An Example of a Descriptive Essay: Tales Round the Campfire.

An Example of a Descriptive Essay: Tales Round the Campfire.

In descriptive essays, there is no underlying "story" to hold your composition together, so it is necessary to think of a central idea to which everything you describe can be related. Once you have struck on a central idea you immediately have something definite to write about.

In descriptive writing, there is no single event which will keep the reader in suspense as there is in a story. Whether or not your essay will be exciting to read will depend entirely on the interesting details you include. In your first paragraph, you should consider the subject in general and deal with details in the paragraphs that follow. Your description may take the form of a personal impression or may be purely imaginary.

The general outline for descriptive essays should be as follows:

-Introduction.

-Development.

-Conclusion.

It is absolutely necessary to make out a plan noting a few ideas under each heading. In this way, you will avoid repeating yourself.

In narrative essays, the plan is only a guide and you may depart from it if in the course of writing you think of a more interesting way of dealing with the subject.

Examine carefully the plan below:

Title: "An Outing on Sunday."

Central Idea: A day spent in the city can be quite as interesting as one in the country.

An Example of a Descriptive Essay: "An Outing on Sunday."

"Though I usually go on excursions to the country during the weekend, I had decided to spend the whole Sunday in the city for a change and to visit the central park and public gardens. It was so early when I left home that the streets were deserted. Without the usual crowds and traffic, everything was strangely quiet.

When, at last, I arrived at the park I was surprised to find so many people there. Some were feeding pigeons and others were sitting peacefully at the foot of a tall statue. I went and sat with them so as to get a better view. What amused me most was a little boy who was trying to make pigeons fly up to his shoulder. He was holding some bird-seed in his hand and whenever a pigeon landed on his arm, he laughed so much that he frightened the bird away.

Some time later, I made my way to the public gardens. Here there was an entirely different atmosphere. The sun was now bright and warm, and the air was fillled with laughter.

The pond interested me more than anything else for many people had come to sail model boats. There were little yachts with bright red sails, motor boats and wonderful sailing ships. They moved gracefully across the water carried by the wind while their owners waited for them to reach the other side.

After resting for a time under a tree, I went and joined a number of people who had gathered round a man with a big model of a famous sailing ship called "The Cutty Sark". It was perfectly made and I gazed at it with admiration as its owner placed it in the water where it sailed majestically among the ducks and swans.

At midday, I left the gardens and slowly began walking home. I was not at all sorry for I had not gone to the country for the weekend. There had been much more to see in the city on a Sunday than I could ever have imagined..." (By an Unknown Author.)

AN EXAMPLE OF A FIRST PARAGRAPH:

"Last year preparations for Christmas began even earlier than usual. The shops had begun displaying Christmas presents almost two months before. As the big day drew nearer, the decorations in the streets and the huge number of people out shopping made our town almost unrecognizable."

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