the experience of witnessing a significant moment in history, like the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Nature Prompts:

Describe the sights and sounds of a peaceful forest at dawn.
Describe the feeling of standing at the edge of a majestic waterfall.

Everyday Prompts:

Describe the chaos of a busy morning commute in a big city.
Describe the tranquility of a sunset picnic in the countryside.

If you need topic ideas for other essay genres, consult our guide on narrative essay topics .

How to Write a Descriptive Essay in 8 Steps

Now that you understand the essence and purpose of this type of essay let's explore some fundamental yet valuable tips for writing a descriptive essay.

Step 1: Select Your Topic

The first step in creating a captivating descriptive essay is choosing the right topic. Start by paying close attention to your surroundings.

Consider describing a person you know well in your life, like a sibling, a close friend, or a teacher who has made a significant impact on you.
Alternatively, you could focus on a specific place or object that holds sentimental value to you, such as a favorite vacation spot, a cherished childhood toy, or a meaningful piece of jewelry.
Another option is to explore a strong emotion that you have experienced, like excitement, nostalgia, or determination.

Avoid using overly technical or jargon-filled language in your topic selection. Instead, aim for simplicity and clarity to ensure that your chosen topic resonates with your audience and allows you to convey your unique perspective effectively.

Step 2: Gather Details

Once you've selected your topic for your descriptive essay, the next step is to gather details that will bring your chosen subject to life on the page. Start by closely observing your subject, whether it's a person, place, object, or emotion. Pay attention to its appearance, characteristics, and any unique features that stand out to you.

For example, if you've chosen to describe your childhood home, take note of its architectural style, color scheme, and any distinctive elements like a front porch or a cozy fireplace. Recall memories associated with the home, such as family gatherings or quiet moments spent reading in your favorite spot.

If your topic is a person, like a close friend or family member, observe their physical appearance, mannerisms, and personality traits. Consider the ways in which they interact with others and the impact they have on your life.

Step 3: Draft an Outline

When structuring your essay, you can organize your paragraphs from top to bottom or near to far, chronologically, or from general to specific. Here's a simple descriptive essay outline from our custom writers to guide you:

Section	Description
Introduction	Provide a brief overview of the topic. Present your thesis statement.
Body Paragraph 1	Describe aspect 1 of your topic. Provide supporting details and examples.
Body Paragraph 2	Describe aspect 2 of your topic. Provide supporting details and examples.
Body Paragraph 3	Describe aspect 3 of your topic. Provide supporting details and examples.
Conclusion	Summarize the main points discussed. Offer final thoughts or reflections on the topic.

Step 4: Develop a Thesis Statement

When developing your thesis statement, consider the main points or aspects of your subject that you want to highlight in your essay. Think about the emotions or impressions you want to evoke in the reader and tailor your thesis statement accordingly.

For example, if you're writing about your favorite childhood memory, your thesis statement could be: 'My summers spent at my grandparents' farm were filled with laughter, adventure, and a sense of belonging.'

Or, if you're describing a beautiful sunset, your thesis statement might be: 'The breathtaking colors and serene atmosphere of the sunset over the ocean evoke a sense of peace and wonder.'

Step 5: Craft the Introduction

Start your descriptive essay introduction by hooking the reader with an engaging opening sentence or anecdote related to your topic. This could be a vivid description, a thought-provoking question, or a surprising fact. For example:

Growing up on my grandparents' farm, each summer brought new adventures and unforgettable memories that still warm my heart to this day.

After hooking the reader, provide some background information or context for your topic. This could include brief details about the setting, time period, or significance of your subject. For instance:

Nestled in the rolling hills of the countryside, my grandparents' farm was a sanctuary of simple pleasures and cherished traditions.

Finally, end your introduction with your thesis statement, clearly stating the main point of your essay. This ties everything together and gives the reader a roadmap for what to expect in the rest of your essay.

Step 6: Compose the Body Paragraphs

Once you've crafted your introduction, it's time to compose the body paragraphs, where you delve into the details and descriptions that bring your topic to life.

Each body paragraph should focus on a specific aspect or detail of your topic, expanding upon the ideas presented in your thesis statement. Use vivid language, sensory details, and descriptive devices to paint a clear picture for the reader.

For example, if you're writing about summers spent at your grandparents' farm, you could dedicate one body paragraph to describing the sights and sounds of the farm:

The rolling fields stretched out before me, golden waves of wheat swaying gently in the breeze. The air was filled with the sweet scent of wildflowers, mingling with the earthy aroma of freshly turned soil.

In another body paragraph, you might explore the adventures and activities that filled your days:

From sunrise to sunset, there was never a dull moment on the farm. Whether we were exploring the woods, splashing in the creek, or helping with chores, each day brought new excitement and adventure.

Continue with additional body paragraphs, each focusing on a different aspect of your topic and providing rich, detailed descriptions. Be sure to vary your language and sentence structure to keep the reader engaged and interested.

Step 7: Conclude the Essay

The conclusion should bring together all the ideas presented in your essay. Avoid introducing any new information in the conclusion. Instead, focus on evaluating your thoughts and reflections on the topic. End with a strong final sentence that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

For example, if you were writing about summers spent at your grandparents' farm, your conclusion might reflect on the significance of those memories:

'As I reminisce about the summers spent amid the rustic charm of my grandparents' farm, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude for the simple pleasures and cherished moments that shaped my childhood. The laughter echoing through the fields, the adventures awaiting around every corner, and the sense of belonging that enveloped me there will forever hold a special place in my heart.'

Step 8: Refine Your Essay

Once you've finished writing your essay, it's time to refine it for clarity and impact. Start by reading your essay aloud to yourself. Listen for any sentences that sound awkward or unclear. Mark these sentences so you can revise them later.

You can also read your essay aloud to others and ask for their feedback. Invite friends, family members, teachers, or mentors to listen to your essay and share their thoughts. Ask them if there are any parts that are difficult to understand or if they have trouble picturing the subject you're describing.

Be receptive to constructive criticism and feedback. Use it as an opportunity to improve your essay and make it stronger. And if it sounds too demanding right now, you can buy cheap essay to sidestep the hassle and reclaim some much-needed free time.

Descriptive Essay Format

The standard format for a descriptive essay typically includes five paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, you can also organize your essay into sections, allowing for flexibility in the length of the body paragraphs.

Introductory Paragraph: This paragraph sets the scene by describing where, when, and to whom the experience occurred. It should include descriptive words to capture the reader's attention.

First Body Paragraph: Here, the writer provides details that allow the reader to visualize the situation. Descriptive language is key in painting a clear picture for the reader.

Second Body Paragraph: More details are provided, with a focus on using descriptive adjectives. Figurative language, such as metaphor (e.g., describing the city as a 'jungle of concrete'), can enhance the imagery.

Third Body Paragraph: The writer continues to appeal to the reader's senses with visually descriptive words. Figurative language, like personification (e.g., describing the wind as a playful dancer), adds depth to the description.

Conclusion: The conclusion alludes to another sense, such as touch or sound, and uses strong words to signify closure. It ends with a powerful concluding sentence to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Descriptive Essay Examples

In this section, you'll discover essay examples that demonstrate how to captivate your readers' attention effectively. After exploring these examples, you might find yourself tempted to ask, 'Can someone do my homework for me?' - and that's completely understandable! We're here to help you become more confident and articulate communicators through your writing!

3 Additional Tips for Writing

While writing a descriptive essay, your goal is to make your subject come alive for the reader. Unlike more formal essays, you have the freedom to be creative with your descriptions, using figurative language, sensory details, and precise word choices to make your writing memorable.

Use Figurative Language: Figurative language, like metaphors and similes, adds flair to your descriptions. Instead of sticking to literal descriptions, use comparisons to create unique and memorable imagery.

For instance, describing a city as a bustling beehive of activity ' or a forest as ' a blanket of whispers ' adds an unexpected twist that captures the reader's attention.

Engage Your Senses: In a descriptive essay, don't just focus on what something looks like; appeal to all the senses. Describe how things smell, sound, feel, and even taste, if applicable. This adds depth and richness to your descriptions, making them more immersive.

For example, instead of just describing a beach visually, include sensory details like feeling the warm sand between your toes , hearing the rhythmic crash of waves , and t asting the salty sea breeze.

Choose Your Words Carefully: Use effective adjectives, verbs, and nouns to convey your impressions vividly. Avoid clichés and opt for original, precise language that reflects your unique perspective. Take the time to review your sentences and consider if there are better word choices that could enhance your description.

In Wrapping Up

To sum it up, descriptive essays are all about encouraging students like you to explore your surroundings and unleash your creativity by describing scenes in detail with words. When you carefully select and organize these descriptive details, it not only enhances your writing but also sharpens your critical thinking skills. Plus, diving into this expressive writing style allows you to appreciate the beauty of language and feel more connected to written communication. And remember, if you ever need a little boost in your writing journey, our descriptive essay writing service is here to help!

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Let one of our essay writers do it for you, all you have to do is send us your paper requirements and wait for your original paper to be written.

How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

What is a descriptive essay, what is the purpose of a descriptive essay.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

New samples
New information on each of the rest sections

Axelrod, R. B. and Cooper, R. C. (2008). The st martin’s guide to writing. (English Edition). New York: Bedford/St Martins

Okono, U. M. (2021). Descriptive essay: An assessment of performance by undergraduates of AkwaIbom State University. Erudite Journal of Linguistics and Languages . https://www.globalacademicstar.com/download/article/descriptive-essay-an-assessment-of-performance-by-undergraduates-of-akwa-ibom-state-university.pdf

Okono. U. M. (2020). “Qualities of a good essay: An assessment of the writings of Nigerian undergraduates.” International Journal on integrated Education. 3: vi.

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Descriptive Essay

Descriptive Essay Writing

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How To Write An Impactful Descriptive Essay?

By: Cathy A.

12 min read

Reviewed By: Melisa C.

Published on: Dec 17, 2019

Wondering how to write an impressive descriptive essay? Writing a descriptive essay is both fun and challenging. You need to describe the main topic in detail and by engaging the five senses of the readers.

Students usually get this type of essay in high school and college. Writing a descriptive essay is different from other essays.

You need to focus on describing a certain person, place, or event.

Luckily for you, the following blog post will provide some helpful tips on how to create an engaging essay.

Continue reading to learn how to write an A-worthy descriptive essay.

On this Page

What is a Descriptive Essay?

A descriptive essay is a detailed paper that describes a place, person, situation, object, or emotion. Different people have different points of view and your job is to explain yours in detail.

You may be asked to write a descriptive essay about the beach or forest or about a person or situation. The purpose of this essay is to test the writer’s ability in expressing and explaining their experiences.

Descriptive writing should create a picture in the reader’s mind. You may be required to write a descriptive essay as a high school or college essay assignment.

For a compelling essay, using adjectives and adverbs, details, and figurative language is fundamental. Without proper usage of words, you will not be able to invoke the readers' emotions.

What is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay?

The purpose of a descriptive essay is to describe a person, place, or personal experience in vivid detail so that the reader can create a picture in his mind.

The descriptive essay is written to get the reader to understand by using descriptive language. It is different from narrative essays, where the writer tells the story about someone else. Usually, it starts with a real-life event and then the content follows the author's imagination.

Descriptive essays are not intended to persuade the reader or show facts and figures to prove something. Descriptive essays are like word paintings that contain personal and descriptive details and these are mostly assigned to students of creative writing.

How to Start a Descriptive Essay

A strong start for your descriptive essay is essential. Analyze your topic from every angle and document the following details:

Analyze the main subjects in detail and observe minute things.

Start with observing all the possible aspects of the subject.
Don't just observe the object but also its surroundings.
Focus on details and features of the subject and develop opinions about them.
Be thoughtful; this first step will be the basis for the essay.

Physical Settings

Describing the physical settings is a must in a descriptive essay. When describing, keep the following points in mind.

Focus on the subject's position and observe nearby objects
Note the time of day and kind of lighting: natural or imitated
Physical settings: all the basic and decorative elements
The position and shape of the objects
Alignment and any other observable information

Physical Features

When describing the physical features of the subject, living or nonliving, consider the following points.

Living or nonliving; describe the features in detail
The subject's skin color, texture, smoothness, expression, and age
The features of inanimate objects in the picture, color, surface, and texture

Create Drama

Storytelling and drama are the life and blood of a good descriptive essay. It turns your essay into an exciting and interesting piece of writing. However, be subtle about adding drama to your sentence structure and add it to complement your story only.

Focus On Your Feelings

Focus on how you feel about the particular topic or person and stick to it. It is easy to get involved when working on the essay. But, focus on your own feelings and write an essay based on them.

Use Of Specific Vocabulary

Vocabulary is important. Select the best words for describing an action or object. Don't always use the first word that comes to mind.

Write slowly and thoughtfully, and use specific words to convey your thoughts.

Psychological Aspects

Writing about a certain situation or behavior of a person focuses on the mental aspects and emotions involved in them.

For Example, describe your emotions when your friend misplaced your notes right before the exam.

You may have had several emotions in that incident. Maybe you were prepared for exams, but this situation put you under pressure and made you feel frustrated and hurt.

Explore those emotions and describe the feelings they aroused. Describe the body language also, if relevant.

Ask Yourself, WHY?

This is the most valuable tip for students. When you are looking at a particular subject, and having difficulty analyzing its aspects, ask yourself "WHY".

Why is the subject the way it is?
Why does the person you are describing have such a deep-set and cold eyes?
Why is the animal so wounded and terrified?
Why is this particular place famous?

