The Descriptive Essay

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The Descriptive Essay
Writing is not like painting where you can add.
It is not what you put on the canvas that the
reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture
where you remove, you eliminate in order to make
the work visible. Even those pages you remove
somehow remain. Elie Wiesel

• ENG 101

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First, your Cool writing . . . .
General Starbucks Less General Starbucks AND
Traveling Limited Subject There is often great
difficulty when traveling in foreign countries
and you cant find the creature comforts you love
such as Starbucks. Purpose To describe the
time when I found a Starbucks in the middle of
Berlin. Audience People who have a great
affinity for Starbucks. Tone Humorous Point of
View (1st), Someone who has a difficult time
living without having Starbucks on a daily
basis. Thesis Beneath the shadow of the infamous
Brandenburg Gate, I found what would bring dreary
Berlin truly alive for me.
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In her first O, The Oprah Magazine column, Oprah
wrote "We are all the causes of our own effects,
That's why I'll never stop asking the question,
'What do you know for sure?'" Here, notable men
and women share the truths that inspire them,
guide them, and repeatedly set them free...
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First, the due dates . . .(this is all on your
handout)

• TTAPP Tuesday, September 8th
• (note this day will be a work day as well)
• Prewriting Wednesday, September 9th
•  Rough Draft 2 Copies - Thursday, September
  10th
•  Final Draft Wednesday, September 16th
• On the day your final draft is due, you will
  need to turn in
• Approved TTAPP (my email reply with time and
  date or paper with my initials)
• Three edited rough drafts (self and two peer)
• Final Draft

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Your Descriptive Writing Prompt

• What do you know for sure? You will follow the
  format that we went over in class and create your
  own What I Know For Sure passage. You will be
  telling a story about yourself, and opening it up
  to a bigger life lesson. Be sure you choose an
  event in your life that has made some sort of
  impact on you your purpose here is that you
  will strive to create intensely vivid images in
  your readers mind by showing rather then
  telling.

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Your Descriptive Writing Prompt

• The pattern that you will use is
• Personal Story
• What I know for sure (you will actually start a
  paragraph with that line! You will also bold
  those words)
• Big Picture Overview What do you want people to
  walk away knowing? What life lesson are you
  sharing?

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The details What do you have to include?

• Length of Paper Minimum of 1000 words
• 10 vocabulary words, underlined from lessons 1-8
• 3 similes highlight and label the color for me
  somewhere
• 3 metaphors highlight and label the color for
  me somewhere

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Paragraph Lengths

• Intro and Conclusion 5-7 sentences
• Body Paragraphs 7-10 Sentences

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How do I put in a header? (yes, we will know if
it is not ½ an inch down!)
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Just type in your last name and hit the space bar!
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How do I find my word count?
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Formatting

• You do NOT need a title page!

Open up your student style handbook!
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Your Name
Ms. LaDuca
ENG 101 Section number
Dont Abbreviate!
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How do I get my TTAPP approved?

• Email Ms. LaDuca
• alexis.laduca_at_dvusd.org
• Tuesday is a work day! I will approve TTAPP then
  as well!

Try to email first dont wait till the last
minute! Many times TTAPP is not approved the
first time around!
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Okay, how bout that TTAPP?

• Purpose To describe.
• Audience
• Tone
• Point of View (1) and
• Thesis

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Heres an example.

• Purpose To describe the time when I found a
  Starbucks in the middle of Berlin.

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Heres an example.

• Audience People who have a great affinity for
  Starbucks.

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Heres an example.

• Tone Humorous

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Heres an example.

• Point of View 1st person, someone who has a
  difficult time living without having Starbucks on
  a daily basis.

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Heres an example.

• Thesis Beneath the shadow of the infamous
  Brandenburg Gate, I found what would bring dreary
  Berlin truly alive for me.

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Just a little thesis info . . .
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Two Parts to your thesis

• Your limited subject
• Your point of view (or attitude) about that
  subject

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Two young and inexperienced boys can get
themselves into a heap of trouble when theyre
dealing with a car and trying to impress a girl
at the same time.
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The love of a friend will always supersede
problems and misunderstandings that occur within
that friendship.
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Turnitin.com
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Look at your policy!

• Dont wait till the last minute! Paper is due
  prior to midnight of the day the paper is due!
• Print out and save your receipt! Keep that in
  case there is a problem.
• Suggestion Submit your paper before you even
  print out your final draft!
• If you have issues, see me before school!
• If you have a last minute problem email me with
  your paper in the body of your email. CC the
  email to yourself so you have proof! Or you can
  always call my voice mail!

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Rough Drafts!

• 1 copy is the same as 0
• Needs all the minimum requirements
• Label everything!
• Underline vocab!
• Do not ask in class to print it out, dont ask to
  go to the library to make copies! Come prepared!
  
• Bring your best possible draft!

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A Few More Hints

• Lay out a chain of events that can be easily
  followed. Imagine yourself as a camera. On what
  objects in a room does your lens focus? What is
  the rational for it doing so?

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A Few More Hints

• Never resort to clichés. Always look for fresh
  forms of expression. Consult a thesaurus to this
  end. Rather than say, he is the strong, silent
  type, write, He towered above me, the tops of
  his shoulders almost brushing against the door
  frame.

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A Few More Hints

• Use specific, concrete language. Avoid
  abstractions. Use more informal, conversational
  words than you would in an academic essay.
  Instead of saying he was experiencing great
  anxiety, say his wife found him lying on the
  floor spending the entire afternoon breaking off
  the heels of literally hundreds of his wifes
  shoes with a pair of pliers. He did so in a
  desperate attempt to keep her form leaving him.
• Go, on occasion, for the bizarre and memorable.
• Use specific and strong action verbs as much as
  possible. Dont say, She ran up the hill, when
  you could say, She scrambled drunkenly up the
  hill.

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A Few More Hints

• Avoid overusing to be forms when you can.
  Dont say, He is an incessant talker, when you
  could say, He talks incessantly. Avoid the
  copula is, am, was, were, be being, been, have,
  has, had.

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The key to this essay

• Dont tell me the moon is shining show me the
  glint of light on broken glass. Anton
  Chekhov

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One more thing. . . .
In case you forget anything we just went over . .
.
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