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1 Topic Sentences: statement of the main idea.
2 Body: element of scene, arranged in spatial order
Overview of scene Specific detail and activity 1
Specific detail and activity 2 Specific detail and activity 3
3 Conclusion: restatement of the main idea, call for action, or summary
Meyers 2005: 61. 2.7.3
Grammar and Mechanic of Descriptive Essay
Present continuous tense is frequently used in writing description. When writers want to tell about the activities that are happening in the scene they are describing,
they use the present continuous tense. In other words, present continuous is used to describe actions that are actually taking place at the present time and are
temporary Oshima Hogue 1997:55. The subject of a descriptive essay usually uses the subject it is, or uses the
expletive there such as there is and there are Oshima Hogue 1997:57.
2.7.4 The Process of Writing a Description Text
According to Meyers 2005: 63-65, there are at least five sequence steps to writing a good descriptive essay, they are:
2.7.4.1 Gathering the Materials
The best way to gather material for the paragraph is to visit the place for about half an hour. Take notes on what can be seen and heard. Record as much as
information as possible. The writers probably won’t use it all, but it is better for
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the writer to have more than they need than not enough when they compose a first draft. The following four questions should guide the writers in note taking:
1 Where is the location? And what is its name?
2 What are the dimensions and most important features? Where is each
feature –on the right, in the middle, above something else, close or far away?
3 How large or small are the objects you see? How are they shaped? What are
their colors? 4
What are people doing in the scene, and where are they? What do they look like?
2.7.4.2 Arranging the Materials
It is in thinking about the claim that the writer can make a text based on the information. The writers can accomplish this task in one of two ways – or both of
them: 1
Write a topic sentence and then select the materials to develop and support it. 2
Select and arrange the material through additional brainstorming, clustering, free writing, or perhaps an informal outline. Then write the topic sentence.
The rest of the paragraph would probably be organized as follows: 1
A general description of the setting, including its location and probably the time of the scene
2 Details that support the topic sentence; in the example above, those details
would show what is relaxing and pleasant, as well as how people are meeting each other
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3 More specific details about the scene, arranged in logical order – probably
spatial or thematic that is, supporting the main point or claim 4
Transitional sentences or phrases that introduce the activities in the scene 5
A description of those activities, including a few specific examples.
2.7.4.3 Writing the First Draft
After the writers arrange the material, it is time to write a first draft.
2.7.4.4 Revising the First Draft