It is a good practice and after some time you will do it naturally. Knowing the why is important if you want to describe your topic properly.

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How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

When you write a descriptive essay, you help your readers visualize an event, a person, or a story. It is written to make your readers feel what you feel about the respective subject.

A descriptive essay seeks to appeal to some or all of the audience’s five senses. Some key things to consider are:

Discussing your subject thoroughly
Focusing on details and adding them in your essay
Sharing your personal feelings and experience about the subject
Observing and describing all sensory details of your subject

Here are the steps to write a descriptive essay easily.

1- Choose an Engaging and Focused Essay Topic

An important step that all strong descriptive essays share is having a focused topic. Before you make the outline, identify the purpose of your essay and use it to create an appropriate thesis statement.This type of paper does not require much personal opinion from you. Its main goal should be focusing on information that will make a dominant impression in readers' minds instead.

2- Research and Gather Important Details

When writing a descriptive essay, it is important to make sure you include as many details and sensory information as possible. This helps your reader fully understand the images that are being presented in their mind's eye.You can organize these ideas into categories so they're easy for you to access when needed.

3- Create an Outline of Your Essay

Your essays must be organized by having subheadings that are clear and concise. Group your main points into individual body paragraphs, each of which should only cover one idea or topic at a time.

4- Write your Essay’s Introduction

A good introductory paragraph is much like a road map because it provides direction to your readers.

It provides relevant background information before diving into more specific details related to how something works or why something happens. These could include statistics or stories from real-life scenarios.

5- Write the Main Body Section of Your Essay

Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence that keeps the reader hooked on what you are saying. Use specific details instead of making generalized statements, and make sure to give examples if necessary.

6- End with a Strong Conclusion

The conclusion of an essay is the final paragraph, and it should summarize all that you have said throughout. It's a good idea to restate the main points and key details from the essay in this section.

It is important so the reader has everything they need for better understanding before ending off on something new.

If necessary be sure not to introduce anything odd or unusual, to avoid any confusion.

7- Proofread and Revise the Essay Carefully

Once you are done writing the essay, proofread and revise it carefully. Make sure that it is free from all kinds of errors.

Descriptive Essay Outline

Like all the other essays, a descriptive essay also follows the usual 5-paragraph essay structure and format.Before starting, it is important to create an outline. Following are the fundamental elements of your descriptive essay outline:

Descriptive Essay Introduction

The introduction sets the footing for the entire essay. Before heading towards the body section, the reader will come across the introduction.

It is the first impression of your work. It is very important to write an engaging introduction so that the readers read the essay till the end.

Start the essay in an easy-to-understand way and language. Provide background information on your topic so they can understand it and its importance.

To make sure the reader feels your emotions and decides to continue reading further, incorporate the following points in your introduction.

The following tips will guide you on how to write a good introduction for a descriptive essay.

Attract the reader's attention with an interesting fact, phrase, or quote
Don't bombard them with information
Go straight to the main pointsInclude enough information to introduce the topic and its significance.
Summarize the argument and the main topic and craft your thesis statement

Descriptive Essay Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is an integral part of your essay. It focuses on the argument and the writer’s main idea, which is to be discussed in the essay.

This statement also provides the writer with a chance of explaining the purpose and scope of the topic. It is intriguing and engaging.

A thesis statement is written at the end of the introduction, it is mainly a single sentence that describes the essay objective. The thesis statement should act as a guide to the reader on what to expect in the essay body. It is like a table of contents of a book, to the reader on contents you will get an idea of what the book is all about so you get to understand it better.

It is like a table of contents of a book. By reading it, you will get an idea of what the book is all about.

A good thesis should contain the following things:

Define the essay scope - it should narrow down all the points to clarify its purpose.
Avoid using common words - you should be creative with your choice of words.
Create suspense - it should attract the reader to the body paragraphs of the essay.

For further information on how to write a thesis for a descriptive essay, check out the following examples.

Descriptive essay example about a Place

“Even though monarchy is long gone, Buckingham Palace is here to remind us of the aesthetic beauty of that era.”

Descriptive essay example about a Person

“One of the characteristics of Spider-Man is his youthfulness, and the fact that he talks to himself more than Hamlet.”

Descriptive essay example about an Emotion

“For numerous reasons, the dark forest is my greatest fear, though not a fear which is necessarily smart to face.”

Descriptive Essay Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs of the essay come next after the introduction and thesis statement. It is the main part that continues your essay.

Usually, an essay consists of three body paragraphs but you can add more if needed.

Don't add more than one central idea in one paragraph. Fusing different ideas will confuse the reader.

Build your paragraphs according to the thesis and introduction.

Start each body paragraph with the main sentence
Use transitions to move between paragraphs smoothly
Each paragraph should be five to six sentences long

Descriptive Essay Conclusion

The concluding paragraph is the last part of an essay, and probably your last chance to impress your reader.

The last part that the reader can keep in mind is the conclusion, which is as important as the rest of the essay.

To make it interesting and thought-provoking, include the following points:

Restate the thesis statement
Summarize the main points
Add an intriguing closing statement

After writing the conclusion, make a review of your essay, identify the mistakes and maintain a good tone throughout the essay.

Descriptive Essay Format Sample

Here is the descriptive essay format to help you understand how you can write a winning descriptive essay.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY FORMAT (PDF)

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

Descriptive Essay Topics Ideas

Descriptive essay topics are often related to physical settings, locations, living beings, and objects.

Make sure that your essay includes the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing, or at least one of them. It depends on the topic and the kind of feeling that you want to arouse.

Below are some descriptive essay ideas and ways to achieve them.

Living Beings

When you want to write about a person like a family member, consider the following elements:

Gender, age, complexion, and expressions
Physical features
Height, body type, and approximate weight
Kind of clothes

These details will add depth to the description and your readers will actually see your narrative.

When animals are the subject, you can add the above points plus the following details:

Species and animal
Size, weight, color
Behavior patterns
Temperament
Trained or wild?
Real or fictional?

Inanimate Subjects

Geographic locations and structures.

When your subject is a place or a building, add the following points:

Research about the place and its historical background
The color and the building's type
A famous place or landmark to draw a comparison and inspire interest

Human behavior and psychology is a compelling descriptive essay subject. When writing about it:

Describe the consequences of a particular behavior
Discuss the emotional dimension of the topic and how you perceive it personally

Event Or Travel Experience

A travel experience makes a good descriptive essay since you have experienced the event first hand.

Give a detailed description of the place, people at the venue, and the atmosphere of the location.

Idea, Concept, or Occupation

When writing on such topics, focus on how an idea or concept affects society and its different aspects.

Example Descriptive Essay Topics for Students

Choosing a topic for your descriptive essay is quite interesting. You get to choose something that you have an emotional connection with.

When writing a descriptive essay about a person or place, adding their personal traits will be helpful.

Some examples of descriptive essay topics include:

Compose a detailed descriptive essay about your best friend.
Describe a fancy place that you have created.
Describe your dream vacation destination.
Describe your favorite mall or store.
Describe your childhood home.
Descriptive essay about nature.
Descriptive essay about a place you visited.
Describe the personality of your Maths teacher.
Discuss the main characters of your favorite movie.
Descriptive essay about chocolate.
Write an essay using unique Words to describe yourself.
What makes me unique?
My first love.

Descriptive Essay Examples

Study these descriptive essay examples and sample papers to understand the main idea, structure, and purpose of descriptive essays.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY ON MARKET (PDF)

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY EXAMPLE PERSON (PDF)

To help you understand how to write a great descriptive essay, we have a whole blog post dedicated to it. We know that talking about something is one thing and demonstrating it is completely different.

Having a descriptive essay assignment with a short deadline? Looking for someone to do my essay for me ?

5StarEssays.com academic writing professionals are ready to help you. They read the essay details before writing and make sure that they incorporate all the details in it.

Get 100% plagiarism-free content at affordable prices from our experts now!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the features of a descriptive essay.

A descriptive essay provides a perfect opportunity for writers to express their feelings on any subject. Descriptive writing has rich sensory details which appeal to all of your senses.

How do you start a descriptive essay introduction?

The introduction to the descriptive essay should set the scene and introduce the main topic. You can use these sensory details to get a sense of what the essay is all about.

What are the two types of descriptive essays?

There are two types of descriptive essays. The first type deals with people, and the second one is about objects.

What are the elements of a descriptive essay?

Here are the key elements of a descriptive essay.

Sensory details
Figurative language
Central and main theme
Precise and clear language
Proper organization of ideas

What makes good descriptive writing?

Good and effective descriptive writing consists of vivid sensory details that appeal to all senses including the sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. Moreover, these essays also explain people’s feelings in writing.

Finance Essay, Literature

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Interesting Descriptive Essay Topics Recommended by Experts

Descriptive Essay Examples - 8 Examples To Help You Write Better

How to Write a Strong Descriptive Essay

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 References

Brainstorming Ideas for the Essay

Writing the essay, polishing the essay, outline for a descriptive essay, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. This article has been viewed 1,530,651 times.

A good descriptive essay creates a vivid picture of the topic in the reader’s mind. You may need to write a descriptive essay as a class assignment or you may decide to write one as a fun writing challenge. Start by brainstorming ideas for the essay. Then, outline and write the essay using vivid sensory details and strong descriptions. Always polish your essay and proofread it so it is at its best.

Best Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay

Outline the essay in sections and create a thesis statement to base the essay on. Then, write a strong introduction and describe the subject matter using creative and vivid adjectives. Use similes, metaphors, and your own emotions to help you bring the topic to life.

You could also choose a fictional person to write about, such as a character in a book, a story, or a play. You could write about a character on your favorite TV show or video game.

Step 2 Pick a place or object to describe.

Another take on this option is to write about a made-up place or object, such as the fantastical school in your favorite book or the magic wand from your favorite TV show.

You could also choose a more specific emotion, such as brotherly love or self-hatred. These emotions can make for powerful descriptive essays.

Step 4 Make a list of sensory details about the topic.

For example, if you were writing about a person like your mother, you may write down under “sound” : “soft voice at night, clack of her shoes on the floor tiles, bang of the spoon when she cooks.”

If you are writing the essay for a class, your instructor should specify if they want a five paragraph essay or if you have the freedom to use sections instead.

For example, if you were writing a descriptive essay about your mother, you may have a thesis statement like: “In many ways, my mother is the reigning queen of our house, full of contradictions that we are too afraid to question.”

For example, if you were writing the essay about your mom, you may start with: “My mother is not like other mothers. She is a fierce protector and a mysterious woman to my sisters and I.”
If you were writing an essay about an object, you may start with: "Try as I might, I had a hard time keeping my pet rock alive."

Step 4 Describe the topic with vivid adjectives.

You can also use adjectives that connect to the senses, such “rotting,” “bright,” “hefty,” “rough,” and “pungent.”
For example, you may describe your mother as "bright," "tough," and "scented with jasmine."

You can also use similes, where you use “like” or “as” to compare one thing to another. For example, you may write, “My mother is like a fierce warrior in battle, if the battlefield were PTA meetings and the checkout line at the grocery store.”

Step 6 Discuss your emotions and thoughts about the topic.

For example, you may write about your complicated feelings about your mother. You may note that you feel sadness about your mother’s sacrifices for the family and joy for the privileges you have in your life because of her.

Step 7 Wrap up the essay with a strong conclusion.

For example, you may end a descriptive essay about your mother by noting, “In all that she has sacrificed for us, I see her strength, courage, and fierce love for her family, traits I hope to emulate in my own life.”

You can also read the essay aloud to others to get their feedback. Ask them to let you know if there are any unclear or vague sentences in the essay.

Be open to constructive criticism and feedback from others. This will only make your essay stronger.

Step 3 Revise the essay for clarity and length.

If you have a word count requirement for the essay, make sure you meet it. Add more detail to the paper or take unnecessary content out to reach the word count.

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About This Article

To write a descriptive essay, start by choosing a topic, like a person, place, or specific emotion. Next, write down a list of sensory details about the topic, like how it sounds, smells, and feels. After this brainstorming session, outline the essay, dividing it into an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Open with a vivid introduction that uses sensory details, then introduce your thesis statement, which the rest of your essay should support. Strengthen your essay further by using metaphors and similes to describe your topic, and the emotions it evokes. To learn how to put the finishing touches on your essay, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Descriptive Essays

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What is a descriptive essay?

The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe something—object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader).

One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again!

Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay.

Take time to brainstorm

If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one.

Use clear and concise language.

This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe.

Choose vivid language.

Why use horse when you can choose stallion ? Why not use tempestuous instead of violent ? Or why not miserly in place of cheap ? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose.

Use your senses!

Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses.

What were you thinking?!

If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential.

Leave the reader with a clear impression.

One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays.

Be organized!

It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe.

Best Descriptive Essays: Examples & How-to Guide [+ Tips]

A descriptive essay is an academic paper that challenges a school or college student to describe something. It can be a person, a place, an object, a situation—anything an individual can depict in writing. The task is to show your abilities to communicate an experience in an essay format using vivid, illustrative language.

To understand how to write this paper, you’ll need to study some descriptive essay examples for college. Besides, you need to contemplate these aspects:

how someone or somewhere looks;
what happens with the person or place;
what historical record you can add, if at all possible.

Our team has prepared this guide so that you’ll manage to write a famous descriptive essay. Learn how to outline your paper, nail the structure and the thesis statement. See the tips and explanations below, along with descriptive essay samples.

🖌️ Why Descriptive?

Research & Prepare

Outline your essay, write descriptively, revise & polish.

