Observation Essay

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Observation Essay

• Descriptive Writing

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Criteria

1. Use Show Dont TellGive sensory details (sight,
   sound, smell, taste, and touch), use dialogue and
   names of items when appropriate. Zoom in on
   crucial details.
2. Use Figurative LanguageCompare images when
   appropriate use simile, build an extended
   metaphor, use sound devices.
3. Describe What is NOT Therestep back and notice
   what is absent what is not happening, or who is
   not present.

3

• Note Changes in Form or Conditioneven if the
  object seems static, unchanging, a good writer
  looks for change. Example a six-inch purple iris
  that eight hours earlier was just a green bud.
• Learn about your Subjectwhen appropriate, read
  about your subject, ask others, have a critical
  eye.
• Write from a Distinct Point of ViewA lover and a
  botanist, for example, see entirely different
  things in the same red rose. WHAT is seen depends
  on WHO is doing the seeing.
• Consider writing from the perspective of the
  object (1st person) rather than just being the
  outside observer.

4

• Focus on a Dominant IdeaFocus on the details
  that clarify the main ideas or discoveries.
  Include those details that support the dominant
  idea.
• Dont give a laundry list of details but put them
  together in a way that leads the reader to the
  dominant insight.
• Ask yourself What elements go together?

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Topic Choices

• Person, Place, or Thing
• Object easiest to observe.
• Person He/she doing something.
• Examples Gang-gang in his garden Dad at his
  computer researching
• Something that can be seen and seen again.
• NOT a memory (the beach, etc.)
• Three-dimensional

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Beautiful/Ugly Assignment

• 50 pt. Assessment Grade
• Minimum of 2 pages, double-spaced
• Avoid Clichés.
• No TELL statements.
• Avoid those adjective statements It was
  beautiful. What does beautiful look like to you?
  
• Dominate Idea/Insight
• Stated or implied
• Inductive last paragraph/2-3 lines