Description

Description[1] in a literary sense is a medium that uses the five senses to achieve imaginative visualization. The reader is reached through their feelings, thoughts, eyes, ears, mouth, and sometimes even the nose. Description relies on what something looks like, sounds like, feels like, smells like, or taste like. Description usually set the mood of the literary piece.

Structure of Literary Description

"A description can be part of another text type, or it can be a piece by itself. A description should follow a basic structure.

A description should begin with a title or heading. This will say what it is about, such as tigers.

The introduction will include the introductory statement. This statement is used to introduce the topic, such as tigers, to the audience, and to possibly provide some background information.

The body of the text is the actual description. This body of the description is broken up into different paragraphs based on different parts of the main topic. One paragraph may describe the size and shape of the tiger, another may describe the tiger's physical features, and others may describe the environment in which tigers live.

The conclusion is used to sum up the information given in the description."

Examples of Literary Description

By. Various Contributors

"Cleopatra was legendary. She was famous not only for her breathtaking beauty but also for her great intellect. She had brown eyes and they were shaped like cat eyes. Her skin was in fact an olive shade, darker than Hollywood actress Liz Taylor who potrayed her in the film 'Cleopatra' in 1963. She had medium dark brown hair, about to the middle of her shoulder blades. She had a reputation as an extraordinarily sensuous woman."

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."

Multimedia of Description

Example video of description[2]

Example video of description[3]

Example of Literary Description (Photobook)

Example of a Literary Description (Essay)

Example of a Suspect Description

References

dcmpnad. (2009, October 27). What Is Description?[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h8Y7XsZyPk

Nate D. (2008, October 17). What is Description?[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvhf4NpwU8

English Direction. "Descriptive Text about Cleopatra." English Direction, 18 Feb. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.englishdirection.com/2010/02/descriptive-text-about-cleopatra.html>.