🖼️ Essay Examples

🖌️ What Makes an Essay Descriptive?

It’s time to make clear what we mean by a descriptive essay . For example, let’s suppose we were asked to write about a sports stadium. Here are two introductions we might come up with:

Example 1: A stadium is a place where sports, concerts, or other events take place. Usually, there will be a field or a stage, which most often will be surrounded completely or partially by a structure where spectators can sit or stand to watch.

Example 2: American sports nuts got what was probably their first sight of Twickenham rugby stadium when the Rugby World Cup Final was played there in 2015. Rugby has been played at Whitton Road in Twickenham since 1907, and the first international match took place three years later in 1910; when no game was scheduled, horses grazed the pitch. What is now the shining steel and glass double-decker West Stand was still, in the 1960s, a car park. Currently one of the world’s most state-of-the-art grounds, Twickenham holds 82,000 people, and it’s no longer horses when rugby is not being played but world-famous bands like U2, The Rolling Stones, and Bon Jovi who fill the place.

The first introduction is excellent for analytical essays as it’s a definition of what a sports stadium is. The second one depicts a specific stadium, and that – that act of describing – is what makes it descriptive.

When you’re writing a descriptive essay, it’s the style of the second example and not the first that you should be striving for. Try to use living, vivid language to draw a picture in words of whatever it is you’re writing about.

🎨 How to Write Good Descriptive Essays

When you’re writing a paper, the standard advice would be:

Say what you’re going to tell your reader.
Say what you’ve told your reader.

The same fundamental structure applies to a descriptive essay. Yet, there are numerous nuances that you should keep in mind to produce an outstanding paper. In the following sections, we’ll elaborate on them in detail.

So, you are ready to write your excellent descriptive essay, but you don’t know how to start? Don’t be lost. While writing any kind of paper, start with the research and preparation. Take a look at our tips!

Consider the topic that you’re working with. Whether it’s assigned or picked by you, make sure you understand it completely. Make sure that it’s a descriptive essay that you’re supposed to write.
Have a brainstorming session. Jot down some notes on what you think about the matter. Some of them will be useless, but it’s okay: among all the ideas, you’ll find something useful for your paper.
Do some research. Find out what other people think about the place or event, if possible. Make notes about essential historical facts and people’s opinions.
Add details. A good descriptive essay should be full of specifics. So, include background information, dates, names, physical characteristics, etc. This trick will help the reader to dive deep into the story and get the idea better.
Are you going to go with your perspective?
Are you going to go with other people’s opinions?
Would the best result for this particular essay come from weighing the options? (So, you’d write, “Some people think this and some people believe in that ).

After all these steps, you’ll have enough material to create your descriptive essay structure.

When you have enough facts and memories, you can move on to the next step – outlining. We highly recommend you create an outline before you start writing an essay. It will help you to structure your ideas logically and coherently.

Your essay outline should include the following elements:

Introduction . A good introduction should be catchy and concise. Start with the hook—an attention-grabbing element (rhetorical question, joke, statistics, etc.). Then, provide the general background and highlight the issues your essay will cover. End your intro with a clear thesis statement—a sentence that reflects your position.
Body paragraphs . Each body paragraph should contain only one idea and start from the topic sentence, so the reader knows what to focus on. Make your body paragraphs full of details and specific examples. Don’t be too general because you risk losing the reader’s attention very fast.
Conclusion . Wrap up your essay by restating the main points and summarizing your key ideas. Don’t include any new facts in the last paragraph. If you suspect that you miss an essential argument, better add it in the body.

Besides having a good structure, the best descriptive essay should be composed of strong and dynamic words. In this section, we will explain how to make your paper illustrative and memorable.

To make your writing descriptive , try the following:

Choose your POV.

Decide who is the narrator of your story and filter the vocabulary through the narrator’s perspective. For example, you are describing your memories of childhood. Thus, your character is a child. Think how the kid’s perception of the world differs from reality and try to convey the feelings using appropriate words. Note that you can still write in the third person.

Rely on precise words.

Avoid too abstract terms and general words. Instead, use dynamic vocabulary that precisely conveys your feelings. For example, you might write, “I felt bad.” Let’s make it more specific! How about writing, “I felt exhausted/ horrified/ anxious/ sick/ stressed, etc.”?

Use figures of speech.

Don’t forget about the wide variety of literary devices! Use comparisons, metaphors, onomatopoeia, or exaggeration. You might say, “my girlfriend has beautiful eyes.” But Shakspeare would say. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” ( Sonnet, 130 ). Strive to be this creative!

Keep connotations and variations in mind.

Use the richness of the language to improve your creative writing skills. English is full of synonyms and various grammar structures. Take the maximum benefit from them. BUT! Avoid using the word if you are unsure about its meaning.

Compare and contrast.

Nothing can help to describe things better than comparison. So, deepen your sentences by examining the contrast and similarities between the objects or emotions.

Implement sensory details.

Do you remember the five basic human senses? They are sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Rather than just telling the story, try to appeal to the reader’s five senses. This trick will help you to make the audience more engaged in your narrative.

When you reach the end, you haven’t finished. What you’ve done is to create the first version of your descriptive essay. Professional writers know how vital the first draft is because it isn’t possible to edit a blank page.

To revise and polish your text, follow these steps:

Check the structure. Your essay has to contain all the fundamental parts (introduction, main body, conclusion). Also, make sure that there are transitions between the key points and topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph.
Check the balance. All the essay parts should be approximate of the same significance. Keep in mind that each point should have the same number of details and arguments.
Make sure you explored all the points. Read your introduction, paying extra attention to the thesis statement. Then, look through the entire essay and check whether you discussed every aspect you introduced in the first paragraph.
Examine your information. Every piece of data and detail has to be valid. Make sure your arguments are logical, and your examples are appropriate. If something seems weak, rewrite it or consider cutting that part down.
Polish your conclusion. The last paragraph of your essay should correspond to the introduction. Moreover, it should summarize your points and make a final impression on the reader. Make your conclusion memorable and dynamic.

You may go through this revision and rewriting process several times. Or you may become so skilled at writing descriptive essays that you’re good to go after the first revision.

🖼️ Famous Descriptive Essay Examples

Now that we’ve discussed how to write a descriptive essay, we should tell you the last crucial tip. Your chances of composing a perfect paper are low when you don’t check the samples first.

Here, you can find specific descriptive essay examples in these guides:

Coral Reef Essay :

Do you admire wildlife? Are you fascinated by the divine beauty of the sea and ocean creatures? If you have a task to write about nature, or you can choose the topic yourself, think about composing a descriptive essay about coral reefs!

Harriet Tubman Essay :

Do you need to talk about an outstanding historical figure? Or you need to compose a descriptive essay about a person? Choose an American political activist Harriet Tubman. Her biography and achievements won’t leave you indifferent!

Americanism Essay :

Americanism is one of the most common paper topics for college students in the U.S. Has your instructor gave you the assignment to write about the USA identity? Compose a descriptive essay on Americanism!

Halloween Essay :

Everybody loves holidays! And the teachers like to give the tasks to write about them. If you are wondering what celebration to select, consider choosing Halloween. It offers a bunch of traditions to describe.

Descriptive Essay Topics

Description of punk culture.
The beauty of Dresden.
Give a description of Sweetbay Magnolia ornamental tree.
Memorable design of Apple Company’s logo.
Representation of emotions while viewing art or nature.
Describe the Paricutín volcano .
Give a description of Diana Krall’s concert at Jazz Festival in San Sebastián.
Compare the interior and exterior of the Palatine Chapel and St. Michael’s Chapel.
Discuss the design principles and visual elements of the Baptistery of San Giovanni’s south doors.
The unusual style of the Graduate House of the University of Toronto.
The description of the Jewish religious service.
The magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The overview of my dream car .
Discuss the design of Britam Tower in Nairobi.
An exceptional scenery of the Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
Description and analysis of the film The Joker .
The day I was buying a laptop .
Give a description of main types of friendship .
Main holidays in Pakistan and how they are celebrated.
The historical atmosphere of Ellis Island.
The unique culture of Cook Island inhabitants.
Describe the impressions of the picture.
Describe traditions and culture of the Kootenai Indians.
What does my dream home look like?
Discuss the visual elements of Lady Sennuwy statue .
Balinese wedding ceremonies and traditions.
Recount your first day at college .
Describe and analyze Susan Anthony’s life and achievements .
The unique beauty of the Amazon rainforest .
The important elements of the Haitian flag.
Values and specifics of Brazilian culture .
The magnificence of Shark Valley.
Describe the activities and personality of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Describe the writing process.
The peculiarities of a tapa and it’s role in cultural ceremonies.
Give the description of the statue of Osiris-Antinous.
Discuss the Ways of Christmas Sweater Day celebration.
What impresses you the most in Cézanne’s art.
Description of Atlantis Paradise Island site .
Describe the peculiarities of your favorite music.
Analyze the characteristics of contemporary design in Evolution Queen Wall Bed.
Movements, symbolism, and transformation of the Chinese Dragon Dance and Lion Dance.
Describe the falling in love process.
Narrate about your first try to ride a bicycle .
Representation of the ancient Greek design: the marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis.
Discuss the thematic elements of Indian Fire God painting by Frederic Remington.
The personality and art of Tracey Emin.
Describe the history of PayPal company.
Describe the features and historical meaning of the Column of Trajan.
Overview of the painting Toy Pieta by Scott Avett.

In case these ideas aren’t for you, you can find more descriptive essay topics on our website.

Thanks for visiting our page! Share it with your friends and explore the other articles on our website. We have more useful information for you.

🔗 References

Descriptive Writing, Organization and Structure: Writing Center, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Examples of How to Write a Good Descriptive Paragraph: Richard Nordquist, ThoughtCo
How Can I Write More Descriptively: Sweetland Center for Writing, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the University of Michigan
Revising the Draft: Laura Saltz, the Writing Center at Harvard University
Descriptive Essays: Purdue Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
Paragraph Development, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at the University of Southern California
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Descriptive Essay Writing

Descriptive Essay: Definition, Tips & Examples

Published on: Jun 21, 2023

Last updated on: Jul 23, 2024

What is a Descriptive Essay?

A descriptive essay is a type of essay that asks the students to describe something, such as a person, place, incident, emotion, or event. It is a detailed description where the writer is painting a picture in words.

Different people have different thoughts and points of view. A descriptive essay allows you to explain your point of view in your own way. You should give a description of every aspect of the topic so that a reader can feel as if he has personally experienced that.

Two Classic Approaches to the Descriptive Essay

There are two main ways to write a descriptive essay: the personal essay and the formal description. Let's discuss them in detail.

Personal Essay

The best way to describe an experience using your feelings and responses would be through a personal essay. This work can awaken empathy in readers, but it's important not to make any mistakes or organize poorly.

Formal Description

Descriptive writing is a great way to show your readers what you're talking about. It resembles an argumentative essay because it has one main goal: communicating key points or describing something in detail.

Features of Descriptive Essay

There are five basic features of a descriptive essay that distinguishes it from other writing types. Let's discuss them in detail.

Sensory Details - A great descriptive essay appeals to the audience's emotions and forms an association for them. In this essay type, a writer paints a picture with words so they have to be really engaging and appealing to the senses.
Central Theme - The content of your descriptive essay is shaped according to the central or major theme. Make sure to define the central theme explicitly and focus it on one single point.
Figurative Language - A key to writing an impactful descriptive essay is to use figurative language throughout the content. Use metaphors, similes, adverbs, and adjectives to describe settings and characters.
Precise Language - The vocabulary you use for the content should be appropriate and accurate. The language, as well as the tone, should reflect the major theme of the essay vividly.
Organization of Ideas - Arrange all your ideas and information in a properly structured manner. Make sure that your descriptive writing is based on these elements to ensure its effectiveness and success.

Descriptive Essay Format

All formal writing types, including descriptive papers, require a proper format to be readable and understandable.

Therefore, before starting your essay, you should create an outline of your essay. It will help you organize your essay.

Below is the format of the descriptive essay outline.

Descriptive Essay Outline Template

How to Start a Descriptive Essay?

Writing a strong descriptive essay requires a writer to form a strong plan. Following are the steps involved in the pre-writing or planning procedure of a good descriptive essay:

1. Topic Selection

Usually, professors assign the topic for a descriptive essay. But, if you have a choice to select a topic, then you have a great chance to select something which you know a lot about.

Have a look at some popular descriptive essay topics.

Descriptive Essay Topics On Writing About A Person

Describe your favorite person
Describe your best friend
Describe your favorite family member
Describe your enemy
Describe someone whom you love the most
Describe your mother
Describe your father
Describe your family
Describe your favorite brother
Describe a person whom you idealize

Descriptive Essay Topics About an Event

Describe your friend's wedding
Describe your college farewell
Describe the last Christmas party
Describe your brother's bachelor party
Describe your own wedding
Describe the memorable concert you have attended
Describe your last convocation
Describe the best dinner party you have ever attended
Describe the event you have attended where you were not invited
Describe your last day at the office

Descriptive Essay Topics About a Place

Describe your favorite place
Describe the place you have visited in the summer
Describe your grandmama's farmhouse
Describe your hometown
Describe your favorite college
Describe your favorite vacation destination
Describe your favorite tourist spot
Describe your favorite museum
Describe your dream house
Describe a fancy place that you have created

2. Brainstorming

The next step is brainstorming about the selected topic. At this point, think of all the relevant points that exactly describe your topic.

3. Thesis Statement for Descriptive Essay

After the brainstorming session, develop a strong thesis statement . It is a very crucial part of the whole essay because it will be a prominent part of the essay.

How to Write a Descriptive Essay?

When you have drafted a plan for your essay, it is time to execute it effectively. The writing process of your essay will only get simpler if you have taken all the required pre-writing steps.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to finally begin your writing procedure for the descriptive essay:

1. Introduction

An introduction serves as the gateway to your essay, drawing readers into the realm of your ideas. It's the stage where you set the tone and establish the central theme.

Unlike an analytical essay , which dives deep into dissecting and interpreting information, a descriptive essay paints a vivid picture, immersing readers in sensory experiences and intricate details.

In the descriptive essay introduction, we aim to pique curiosity, perhaps by posing a thought-provoking question or igniting a spark of intrigue that beckons readers to journey further into the narrative woven within these pages.

The body part gives you the freedom to write the details about your selected topic. Here you have 3 to 4 paragraphs where you can paint a picture in the reader's mind through vivid language, persuading dialogues, or images.

This part should support your thesis. Describe all the points in detail. The idea should come out at the beginning.

The paragraphs should be interlinked with good transition words . Organize your paragraphs in a way that makes sense.

3. Conclusion

It is the last chance to impress the reader. So, you need to pay all attention to this section. Restate your thesis statement and give a short reminder to the reader what the essay was required to cover. Make a good final statement so that the reader can leave thinking about your essay.

4. Proofreading

Proofread your essay to do a review. You can identify the mistakes and correct your tone. Go through your essay 2 or 3 times so that you can identify all the mistakes and correct them before final submission.

Descriptive Essay Examples

Given below is a visual demonstration of how a descriptive essay typically looks!

Descriptive Essay Example - CollegeEssay.org

If you're still struggling, check out some more descriptive essay examples given below!

Descriptive Essay Example About a Person

Descriptive Essay Example About an Event

Descriptive Essay Example About a Place

For further information, check out this informative video below.

In conclusion, mastering the art of descriptive essays is within your reach.

By implementing the expert techniques and tips shared in this blog, you can elevate your writing to new heights.

Remember to practice and refine your skills, allowing your creativity to flourish.

At CollegeEssay.org, we understand the importance of strong writing skills for academic success.

Our team of experienced writers is here to provide professional assistance. Whether it's your high school or narrative essay, we have got you covered!

Hire our essay help for students today to achieve your academic goals. Don't forget to try our AI writing tool for exceptional essays!

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)

What are the 4 elements of descriptive writing.

The four elements of descriptive writing are:

What are the 2 types of description?

The two types of description are:

Impressionistic

How many paragraphs is a descriptive essay?

The five-paragraph essay is a classic format that has been used for a descriptive essay. This format includes an introductory paragraph with the inclusion of a thesis statement, followed by three body paragraphs and a conclusion.

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Descriptive Essay

Definition of descriptive essay, qualities of a descriptive essay, difference between a description and a descriptive essay, examples of descriptive essays in literature, example #1: the corner store (by eudora welty).

“Our Little Store rose right up from the sidewalk; standing in a street of family houses, it alone hadn’t any yard in front, any tree or flower bed. It was a plain frame building covered over with brick. Above the door, a little railed porch ran across on an upstairs level and four windows with shades were looking out. But I didn’t catch on to those. Running in out of the sun, you met what seemed total obscurity inside. There were almost tangible smells — licorice recently sucked in a child’s cheek, dill pickle brine1 that had leaked through a paper sack in a fresh trail across the wooden floor, ammonia-loaded ice that had been hoisted from wet croker sacks and slammed into the icebox with its sweet butter at the door, and perhaps the smell of still untrapped mice.”

Example #2: And the Orchestra Played On (by Joanne Lipman)

“The hinges creaked when I opened the decrepit case. I was greeted by a cascade of loose horsehair — my bow a victim of mites, the repairman later explained. It was pure agony to twist my fingers into position. But to my astonishment and that of my teenage children — who had never heard me play — I could still manage a sound. “It turned out, a few days later, that there were 100 people just like me. When I showed up at a local school for rehearsal, there they were: five decades worth of former students. There were doctors and accountants, engineers and college professors. There were people who hadn’t played in decades, sitting alongside professionals like Mr. K.’s daughter Melanie, now a violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. There were generations of music teachers.”

Example #3: Yarn (by Koyoko Mori)

“The yellow mittens I made in seventh-grade home economics proved that I dreamed in color. For the unit on knitting, we were 1 supposed to turn in a pair of mittens. The two hands had to be precisely the same size so that when we held them together, palm to palm, no extra stitches would stick out from the thumb, the tip of the fingers, or the cuff. Somewhere between making the fourth and the fifth mitten to fulfill this requirement, I dreamed that the ball of yellow yarn in my bag had turned green. Chartreuse, leaf, Granny Smith, lime, neon, acid green. The brightness was electric. I woke up knowing that I was, once again, doomed for a D in home ec.”

Example #4: The Taj Mahal (by Salman Rushdie)

“And this, finally, is why the Taj Mahal must be seen: to remind us that the world is real, that the sound is truer than the echo, the original more forceful than its image in a mirror. The beauty of beautiful things is still able, in these image-saturated times, to transcend imitations. And the Taj Mahal is, beyond the power of words to say it, a lovely thing, perhaps the loveliest of things.”

Function of Descriptive Essay

How to Write a Good Descriptive Paragraph

Writing Essays
Writing Research Papers
English Grammar
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

A good descriptive paragraph is like a window into another world. Through the use of careful examples or details, an author can conjure a scene that vividly describes a person, place, or thing. Whether it's found in fiction or nonfiction, the best descriptive writing appeals to multiple senses at once—smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing.

See below for examples of strong descriptive paragraphs, and then get some tips to start writing your own.

5 Examples of Strong Descriptive Paragraphs

In their unique ways, each of the following writers (three of them students, two of them professional authors) have selected a belonging or place that holds special meaning to them. After identifying that subject in a clear topic sentence, they proceed to describe it in detail while explaining its introspective significance.

"A Friendly Clown"

"On one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle―a gift I received last Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide, white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit. The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room."

Observe how the writer moves clearly from a description of the head of the clown to the body to the unicycle underneath. More than sensory details for the eyes, she provides touch, in the description that the hair is made of yarn and the suit of nylon. Certain colors are specific, as in cherry-red cheeks and light blue, and descriptions help the reader visualize the object: the parted hair, the color line on the suit, and the grapefruit analogy. Dimensions overall help to provide the reader with the item's scale, and the descriptions of the size of the ruffle and bows on the shoes in comparison to what's nearby provide telling detail. The concluding sentence helps to tie the paragraph together by emphasizing the personal value of this gift.

"The Blond Guitar"

by Jeremy Burden

"My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped blond guitar―the first instrument I taught myself how to play. It's nothing fancy, just a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and fingerprinted. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a silver tuning key. The strings are stretched down a long, slim neck, its frets tarnished, the wood worn by years of fingers pressing chords and picking notes. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that was slightly damaged in shipping. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard fell off years ago. No, it's not a beautiful instrument, but it still lets me make music, and for that I will always treasure it."

Here, the writer uses a topic sentence to open his paragraph and then uses the following sentences to add specific details . The author creates an image for the mind's eye to travel across by describing the parts of the guitar logically, from the strings on the head to the worn wood on the body.

He emphasizes its condition by the number of different descriptions of the wear on the guitar, such as noting its slight warp; distinguishing between scuffs and scratches; describing the effect that fingers have had on the instrument by wearing down its neck, tarnishing frets, and leaving prints on the body; listing both its chips and gouges and even noting their effects on the color of the instrument. The author even describes the remnants of missing pieces. After all that, he plainly states his affection for it.

"Gregory"

by Barbara Carter

"Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. He walks with pride and grace, performing a dance of disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with the delicacy of a ballet dancer. His pride, however, does not extend to his appearance, for he spends most of his time indoors watching television and growing fat. He enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9 Lives. His familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic brands of cat food in favor of only the most expensive brands. Gregory is as finicky about visitors as he is about what he eats, befriending some and repelling others. He may snuggle up against your ankle, begging to be petted, or he may imitate a skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does not do this to establish his territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is jealous of my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing and smiling to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for his obnoxious, but endearing, habits."

The writer here focuses less on the physical appearance of her pet than on the cat's habits and actions. Notice how many different descriptors go into just the sentence about how the cat walks: emotions of pride and disdain and the extended metaphor of the dancer, including the phrases "dance of disdain," "grace," and "ballet dancer." When you want to portray something through the use of a metaphor, make sure you are consistent, and that all the descriptors make sense with that one metaphor. Don't use two different metaphors to describe the same thing, because that makes the image you're trying to portray awkward and convoluted. The consistency adds emphasis and depth to the description.

Personification is an effective literary device for giving lifelike detail to an inanimate object or an animal, and Carter uses it to great effect. Look at how much time she spends on the discussions of what the cat takes pride in (or doesn't) and how it comes across in his attitude, with being finicky and jealous, acting to humiliate by spraying, and just overall behaving obnoxiously. Still, she conveys her clear affection for the cat, something to which many readers can relate.

"The Magic Metal Tube"

by Maxine Hong Kingston

"Once in a long while, four times so far for me, my mother brings out the metal tube that holds her medical diploma. On the tube are gold circles crossed with seven red lines each―"joy" ideographs in abstract. There are also little flowers that look like gears for a gold machine. According to the scraps of labels with Chinese and American addresses, stamps, and postmarks, the family airmailed the can from Hong Kong in 1950. It got crushed in the middle, and whoever tried to peel the labels off stopped because the red and gold paint came off too, leaving silver scratches that rust. Somebody tried to pry the end off before discovering that the tube falls apart. When I open it, the smell of China flies out, a thousand-year-old bat flying heavy-headed out of the Chinese caverns where bats are as white as dust, a smell that comes from long ago, far back in the brain."

This paragraph opens the third chapter of Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts," a lyrical account of a Chinese-American girl growing up in California. Notice how Kingston integrates informative and descriptive details in this account of "the metal tube" that holds her mother's diploma from medical school. She uses color, shape, texture (rust, missing paint, pry marks, and scratches), and smell, where she has a particularly strong metaphor that surprises the reader with its distinctness. The last sentence in the paragraph (not reproduced here) is more about the smell; closing the paragraph with this aspect adds emphasis to it. The order of the description is also logical, as the first response to the closed object is how it looks rather than how it smells when opened.

"Inside District School #7, Niagara County, New York"

by Joyce Carol Oates

"Inside, the school smelled smartly of varnish and wood smoke from the potbellied stove. On gloomy days, not unknown in upstate New York in this region south of Lake Ontario and east of Lake Erie, the windows emitted a vague, gauzy light, not much reinforced by ceiling lights. We squinted at the blackboard, that seemed far away since it was on a small platform, where Mrs. Dietz's desk was also positioned, at the front, left of the room. We sat in rows of seats, smallest at the front, largest at the rear, attached at their bases by metal runners, like a toboggan; the wood of these desks seemed beautiful to me, smooth and of the red-burnished hue of horse chestnuts. The floor was bare wooden planks. An American flag hung limply at the far left of the blackboard and above the blackboard, running across the front of the room, designed to draw our eyes to it avidly, worshipfully, were paper squares showing that beautifully shaped script known as Parker Penmanship."

In this paragraph (originally published in "Washington Post Book World" and reprinted in "Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art"), Joyce Carol Oates affectionately describes the one-room schoolhouse she attended from first through fifth grades. Notice how she appeals to our sense of smell before moving on to describe the layout and contents of the room. When you walk into a place, its overall smell hits you immediately, if it's pungent, even before you've taken in the whole area with your eyes. Thus this choice of chronology for this descriptive paragraph is also a logical order of narration, even though it differs from the Hong Kingston paragraph. It allows the reader to imagine the room just as if he were walking into it.

The positioning of items relative to other items is on full display in this paragraph, to give people a clear vision of the layout of the place as a whole. For the objects inside, she uses many descriptors of what materials they are made from. Note the imagery portrayed by the use of the phrases "gauzy light," "toboggan," and "horse chestnuts." You can imagine the emphasis placed on penmanship study by the description of their quantity, the deliberate location of the paper squares, and the desired effect upon the students brought about by this location.

Writing Your Own Descriptive Paragraph

Writing your own descriptive paragraph ? Always start by observing your subject closely, using all five senses. Think about and write down as many details as you can; then, try to associate different metaphors or expressions to convey those details. Don't forget to identify what your topic sentence should be. And of course, be open to whatever your imagination explores. Need ideas for a topic? Check out this list of 40 descriptive paragraph topic suggestions .

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Writing a Descriptive Essay

How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

26 April, 2020

11 minutes read

Author: Tomas White

Descriptive essay is one of the hardest forms of writing. To master descriptive writing, you must be creative and craft a scene that all readers can picture with words alone. This freedom and creativity can make it one of the most rewarding and fun essays to write. It is the backbone of all artful writing like poetry, novels, and even television scripts. We prepared this guide for You to learn all you need to know about descriptive writing. Let's start!

What is a Descriptive Essay?

The goal of a descriptive essay is simple, choose a subject and describe it. The subject could be anything:

A descriptive essay is all about describing the subject in great detail. Being a type of expository writing , it gives you great freedom to paint a picture with your words, shares a once in a lifetime event with the reader or makes them feel something. It is better to choose a descriptive essay topic that has lots of qualities to discuss for example a person might have a more interesting feature to describe than a paper towel. Choose a subject you connect with emotionally or have a personal history with. The best descriptions come from retelling an experience.

The Difference Between Descriptive and Narrative Essays

The main difference between descriptive and narrative essays lies in the structure and purpose of the essay. A descriptive essay is used to describe a subject to present a clear picture of it. As such, it only requires you to describe the item in a logic fashion. A narrative essay’s purpose is to tell a story. As such, it requires a plot and logical progression to an outcome. A person’s face can be the subject of a descriptive essay. But it would be hard to write a narrative piece that follows the person’s face as the central plot of a story.

Showing VS Telling

A descriptive essay values details over facts. This is also known as showing vs. telling. To show something is to describe using the five senses, how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes, how it feels and how it sounds. Imagine the reader as an alien, who has never experienced the subject for themselves. How would you describe it then?

To give you an understanding of how to differentiate between showing and telling I’ll write an example of a descriptive paper that describes my favorite place.

The above example tells you, as it doesn’t evoke any of your senses. It is a senseless description . It’s vague and hard to imagine.

This description is more detail and easier to imagine because of the following changes:

The choice of words like ‘haven’ instead of ‘like’ add a showing element as it is showing in what way I like the library.
Putting describers before items like ‘brightly colored’ books makes it easier to see.
And choosing words with more like ‘towering’ instead of ‘tall’ makes the description less full.
The description of the books shows what they do, not what they are. These are important points to consider when writing a descriptive essay.

A good exercise for descriptive writing and is to read descriptive essay examples and pick out the words that do the four points outlined above. Analyzing other’s descriptive writing will make your own descriptive work stronger. Can you pick out another place in the descriptive essay example above where those four changes occur and what it lends to the description?

Still having problems with your descriptive paper? All you need is to request help from our top-notch essay writing service and our essay writer make it for you !

How to Choose a Descriptive Essay Topic?

When deciding what to highlight about your topic, take a step back and look at what draws you to it. A campfire has bright, flickering colors, a satisfying crackling sound, and a sort of flow as it moves from the bottom to the tip of the flame. Place yourself in proximity to the subject and describe the parts that stimulate your senses the most.

Title Examples of Descriptive Essays

Here are some examples of descriptive essay topics that are fun to write:

Pick something you can see right now and think about how you’d describe that.

Related Posts: Argumentative essay topics | Compare&Contrast essay topics

How to Set Up a Proper Description?

Slow down and think about what you want to invoke. Don’t rush into a description or you’ll likely end up with something weaker than you could have. Take your topic aside and write some sentences describing how it charms each sense – the five senses being:

Keep a thesaurus on hand to switch some of the more basic words out. If you can read your paragraph back and vividly imagine the item you’ve described, you’ve done it.

How to write a Descriptive Essay Outline

Starting your descriptive essay without a plan can lead to a messy and sprawling description. Learning to outline your ideas is just as important as knowing how to write them.

Related Posts: How to write an Essay outline | How to write an Essay introduction

Creating an Introduction for a Descriptive Writing

Once you have chosen the subject to write you need to plan the introduction for your descriptive paper. An introduction needs to include a thesis statement and three features of the thing you are describing. The introduction should start with a thesis statement that states how you feel about your topic. This should then be supported with three qualities defining those feelings.

These thesis statements aren’t meant to be complex. All they’re meant to do is to set up your reader for your descriptions. It is important to include three reasons that you can expand on describe in great detail as they will form the paragraphs of your descriptive paper.

Planning and Writing the Body of a Descriptive Essay

Looking at your thesis statement, take those three reasons and break them down into their own paragraphs. Describe hanging out with your friends at the beach, talk about the food you’d eat, the activities you’d participate in. Detail what huskies do when they’re energetic, what shows that they get along with other dogs?

It helps to write about each way you can describe an item on a separate sheet of paper. Use that sheet as your descriptive essay outline. Take each item and write what sense you can use to describe the item in each paragraph.

For example, if you want to talk about eating a popsicle on the beach you could include how cold against your tongue for touch, that it smelt and tasted like raspberries, it was a bright red, and shaped like a rocket for sight, and the sound you made it as you bit on it, or the sound you made as it rocketed into your mouth. Expand this into a paragraph keeping the most vivid description.

Force your reader to imagine these objects in their head. Help them visualize it, pour your vision into the paper and focus on both the small and the big details. Just don’t go overboard. It’s important to have a few great descriptors rather than a ton of average ones.

When describing an object, go about it in a practical sense. Don’t just throw details on the page, talk about them in order. Describe a mountain from its peak to it’s middle all the way down to its base. You wouldn’t go from the middle to the base to the peak, would you? This way, you’re keeping your reader engaged with the topic.

Concluding a Descriptive Essay

Concluding descriptive writing is easy. All you have to show why the subject you described is important to you. All you have to do is show the reader what you implied. Show why it has meaning, and why they should care.

Descriptive Essay Example

Drafting your essay.

Make sure that your essay responds to these questions

Where the organization comes to fruition. When writing your essay, keep the reader in your head at all times. Constantly as yourself: “Is this vivid enough?” Don’t focus much on grammar, get the content onto the paper.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Once you’ve finished writing your essay, read it back and make sure it responds positively to each of these questions:

Are these descriptions making my writing visual? Could I make them more vivid?
Have I used these descriptions to detail my emotions to the reader?
Do these descriptions convey each of the five senses?
Have I gone into enough details in each paragraph?
Are my descriptions in an orderly fashion?

If you believe your essay fits these criteria, then you’re good to go on the content side.

Perfecting the Essay

Read it through a couple more times. Take some time away from it and then come back with a fresh mindset. Correct any grammar issues you see, and double check that it answers all of the questions mentioned above. Once that’s done, you’ll have an essay worthy of an A+ grade.

From Our Writers: Tips on How to Write a Good Descriptive Essay

Be sensitive. Some writers are scared to show their true selves, but the point of a descriptive essay is to talk about how an object affects your senses and emotions. Keep this in mind during all stages of the essay.
Put effort into unique descriptions. Don’t settle for standard words, spend some time searching out alternatives to common descriptive words. It will only help the reader envision your thoughts.
Write about something that you care about. If you choose something you don’t have much personal experience with, you can’t truly write from the heart.

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13 Best Descriptive Essay Examples and Templates

A Descriptive Essay is a genre of essay writing that allows a writer to provide a vivid description of something- a person, an event, a place, a personal experience, an object, an emotion, etc.

Descriptive essays, like narrative essays, tend to allow the writer a great deal of artistic freedom than most academic writings. Good descriptive essays examples include newspaper articles, research papers, travelogues, memoirs of a personal experience, book reports, among others.

Purpose of Descriptive Essays

The primary purpose of writing a descriptive essay is to provide enough detail about a given topic to enable the reader to visualize it. Descriptive essays test a writer’s ability to use language creatively and originally to give the reader a more robust understanding of the specific topic or subject of discussion. This form of writing does not involve convincing readers or showing information to prove a point, like in argumentative essays, but it aims at describing all the important details about the given topic to make the reader understand it more easily.

Descriptive writing also benefits the author of the work. Whether the subject of a writer’s essay is personal or of cultural importance, descriptive essays are fundamental to mastering the art of descriptive writing. Descriptive essays are mostly assigned to high school students in composition classes to teach them the basics of writing and self-expression.

Essay Examples

Following are some free downloadable templates for you:

Descriptive Essay Writing Guidelines

The process of writing an effective descriptive essay involves topic selection, creating an outline, organizing ideas or points, and adding relevant information into the essay.

The following is a procedural guideline for descriptive essay writing:

Choose a particular prompt

Descriptive essay assignments tend to provide writers with a particular prompt or choice of prompts. Such assignments will often ask the writer to describe something based on personal experience, describe something out of imagination, or describe something more abstract, like an emotion. In either case, the writer should try to think of a topic that they feel they can comfortably describe in detail.

The selected essay topic should provoke specific feelings or sensations, and it should be a topic that the writer can describe in an appealing way to compel the reader to want to read more. When selecting an appropriate topic, it might be a great idea to summarize the essay’s main idea into a clear and defined thesis statement. The thesis statement should be less about the writer’s personal point of view and more about making a lasting impression on the reader’s mind.

Brainstorm/write down information

Next, the writer should take some time brainstorming ideas about their topic or prompt choice. Afterward, the writer should create a draft of their descriptive essay outline to organize information in a proper sequence. Writing down information on the given topic also helps writers structure their descriptive essay correctly and reminds them to include all the sensory details.

Write a descriptive essay introduction

An effective descriptive essay usually begins with an introduction. Here, the writer introduces the main topic of discussion and includes a strong opinion that creates the essay’s first impression. This is known as a hook , and it should be in the form of a rhetorical question or a bold statement. Next, the writer should provide a global context and highlight questions, points, or ideas that the rest of the essay will discuss. The thesis statement of the essay should be written as the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

Writers should write a thesis statement that is clear and precise. The narrow subject line should also be written creatively and mysteriously to attract readers to the essay’s body.

Example of a hook and a thesis statement in descriptive essay writing:

My personal experience of fear For many reasons, the dark forest is my greatest fear, though not a fear that I necessarily like to venture into.

Body paragraphs

In most cases, descriptive essays encompass three body paragraphs. Each body paragraph covers a different point or argument, and it should begin with a topic sentence that anchors the reader’s attention and informs them what to expect from the paragraph. While writing a descriptive essay’s body paragraphs, writers are encouraged to be as specific as possible and avoid overwhelming readers with too much irrelevant information. Including 2-3 specific examples in the paragraphs also creates an impression on the readers’ minds.

Tip: It is essential to finish a body paragraph by introducing the next. To achieve this, appropriate transitional phrases are encouraged as they create immersion within the essay. This makes the essay better, and it will not come out as a list of facts.

Concluding paragraph

According to the descriptive essay’s format, the concluding paragraph should be a summary of all the points discussed in the essay’s body. However, the writer can also use it to reiterate the main point of the essay discussed in the introductory paragraph.

Tip: Writers should never introduce any new points in the essay’s conclusion. If there are any major points to discuss, it is best to create another body paragraph.

Proofread to upgrade the essay

After writing the essay, the writer should proofread the entire document to find out and correct any grammatical and spelling errors. Proofreading will also enable the writer to find areas where sensory details and descriptive language can help enhance a description. Including literary tools and figurative language in the essay creates a memorable image of the essay’s subject in the reader’s mind.

Tips to Improve Descriptive Writing

A writer’s ability to provide vivid descriptions on a given subject and make the subject’s settings and characters spring to life in the readers’ minds is critical in writing effective descriptive essays.

The consideration of the following key tips can be very beneficial to writers:

Brainstorm efficiently

This is a pre-writing consideration that writers should take into account to improve their descriptive writing skills. Taking a few minutes to brainstorm an essay’s topic helps writers generate ideas, develop order, and ease tension that often results in a loss of ideas or words amid writing.

Use of descriptive adjectives

Writing descriptively involves choosing the right words for an essay’s topic. The use of descriptive adjectives is important as they help add more information about the number, color, type, and other qualities of the nouns and pronouns used in the essay’s text. A writer’s choice of adverbs, verbs, and nouns is also crucial in providing readers with vivid descriptions, but their choice of words should remain relevant to what they intend to describe. While writing a descriptive essay, writers should avoid using cliché phrases and focus on more precise, original, and straightforward phrases. Using a thesaurus can help writers to find alternative word choices, but they should be careful not to overuse it.

For example:

As we walked through the thick forest, I looked back and saw an angry, green, venomous snake crawling from beneath the thick shrubs.

Vivid language

Good descriptive essay examples often make use of vivid language. By describing something vividly, it means that the writer has used descriptive language to paint a clear picture of the subject matter on the reader’s mind, allowing them to see clearly what the author had envisioned. If possible, writers should describe emotions or feelings related to the topic to connect with their readers on a deeper level.

Sensory details

The use of sensory details in descriptive essay writing is another essential tip that writers should consider when writing their essays. This means not only referring to what something looks like but also exploring its sense of smell, sound, taste, touch, etc. With more abstract subjects like emotions, writers can include sensory details metaphorically. Writings that incorporate vivid sensory details are more likely to engage and affect the reader’s perception of the given subject. Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that not all sensory details will apply to every subject.

Love is like a crescent moon. It is both sharp and curved and firm and gentle. Its white glow is soft enough to ignore if you choose it but bright enough to make even broken glass glisten and shimmer like a treasure all its own.

Use of figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphors , personification, hyperbole, symbolism, and similes that use words in non-literal ways to paint a memorable picture in a reader’s mind. This is important as it gives an author’s work its creative edge making it unique and appealing to the readers. However, this does not imply that writers should fill their essays with figurative language, making the essay lose its meaning. Instead, writers should use these devices creatively at various points throughout the essay to make the essay interesting, reader-engaging, and convey a unique perspective of the subject.

When I saw the dove soar high above my home, I immediately knew that the worst was over (symbolism) After the death of my father, I spent several weeks drowned in a sea of grief (Metaphor) The ocean’s water is as clear as crystal (simile) The night was calm. The only sound that could be heard was that of the howling winds (personification) The Corona Virus Pandemic and lockdown era showed us tougher times. A normal 24 hours day seemed like a month, and months seemed to be years (hyperbole)

Organize well

Good descriptive writing should be organized. Some common ways to organize descriptive writing include the chronological order (time), spatial (location), and order of importance. Providing organized and logical descriptions of events, people, objects, situations, etc., makes it easier for the readers to follow and understand the main ideas presented in the essay.

Get Help from Descriptive Essay Examples

Descriptive essays are a writer’s tool to communicate an experience they have had or illustrate a subject they have expertise in. Whether one plans to write a personal, subjective account or provide a more rigorous description of a particular subject, the following various descriptive essay examples will guide writers to effective descriptive essay writing. Our descriptive essay examples are originally written using the common 5 paragraph method, and they incorporate all the essential tips to effective descriptive writing. Review these descriptive essay examples to help you get started today!

Final Words

A descriptive essay is a genre of writing that prompts students to provide a vivid description of something. When writing descriptive essays, writers are encouraged to describe the given subject in a manner that makes the reader envision what they are describing. To achieve this, writers should make use of figurative language, sensory details, descriptive adjectives, and strong word choices to create memorable descriptions. Additionally, writers are encouraged to read various descriptive essay examples from reputable sources to improve their overall descriptive essay writing skills.

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Descriptive Essay

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Essays are written due to various reasons and purposes. Some of the authors want to inform, some want to expose while some want to persuade. However, in descriptive essay writing , the essayist composes for the sake of displaying a picture out of his/her describing words. It may sound easy and simple but don’t be deceived, there are still more to learn. Read through this article to get hold of significant and beneficial new knowledge.

What is Descriptive Essay? A descriptive essay is a type of writing that aims to vividly describe a person, place, object, or event. In this type of essay, the writer uses sensory details such as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to create a clear and vivid image in the reader’s mind. The goal of a descriptive essay is to evoke a strong emotional response or create a vivid impression of the subject being described.

Descriptive Essay Format

Introduction.

Hook: Start with a sentence that captures the reader’s attention. This could be a striking fact, a question, or a vivid description. Context: Provide some background information to set the scene. Describe the setting, the situation, or the object of the essay. Thesis Statement: End the introduction with a clear thesis statement that outlines the main aspects or the overall impression of your subject.

Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should focus on a specific aspect or a detail that contributes to the overall picture you are trying to paint. Use the “show, don’t tell” technique by employing vivid imagery and sensory details.

Paragraph 1: Sight

Topic Sentence: Introduce the aspect of sight. Details: Describe what you see in vivid detail. Use adjectives and adverbs to bring the scene to life. Closing Sentence: Wrap up the paragraph by summarizing the importance of the visual details.

Paragraph 2: Sound

Topic Sentence: Focus on the sounds related to your topic. Details: Describe what can be heard, whether it’s the background noise, a specific sound related to the subject, or the absence of sound. Closing Sentence: Conclude by explaining how the sounds contribute to the overall impression.

Paragraph 3: Smell

Topic Sentence: Highlight the aspect of smell. Details: Describe the aromas and scents. Whether it’s pleasant or pungent, detail how it impacts the scene or the subject. Closing Sentence: Summarize how the smell adds to the depth of your description.

Paragraph 4: Touch

Topic Sentence: Discuss the sense of touch. Details: Describe the textures and temperatures. Explain how something feels to the touch and why it’s important to your description. Closing Sentence: Link the tactile details to the overall experience.

Paragraph 5: Taste (if applicable)

Topic Sentence: Introduce the sense of taste, if relevant. Details: Describe the flavors and the experience of tasting something related to your subject. Closing Sentence: Reflect on how taste enhances the description.

Summary: Briefly restate your thesis and summarize the main points of your essay. Significance: Explain the significance of the subject and the impact it has made on you or the impression it leaves. Closing Thought: End with a final thought or reflection, leaving the reader with something to ponder.

Example of Descriptive Essay

“The Sunset at the Beach” As I walked down the sandy path towards the ocean, the first thing that struck me was the vast expanse of the sea, stretching endlessly towards the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of orange, pink, and purple. The beauty of the sunset at the beach was a breathtaking spectacle that I had come to witness. Introduction The beach has always been a place of serenity for me, especially during the sunset. The way the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving behind a tapestry of colors, always seemed magical. On this particular evening, the scene was set for a perfect display of nature’s artistry. Body Paragraphs The Vision of the Sunset As I stepped onto the soft, warm sand, my eyes were immediately drawn to the horizon. The sun, a fiery orb, was slowly descending, casting its golden glow across the sky. The clouds, mere wisps earlier in the day, now looked like cotton candy, stained with hues of pink and lavender. The reflection of the sunset on the water added a layer of brilliance to the scene, with the light dancing on the waves as they gently lapped against the shore. The Symphony of the Waves The sound of the waves provided a soothing background melody to the visual spectacle. Each wave crashed against the shore with a rhythm that was both calming and invigorating. In the distance, seagulls called to one another, their cries adding to the orchestral performance of nature. The rustling of the palm leaves in the gentle breeze played a soft, whispering harmony, creating a symphony that only the beach at sunset could offer. The Aromatic Breeze With every breath, the salty tang of the sea air filled my lungs, a distinctive aroma that immediately relaxed my body and mind. There was a freshness to it, a reminder of the vast, untamed ocean before me. Mixed with the faint scent of sunscreen and the earthiness of wet sand, the beach’s aroma was invigorating, grounding me in the moment. The Touch of Nature As I walked along the water’s edge, the cool water washed over my feet, providing relief from the day’s residual heat. The sand, now cooler than the afternoon sun, felt soft and comforting beneath my toes. Occasionally, a stronger wave would rush further up the beach, encouraging me to dig my feet into the sand, feeling the grains shift against my skin. Conclusion The sunset at the beach was not just a visual masterpiece; it was an experience that engaged all the senses. As the sun finally disappeared, leaving behind a sky painted in dark blues and purples, I felt a sense of peace and contentment. The beach at sunset had offered me a moment of beauty, tranquility, and a deep connection with nature. It was an unforgettable scene, etched in my memory, reminding me of the simple, yet profound joys of life.

Descriptive essays generally focus more on visualizing a specific topic of interest. Considering that aspect, showing you what it looks like may be helpful as well. Thus, we cautiously gathered the best samples and templates of descriptive essays for you to rely on, here are they:

Bright Topic Ideas for Your Descriptive Essay

The list of the possible topic ideas for your descriptive essay is limitless. There are a lot of choices to choose from and sometimes, it is really difficult to pick one. If you are being indecisive regarding your topic idea, here are some smart concepts to help you select one.

Descriptive Essay Ideas About People

Description of your favorite music genre
Treating a popular villain as a good protagonist
The right words that would compliment your singing idol
Why your squad is the best?
What qualities should your future spouse possess?
Why your aunt is the best?

Descriptive Essay Ideas About Places

Why Manila Bay has the best sunset?
The perfect adjective to describe your hometown
Details on your recent vacation destination
Why your favorite coffee shop is worth the visit?
What makes Paris unique?
The best description for your workplace

Descriptive Essay Ideas About Things

Why your wedding ring is the most luxurious?
The description of your favorite blanket
What makes your research paper great?
Description of your proposed food product
Perfume: more than just the bottle
Why your bag is great

Descriptive Essay Examples & Templates

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What are the 4 types of essays?

An essay is an extended piece or composition that shows and supports a thesis or proposition. Essays help the expression of an author’s ideas in various ways. Before composing your own essay, it is important to identify its purpose first, and in doing that, distinguishing its type would be a great beginning. Correspondingly, here are the four different types of essays:

Narrative Essays: to tell

Taking it into its most basic sense, narrative essays are used if the author wants to tell a story about a real-life adventure. This type of essay is expressed in a particular point-of-view. Commonly, it is the author’s viewpoint that is being followed. Moreover, in writing your own short narrative essay , apply realistic emotions and appropriate sensory details to provide your readers with the full taste of your story. By doing this, you are not simply telling them but also engaging them in the story’s sequence and elements. It is also advisable to state verbs as vivid and as precise as possible. The thesis statement of a narrative essay is commonly found in the opening sentence or the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

Descriptive Essays: to describe

You may confuse yourself between narrative and descriptive essays ; however, differentiating both is really easy. Rather than telling a story, a descriptive essay illustrates a specific topic such as a person, place, experience, emotion, event, etc. by means of words. You don’t simply state your experience in this type of essay; on top of that, you let your reader experience the same thing through your descriptions. In writing your own short descriptive essay , it is important to remember that you are not writing to tell but to show. Using sensory and vivid words is also recommended.

Expository Essays: to uncover and clarify

From its name itself, an expository essay is used to expose something on matters that are known to others. This type of essay is a genre of composition that aims to explain, illustrate, clarify or explicate a certain subject for the readers. Thus, an expository essay could include investigation and evaluation of ideas. This could be derived through comparison and contrast, definition, giving examples, assessment of cause and effect, etc. Moreover, in composing an expository essay, the author set his/her emotions aside for this type of essay is based on mere facts. The first point-of-view is not applied in this essay as well.

Persuasive Essays: to convince

If the expository essays talk about the facts then persuasive essays talk about arguments. The main purpose of a persuasive essay is to win over the trust of the reader to accept your viewpoint, opinion or proposition as the author. In writing a persuasive essay, your opinions should be supported by relevant facts and logical and sound reasoning. Though the essayist should lay all necessary details from both sides of the argument, he/she must comprehensibly explain why one side is correct or more favorable than the other.

Despite essays being categorized into four types, it is also important to know that an essay is not limited to one type only. In some cases, a narrative essay could also be mixed with a short descriptive essay or a short persuasive essay combined with an expository type. Nevertheless, identifying the purpose of your essay is vital before writing. However, if doing it challenges you, knowing these types is a great substitute.

What Is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay?

Some people like to watch movies rather than to read books. This is because an actual image is easier to absorb than that on writing. This is why it’s important for a writer to pay close attention to detail. A descriptive essay conclusion should provide the reader with a mental picture of a given matter.

This is especially essential when writing pieces meant for a younger audience, as they have a more imaginative mind than the average adult. A writer must be creative when using imaginative language in order for the reader to properly comprehend what is being portrayed. To do so, the writer should also be knowledgeable about the topic. After all, you don’t want to give your readers the wrong interpretation .

How to Write a Descriptive Essay

A good descriptive essay comes from a knowledgeable and imaginative mind. Thus, in descriptive writing , it’s important for one to be specific on details. After seeing a few samples that we have shown earlier, here is a step-by-step guideline to help you in composing a descriptive essay worth reading.

1. Choose a topic.

If there is no given topic, it would be great to select one that you are knowledgeable and familiar with. Considering that your whole descriptive essay would revolve on this specific subject, choosing a topic that you recognize would keep everything simpler for you. By doing such, you can freely decide what words are the most appropriate to use; as a result, it will be easier for you to describe your topic. Furthermore, your reader could be meticulous and educated on your subject, so being knowledgeable about your own topic is wise prevention against bad impression.

2. Construct your thesis statement.

Alright, now that you have your own topic already, it is important to know what specific message you want your reader should focus on reading your whole essay. Thus, it is important to always provide a thesis statement , the umbrella sentence of all your ideas. Write this in one concise sentence in your introduction and conclusion. Often, a thesis statement is mentioned in the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.

3. Gather the necessary information and ideas.

Though you are already proficient in your topic, it is still recommendable to research about your specific subject. With this, you are not just gaining new information but also checking the correctness of your knowledge. It would also be great to expand your vocabulary, especially in adjectives and adverbs, since writing one of these involve loads of describing. Moreover, also focus on the sensory words that correspond to sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch of the given subject.

4. Create an outline.

Obtaining all of the significant details, crafting an essay outline for your work will allow you to arrange your contents in a rational and chronological order. Also, being educated with different formats in writing an essay would really make a great difference in your composition.

5. Proofread.

After writing your own descriptive essay, it might feel perfect already, but most of the time, it is not. Hence, read your entire work and review if there are any errors pertaining to your grammar and spelling. Furthermore, asking for help from a well-versed friend of yours to conduct a peer-review to your work would be extremely useful.

6. Finalize your composition.

The next thing to do after the editing is to finalize your descriptive essay to its finest version. Make sure that your essay follows a specific format, consisting of the proper parts of the essay .

Smart Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay

The fundamentals of the descriptive writing procedures are now given to you; nevertheless, it would always be great to aim for something better. Now, here are some intelligent tips that would make your essay certainly more compelling.

Establish a connection with your writing.

The key to writing a good effective essay is to have the passion to write it; thus, in choosing your topic it would be great to have a familiar one or a subject that truly makes you curious. Let your interest be the seed of your fruitful composition.

Spend time to think.

In writing your own descriptive essay, let your brain do its job. Do not rush, give yourself an adequate amount of time to ponder on the necessary details that you should include and what approach you should apply. Provide yourself a clear plan of your descriptive essay writing. Moreover, look at your topic from different angles. This will allow you to take a closer look at every detail of your subject.

Apply the word vomit technique.

The word vomit technique or also called as “ free writing ” is the spontaneous use of words without considering any rules. This is a good technique in making a draft of your starting an essay . It allows your ideas to keep flowing without exerting much effort. Once this is done, you can pick out points that would go well with your essay.

Take a break before finalizing it.

Because right after writing your composition, your thought highly recognizes your word construction; thus, it does not really notice the errors and automatically treats them as correct pieces of your work. Allowing your mind to clear out for a while will make it easier for you to critic your own work. Furthermore, utilizing grammar-checking software is also a splendid move.

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Write a descriptive essay about a place you love to visit and what makes it special.

Describe in a descriptive essay your dream job and what it would be like to work there.

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How to Pick a College Essay Topic, According to an Admission Expert

A student in a USC hoodie writes in a notebook outdoors. (USC Photo/Philip Channing)

The personal essay is one of the most crucial parts of a college application. While your transcripts and test scores highlight your achievement, they’re ultimately just stats and figures.

That’s where the college essay comes in: It helps colleges determine who you are. You can let your personality shine through and also show off your biggest wins — and explain away any potential shortcomings.

Of course, not everyone loves to write. And even if you do, it’s not always easy to figure out what to say. After all, most college essay prompts are quite vague. Where do you even start?

We spoke with Dan Phan, the academic program manager for USC Bovard Scholars , to learn how to pick the perfect college essay topic.

What Should a College Essay Focus On?

First things first: You need to determine what your dream school is asking for. Some will ask for just one essay, which is in response to several possible prompts. Usually, these prompts have to do with your background, your ambitions, challenging or formative times in your life or your personal beliefs. Other schools, however, will require you to write a personal statement, in addition to answering several shorter supplementary essay questions.

So, different universities have different application requirements. However, the essay’s goal remains the same, regardless of the prompt or format.

“The main personal statement should be introspective and shed light on the student’s core values, experiences that shaped them and aspirations for the future. Who is this student? Where have they been

Where do they hope to go?” Phan said.

What are Some Examples of College Essay Themes?

Many people use the college essay to reflect on hurdles in their lives. These difficulties could be related to academics or personal struggles. The idea is to show how you handle adversity. Essays can also focus on a personal turning point, to illustrate your personal growth or how you adapt to change.

Other applicants focus on topics related to identity and diversity, diving into their cultural background or family history to explore how their heritage and upbringing have shaped them into who they are today.

Some students write about their passions, hobbies or community involvement, showing what they have to offer besides good grades. It’s also a way to paint a picture of how they could participate in campus culture. After all, the goal is for the university to want you to be there and bring your personal touch to campus!

Phan’s favorite college essay themes?

“I love reading stories about the movers and shakers of the world, young adults that I can envision in the college setting, wherever that may be, and making a big difference once there,” she said.

And while Phan sees plenty of stories about family, culture, personal obstacles and achievements, she’s also read some “beautifully written essays” that she “remembers vividly to this day.”

The topics of these essays were wide-ranging and, often, highly personal.

“Playing music with symbrachydactyly (a hand anomaly characterized by missing fingers),” Phan recalled. “Visiting the neighborhood wig shop after school to chat with cancer patients. Defying gender stereotypes. Living close to the state prison and getting involved in prison-to-school pipeline programs. Car rides listening to NPR. Peach dumplings. Natural hair. Treasure maps.”

So, don’t be afraid to get creative. While your college essay should express who you are, there are many different ways to do so.

How Do You Choose a College Essay Topic?

When faced with vague prompts and open-ended suggestions, it can be hard to think of one story that summarizes who you are. Unfortunately, you can’t write about everything that makes you unique. Instead, narrow it down to a specific thesis.

Phan recommends that students think about the top four things a stranger would need to know to get acquainted with them.

“I encourage students to be vulnerable, to build connections and to think about some of their most formative or meaningful experiences, whether that involves family, identity, culture, extracurricular activities or interests,” Phan said.

Ask yourself what your strengths are. What are the skills and qualities that separate you from others? Then, consider the stories in your life that illustrate these traits.

Maybe you’re proud of your resilience. What’s a time in your life that it was tested? Or perhaps you have a passion for improving your community. What led you to that? What are some times you’ve demonstrated that dedication?

Once you consider what you want the essay to reveal about you, it’s easier to determine what examples in your life illustrate that.

“The most compelling essays are not only well written but have rich details that humanize the student’s experiences,” Phan said.

What Not to Write in Your College Essay

While you have plenty of options for your college essay, there are also some topics you don’t want to write about. For example, Phan advises applicants to avoid writing about grades or academic performance. Your transcript already covers that.

Another common pitfall? Not writing about yourself.

“Sometimes, students make the mistake of bringing in another person like a family member, friend or leader they admire, and the essay ceases to be about the student but rather about how incredible the other person is — which completely misses the point,” Phan explained.

Similarly, keep in mind that you’re writing about yourself now. That means you should be discussing who you are as a prospective college student, not who you were in kindergarten. While stories from your youth may help explain who you’ve become, the focus should always be on personal growth and development.

Some essay topics are so overused that they’ve become clichéd, such as teenage heartbreak, mission trip experiences or winning a sports game, Phan said: “Considering how admissions committees may be reading tens of thousands of applications each application cycle, admissions readers want to read unique college essays with fresh perspectives and angularity.”

Should Someone Proofread Your College Essay?

Applying for college is a process with many steps, and most students ask for help confirming they’ve done each part correctly. The same goes for your college essay!

Once you’ve selected the topic, it’s normal to ask for feedback to ensure you’re on the right track. Your college counselor or a teacher would be the right people to ask.

Similarly, it’s a good idea to ask them for help refining the essay once it’s done. They can help you deliver your thesis in the most compelling way possible. Remember, even the most talented writers need a copy editor to check that their work is free of misspellings and grammatical errors.

However, don’t have too many people read your essay.

“I’ve seen essays become so disjointed because there were too many voices in the essays,” Phan said. “Additionally, working with multiple people can pull students in different directions, resulting in a bit of Frankenstein of an essay and the student’s original voice being completely lost.”

So, trust your gut! With enough preparation, hard work and proofreading, you can write a solid college essay that makes you stand out to potential schools.

Learn more about USC Summer and Online Pre-College Programs today.

Author: Becca van Sambeck

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A man in a Black Lives Matter t-shirt talks to a large crowd outside.

Americans used to unite over tragic events − and now are divided by them

Professor of Sociology, University of California, Davis

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Thomas D. Beamish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of California, Davis provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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Tragedy seldom unifies Americans today.

Every year, horrific crises induce tremendous suffering. Most are privately tragic, affecting only those directly harmed and their immediate relations.

A small number, though, become politically notorious and, therefore, publicly tragic.

Natural disasters , school shootings , terrorist attacks and economic crises can become public tragedies. Sexual assaults – primarily of women – by abusive executives and other men in positions of power recently emerged as a public tragedy , as has police brutality against African Americans , which has sown political unrest across the United States.

Even the COVID-19 pandemic, a seemingly natural disaster, quickly transitioned into a public tragedy as deaths mounted and a pervasive sense of mismanagement, distrust and blame galvanized the public on the political left and right.

Events like these represent a change in how tragic circumstances are cast and how they are responded to in the United States and beyond. Public tragedies are heartrending events that gain widespread public attention. They involve stylized public expressions of shock, outrage, social blame, claims of victimization, protest and memorialization.

My book, “ After Tragedy Strikes ,” explores the recent proliferation of public tragedies as a distinctive kind of political crisis that has produced far-reaching positive and negative effects on social and political relations in the 21st century.

As a sociologist who studies risk, politics and social movements , I didn’t set out to evaluate the authenticity of claims made in public tragedies. Rather, through comparison, my goal was to understand better why some of these events exert tremendous influence, while other, objectively similar, traumas do not.

Public tragedies have contributed to the increasing political polarization and the sectarian tone of political rhetoric today. One question I sought to answer in my book is why?

Acres of white flags planted in the ground, with a tall obelisk behind them.

Old way: ‘God, fate, bad luck’

The short answer is that the public’s understanding of tragic events has changed.

Well into the 20th century, tragedies were mostly explained differently than now. Explanations often referenced forces such as God, fate, bad luck, blameless accidents or, in line with the U.S. liberal political tradition, individual responsibility. Even when suffering was extreme and known to have been caused or worsened by the actions or omissions of other persons, explanations of what caused it typically took these forms.

Take Pennsylvania’s Johnstown Flood of 1889 , in which more than 2,200 people and much of the city were swept away by a deluge after a dam failed. The wealthy South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club had built the dam to create a private lake. Despite the failure due to poor construction and maintenance, neither the club nor its wealthy members would be held responsible . In the most prominent legal case brought against the club, the final verdict attributed the tragic deaths and destruction to an act of God.

Today, this explanation would be indefensible.

New way: ‘government, industry, culture’

After a tragedy, accounts now focus on assigning blame. I found that they also typically center on social blame, in which societal institutions such as the government, industry, civil society and even American culture are held responsible.

Social blame attributes harm to social forces, not individuals or God. And because some group or aspect of society is blamed, public tragedies involve political conflict.

Another reason public tragedies have become so politically consequential lies in a change in the contemporary American mindset.

Polls show that many Americans are experiencing fear and a deep sense of vulnerability to circumstances that feel beyond their control.

This mindset inspires sympathy for victims of tragic circumstance, especially when the harms they suffer are portrayed by political elites, the media and social activists as reflecting political failure and an unfair society. Political interests on both the left and right now routinely use claims of victimization to gain support and advantage.

George Floyd’s murder: A public tragedy

Take the story of George Floyd, killed in 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Floyd’s murder provoked nationwide outrage as video footage of it circulated first on social media and then through sustained news media coverage. The news and social media story of Floyd’s death emphasized his innocence: As a Black man, he had suffered an unjustified death at the hands of the police.

This representation was unusual at the time. Standard coverage of such killings often focused on resistance to arrest, prior indiscretions or the victim’s criminal record, which implies individual responsibility. Stories regarding Floyd’s death did not emphasize these elements.

Nor did the stories suggest Floyd’s death was a necessary part of police fighting crime – another common feature of news accounts. Nor did stories emphasize that Chauvin was a rogue cop, which would have suggested his killing of Floyd was his responsibility alone.

Rather, the initial stories connected Floyd’s killing to police violence across the country, suggesting it was a common police behavior.

Thus, Floyd’s murder was quickly blamed on “policing ,” gaining enormous public sympathy and notoriety – and, with this, political significance. It became a public tragedy, highlighting a set of societal conditions surrounding Floyd’s death in a way that few police killings of Black men had achieved.

The wreckage of a town after a flood destroyed it.

‘Good people brought low’

In the past, Americans might have attributed Floyd’s killing to fate, bad luck, accident or his individual responsibility, which might have weakened public outrage.

Yet explanations of this kind are not as believable as they once were. Instead, the heartrending stories characteristic of public tragedies follow a routine storyline I call the “trauma script.” It is a stylized rendering that taps into American fears and vulnerabilities and prompts emotional response and moral panic.

The script centers on innocent victims harmed by unforeseeable, uncontrollable and unwarranted circumstances blamed on the actions or omissions of “society.”

In this telling, public tragedies convey a moral struggle in which good people are brought low by a bad society. This tragic struggle is not internal and personal but external and socially focused. It’s a scenario in which bad things happen to good people who have no choice.

The public perception of trauma and loss and its underlying causes has, therefore, changed over time.

In an earlier era, Americans often justified hardship because it reflected the sacrifice necessary to get ahead. Now, a shift in sentiment reflects a change in view. Americans now focus on unjustified hardship caused by society. This reflects a cultural shift from a progress-centered worldview toward a risk-focused one.

Victimhood as a political identity

As Americans have become more aware of risks, they increasingly view them as reflecting political choices.

Whether the issue is climate change, energy sources, guns, sexual harassment, discrimination, policing, abortion or even free speech, these are now understood as involving decisions regarding risks that will benefit some and victimize others.

Politically, these have become zero-sum disputes, leading to political polarization among Americans and social distrust of American institutions.

Recent Pew surveys show that two-thirds of Americans believe other Americans have little or no confidence in the government or other citizens. Gallup, too, has shown that American confidence in the government and other major societal institutions has fallen to historic lows .

Growing American distrust of their fellow citizens and perception of an unfair government have also intensified political competition. Americans increasingly blame their political rivals for their hardships and show compassion only toward those who share their beliefs. This shift has also cultivated sympathy for claims of societal victimization and elevated victimhood as a political identity.

These conditions are the context within which public tragedies, as polarizing not unifying political events, have proliferated.

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Key things to know about U.S. election polling in 2024

Conceptual image of an oversized voting ballot box in a large crowd of people with shallow depth of field

Confidence in U.S. public opinion polling was shaken by errors in 2016 and 2020. In both years’ general elections, many polls underestimated the strength of Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. These errors laid bare some real limitations of polling.

In the midterms that followed those elections, polling performed better . But many Americans remain skeptical that it can paint an accurate portrait of the public’s political preferences.

Restoring people’s confidence in polling is an important goal, because robust and independent public polling has a critical role to play in a democratic society. It gathers and publishes information about the well-being of the public and about citizens’ views on major issues. And it provides an important counterweight to people in power, or those seeking power, when they make claims about “what the people want.”

The challenges facing polling are undeniable. In addition to the longstanding issues of rising nonresponse and cost, summer 2024 brought extraordinary events that transformed the presidential race . The good news is that people with deep knowledge of polling are working hard to fix the problems exposed in 2016 and 2020, experimenting with more data sources and interview approaches than ever before. Still, polls are more useful to the public if people have realistic expectations about what surveys can do well – and what they cannot.

With that in mind, here are some key points to know about polling heading into this year’s presidential election.

Probability sampling (or “random sampling”). This refers to a polling method in which survey participants are recruited using random sampling from a database or list that includes nearly everyone in the population. The pollster selects the sample. The survey is not open for anyone who wants to sign up.

Online opt-in polling (or “nonprobability sampling”). These polls are recruited using a variety of methods that are sometimes referred to as “convenience sampling.” Respondents come from a variety of online sources such as ads on social media or search engines, websites offering rewards in exchange for survey participation, or self-enrollment. Unlike surveys with probability samples, people can volunteer to participate in opt-in surveys.

Nonresponse and nonresponse bias. Nonresponse is when someone sampled for a survey does not participate. Nonresponse bias occurs when the pattern of nonresponse leads to error in a poll estimate. For example, college graduates are more likely than those without a degree to participate in surveys, leading to the potential that the share of college graduates in the resulting sample will be too high.

Mode of interview. This refers to the format in which respondents are presented with and respond to survey questions. The most common modes are online, live telephone, text message and paper. Some polls use more than one mode.

Weighting. This is a statistical procedure pollsters perform to make their survey align with the broader population on key characteristics like age, race, etc. For example, if a survey has too many college graduates compared with their share in the population, people without a college degree are “weighted up” to match the proper share.

How are election polls being conducted?

Pollsters are making changes in response to the problems in previous elections. As a result, polling is different today than in 2016. Most U.S. polling organizations that conducted and publicly released national surveys in both 2016 and 2022 (61%) used methods in 2022 that differed from what they used in 2016 . And change has continued since 2022.

A sand chart showing that, as the number of public pollsters in the U.S. has grown, survey methods have become more diverse.

One change is that the number of active polling organizations has grown significantly, indicating that there are fewer barriers to entry into the polling field. The number of organizations that conduct national election polls more than doubled between 2000 and 2022.

This growth has been driven largely by pollsters using inexpensive opt-in sampling methods. But previous Pew Research Center analyses have demonstrated how surveys that use nonprobability sampling may have errors twice as large , on average, as those that use probability sampling.

The second change is that many of the more prominent polling organizations that use probability sampling – including Pew Research Center – have shifted from conducting polls primarily by telephone to using online methods, or some combination of online, mail and telephone. The result is that polling methodologies are far more diverse now than in the past.

(For more about how public opinion polling works, including a chapter on election polls, read our short online course on public opinion polling basics .)

All good polling relies on statistical adjustment called “weighting,” which makes sure that the survey sample aligns with the broader population on key characteristics. Historically, public opinion researchers have adjusted their data using a core set of demographic variables to correct imbalances between the survey sample and the population.

But there is a growing realization among survey researchers that weighting a poll on just a few variables like age, race and gender is insufficient for getting accurate results. Some groups of people – such as older adults and college graduates – are more likely to take surveys, which can lead to errors that are too sizable for a simple three- or four-variable adjustment to work well. Adjusting on more variables produces more accurate results, according to Center studies in 2016 and 2018 .

A number of pollsters have taken this lesson to heart. For example, recent high-quality polls by Gallup and The New York Times/Siena College adjusted on eight and 12 variables, respectively. Our own polls typically adjust on 12 variables . In a perfect world, it wouldn’t be necessary to have that much intervention by the pollster. But the real world of survey research is not perfect.

Predicting who will vote is critical – and difficult. Preelection polls face one crucial challenge that routine opinion polls do not: determining who of the people surveyed will actually cast a ballot.

Roughly a third of eligible Americans do not vote in presidential elections , despite the enormous attention paid to these contests. Determining who will abstain is difficult because people can’t perfectly predict their future behavior – and because many people feel social pressure to say they’ll vote even if it’s unlikely.

No one knows the profile of voters ahead of Election Day. We can’t know for sure whether young people will turn out in greater numbers than usual, or whether key racial or ethnic groups will do so. This means pollsters are left to make educated guesses about turnout, often using a mix of historical data and current measures of voting enthusiasm. This is very different from routine opinion polls, which mostly do not ask about people’s future intentions.

When major news breaks, a poll’s timing can matter. Public opinion on most issues is remarkably stable, so you don’t necessarily need a recent poll about an issue to get a sense of what people think about it. But dramatic events can and do change public opinion , especially when people are first learning about a new topic. For example, polls this summer saw notable changes in voter attitudes following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. Polls taken immediately after a major event may pick up a shift in public opinion, but those shifts are sometimes short-lived. Polls fielded weeks or months later are what allow us to see whether an event has had a long-term impact on the public’s psyche.

How accurate are polls?

The answer to this question depends on what you want polls to do. Polls are used for all kinds of purposes in addition to showing who’s ahead and who’s behind in a campaign. Fair or not, however, the accuracy of election polling is usually judged by how closely the polls matched the outcome of the election.

A diverging bar chart showing polling errors in U.S. presidential elections.

By this standard, polling in 2016 and 2020 performed poorly. In both years, state polling was characterized by serious errors. National polling did reasonably well in 2016 but faltered in 2020.

In 2020, a post-election review of polling by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) found that “the 2020 polls featured polling error of an unusual magnitude: It was the highest in 40 years for the national popular vote and the highest in at least 20 years for state-level estimates of the vote in presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial contests.”

How big were the errors? Polls conducted in the last two weeks before the election suggested that Biden’s margin over Trump was nearly twice as large as it ended up being in the final national vote tally.

Errors of this size make it difficult to be confident about who is leading if the election is closely contested, as many U.S. elections are .

Pollsters are rightly working to improve the accuracy of their polls. But even an error of 4 or 5 percentage points isn’t too concerning if the purpose of the poll is to describe whether the public has favorable or unfavorable opinions about candidates , or to show which issues matter to which voters. And on questions that gauge where people stand on issues, we usually want to know broadly where the public stands. We don’t necessarily need to know the precise share of Americans who say, for example, that climate change is mostly caused by human activity. Even judged by its performance in recent elections, polling can still provide a faithful picture of public sentiment on the important issues of the day.

The 2022 midterms saw generally accurate polling, despite a wave of partisan polls predicting a broad Republican victory. In fact, FiveThirtyEight found that “polls were more accurate in 2022 than in any cycle since at least 1998, with almost no bias toward either party.” Moreover, a handful of contrarian polls that predicted a 2022 “red wave” largely washed out when the votes were tallied. In sum, if we focus on polling in the most recent national election, there’s plenty of reason to be encouraged.

Compared with other elections in the past 20 years, polls have been less accurate when Donald Trump is on the ballot. Preelection surveys suffered from large errors – especially at the state level – in 2016 and 2020, when Trump was standing for election. But they performed reasonably well in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, when he was not.

During the 2016 campaign, observers speculated about the possibility that Trump supporters might be less willing to express their support to a pollster – a phenomenon sometimes described as the “shy Trump effect.” But a committee of polling experts evaluated five different tests of the “shy Trump” theory and turned up little to no evidence for each one . Later, Pew Research Center and, in a separate test, a researcher from Yale also found little to no evidence in support of the claim.

Instead, two other explanations are more likely. One is about the difficulty of estimating who will turn out to vote. Research has found that Trump is popular among people who tend to sit out midterms but turn out for him in presidential election years. Since pollsters often use past turnout to predict who will vote, it can be difficult to anticipate when irregular voters will actually show up.

The other explanation is that Republicans in the Trump era have become a little less likely than Democrats to participate in polls . Pollsters call this “partisan nonresponse bias.” Surprisingly, polls historically have not shown any particular pattern of favoring one side or the other. The errors that favored Democratic candidates in the past eight years may be a result of the growth of political polarization, along with declining trust among conservatives in news organizations and other institutions that conduct polls.

Whatever the cause, the fact that Trump is again the nominee of the Republican Party means that pollsters must be especially careful to make sure all segments of the population are properly represented in surveys.

The real margin of error is often about double the one reported. A typical election poll sample of about 1,000 people has a margin of sampling error that’s about plus or minus 3 percentage points. That number expresses the uncertainty that results from taking a sample of the population rather than interviewing everyone . Random samples are likely to differ a little from the population just by chance, in the same way that the quality of your hand in a card game varies from one deal to the next.

A table showing that sampling error is not the only kind of polling error.

The problem is that sampling error is not the only kind of error that affects a poll. Those other kinds of error, in fact, can be as large or larger than sampling error. Consequently, the reported margin of error can lead people to think that polls are more accurate than they really are.

There are three other, equally important sources of error in polling: noncoverage error , where not all the target population has a chance of being sampled; nonresponse error, where certain groups of people may be less likely to participate; and measurement error, where people may not properly understand the questions or misreport their opinions. Not only does the margin of error fail to account for those other sources of potential error, putting a number only on sampling error implies to the public that other kinds of error do not exist.

Several recent studies show that the average total error in a poll estimate may be closer to twice as large as that implied by a typical margin of sampling error. This hidden error underscores the fact that polls may not be precise enough to call the winner in a close election.

Other important things to remember

Transparency in how a poll was conducted is associated with better accuracy . The polling industry has several platforms and initiatives aimed at promoting transparency in survey methodology. These include AAPOR’s transparency initiative and the Roper Center archive . Polling organizations that participate in these organizations have less error, on average, than those that don’t participate, an analysis by FiveThirtyEight found .

Participation in these transparency efforts does not guarantee that a poll is rigorous, but it is undoubtedly a positive signal. Transparency in polling means disclosing essential information, including the poll’s sponsor, the data collection firm, where and how participants were selected, modes of interview, field dates, sample size, question wording, and weighting procedures.

There is evidence that when the public is told that a candidate is extremely likely to win, some people may be less likely to vote . Following the 2016 election, many people wondered whether the pervasive forecasts that seemed to all but guarantee a Hillary Clinton victory – two modelers put her chances at 99% – led some would-be voters to conclude that the race was effectively over and that their vote would not make a difference. There is scientific research to back up that claim: A team of researchers found experimental evidence that when people have high confidence that one candidate will win, they are less likely to vote. This helps explain why some polling analysts say elections should be covered using traditional polling estimates and margins of error rather than speculative win probabilities (also known as “probabilistic forecasts”).

National polls tell us what the entire public thinks about the presidential candidates, but the outcome of the election is determined state by state in the Electoral College . The 2000 and 2016 presidential elections demonstrated a difficult truth: The candidate with the largest share of support among all voters in the United States sometimes loses the election. In those two elections, the national popular vote winners (Al Gore and Hillary Clinton) lost the election in the Electoral College (to George W. Bush and Donald Trump). In recent years, analysts have shown that Republican candidates do somewhat better in the Electoral College than in the popular vote because every state gets three electoral votes regardless of population – and many less-populated states are rural and more Republican.

For some, this raises the question: What is the use of national polls if they don’t tell us who is likely to win the presidency? In fact, national polls try to gauge the opinions of all Americans, regardless of whether they live in a battleground state like Pennsylvania, a reliably red state like Idaho or a reliably blue state like Rhode Island. In short, national polls tell us what the entire citizenry is thinking. Polls that focus only on the competitive states run the risk of giving too little attention to the needs and views of the vast majority of Americans who live in uncompetitive states – about 80%.

Fortunately, this is not how most pollsters view the world . As the noted political scientist Sidney Verba explained, “Surveys produce just what democracy is supposed to produce – equal representation of all citizens.”

Survey Methods
Trust, Facts & Democracy
Voter Files

Scott Keeter is a senior survey advisor at Pew Research Center .

Courtney Kennedy is Vice President of Methods and Innovation at Pew Research Center .

How do people in the U.S. take Pew Research Center surveys, anyway?

How public polling has changed in the 21st century, what 2020’s election poll errors tell us about the accuracy of issue polling, a field guide to polling: election 2020 edition, methods 101: how is polling done around the world, most popular.

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts , its primary funder.

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Americans used to unite over tragic events − and now are divided by them
In this telling, public tragedies convey a moral struggle in which good people are brought low by a bad society. This tragic struggle is not internal and personal but external and socially focused.
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Writing task 2 discussion essay examples Najeebullah Monawari says. I have to say that the sample answers for task 1 are very good but the ones for task 2 are so confusing. ... Writing a summary response essay sentence: A good example of this is the golden lion tamarin from Brazil which nearly the jungle book review essay out because of logging ...
Key things to know about U.S. election polling in 2024
All good polling relies on statistical adjustment called "weighting," which makes sure that the survey sample aligns with the broader population on key characteristics. Historically, public opinion researchers have adjusted their data using a core set of demographic variables to correct imbalances between the survey sample and the population.

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Descriptive Essay Examples

Descriptive Essay Examples & Writing Tips

Grasping the Concept of Descriptive Essays

Personal Descriptive Essay Example

Descriptive Essay Example About A Person

Narrative and Descriptive Essay Example

Descriptive Essay Example for Middle School

Descriptive Essay Example for High School

Descriptive Essay Example for University and College

How to Write a Descriptive Essay?

Tips to Write a Good Descriptive Essay

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Examples: Edited Papers

What is a descriptive essay?

Descriptive essay topics

Descriptive essay structure

1. Introduction

2. Body paragraph

3. Conclusion

How to write a descriptive essay

1. Use figures of speech

2. Use your senses

3. Use evocative language

Descriptive essay outline

Descriptive essay example

Frequently Asked Questions

Your vs. You’re: When to Use Your and You’re

What is a Descriptive Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

Table of Contents

How to write a descriptive essay using a structured outline

Characteristics of descriptive essay s

How to write a descriptive essay, with examples

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What is a Descriptive Essay?

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Descriptive Essay Topics

How to Write a Descriptive Essay in 8 Steps

Step 1: Select Your Topic

Step 2: Gather Details

Step 3: Draft an Outline

Step 4: Develop a Thesis Statement

Step 5: Craft the Introduction

Step 6: Compose the Body Paragraphs

Step 7: Conclude the Essay

Step 8: Refine Your Essay

Descriptive Essay Format

Descriptive Essay Examples

3 Additional Tips for Writing

In Wrapping Up

Need To Describe Something But DON'T KNOW HOW?

How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

How To Write An Impactful Descriptive Essay?

What is a Descriptive Essay?

What is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay?

How to Start a Descriptive Essay

Physical Settings

Physical Features

Create Drama

Focus On Your Feelings

Use Of Specific Vocabulary

Psychological Aspects

Ask Yourself, WHY?

How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

Descriptive Essay Outline

Descriptive Essay Introduction