UNIT I: PRACTISE WRITING

  

 Practise Writing: Descriptive Essay: 
The purpose of a descriptive essay is to describe a person, place, or thing in such vivid detail that the reader can easily form a precise mental picture of what is being written about.
  • INTRODUCTION: From general to specific
  • PARAGRAPH 1: We describe what we see: sight
  • PARAGRAPH 2: We describe what we hear: Sound PARAGRAPH 3: We describe what we smell: Smelling
  • PARAGRAPH 4: We describe what we taste: Taste PARAGRAPH 5: We describe what we touch: Feeling


Example:
Describe a school experience which has really marked you.
Introduction: Among the best souvenirs in life are school experiences which remain engraved in our memory for the rest of our lives. They symbolize innocence, spontaneity, and adventure. This is one of the unforgettable experiences I had when I was in my final year in primary school.
DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE SEE: SIGHT
When I got to school, I could see crowds of students scattered in front of the school entrance which looked clean, and some students were accompanied by their parents. There was a big board inside the school yard where the lists of the examinees were written. The teachers were grouped in front of the headmaster office and were dressed formally.

DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE HEAR: SOUND I could hear the sounds of the teachers and the headmaster slamming his office door several times. The students were mostly silent not as usual probably because of the fear of the exam. I could hear a father advising his son what to do and what not to do, but his son did not seem to hear him. He was certainly absorbed in the exam, and was just nodding or shaking his head to answer his father.

DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE SMELL: SMELL When we came into the classrooms, I could smell different perfume the teachers and students were wearing. When our teacher handed the exam papers out, I could not believe my eyes when one of the students folded his exam paper and put it in his school bag. As soon the bell rang, he rushed out looking very happy as though he had done well in the exam. I was really astonished and bewildered.

DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE TASTE: TASTE
It was the break and students were eating the food they had brought with them. I wasn’t hungry, so I just tasted the sandwich my mother had prepared for me. I didn’t enjoy eating the food because I was thinking about the second examination.

DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE TOUCH: FEELING
When we finished the exam and I left, my parents were waiting for me at the school entrance. They asked me how I took my exam, and to my surprise, the classmate who put the exam paper in his pocket came running happily towards me. He took out his exam papers which were blank with no answers on them. He was caressing them with his fingers as if he had been feeling a cat’s fur, and told me that he had been looking forward to such an opportunity to own a typed paper even if it cost him to fail an exam.

Write about one of these topics:
  • You went for a picnic with your friends. Write a description of what you did.
  • Write about a school experience which has marked you.
  • Describe a wedding party which you attended.
  • Write about an embarrassing experience you had.


Task: With the information in the diagram p.16 Tickets 2, write a descriptive paragraph about the person:
Here are some useful adjectives:
  • For physical traits:
  • Height: tall, short, medium...
  • Build: frail (=weak), stocky (=short and well-built), slim (=not fat or thick), plump (=having a soft round body; slightly fat), fat, skinny (=very thin), well-built, chubby (=slightly fat in a way that people usually find attractive...
  • Age: young, teenager, middle-aged, elderly, old…
  • Face: round, oval, wrinkled (=having a small line or fold that appears on your skin as you grow older), sun-tanned (=  a browning of the skin from exposure to the rays of the sun), fair-skinned (=whose skin is fair (=pale in colour), freckled...
  • Eyes: big, round, blue, small, narrow, green, grey, hazel (=greenish-brown or reddish-brown in colour), black, violet, beady (=small, round, and bright), bloodshot (=red in the part where they should be white), sad, sorrowful, tear-filled, gentle, sympathetic, warm, compassionate, expressive, ...
  • Hair: bald (=hairless), straight, curly, spiky, wavy, black, grey, black cherry, blonde/blond, shaggy (=long and untidy…
  • Clothes: casual (=not formal), shabby (=poorly dressed, رث، بال), smart (=well dressed in fashionable and/or formal clothes), tidy, messy (=dirty and/or untidy)
  • For abilities and attitudes:
  • Intellectual ability: intelligent, bright, clever, smart (especially American english=intelligent), able, gifted (=talented), brainy (=clever “informal”)
  • Attitudes towards life: optimistic, pessimistic, extroverted (=منفتح على الخارج) ≠ introverted (=منطوي), relaxed, tense (=nervous and worried), sensible (=reasonable, معقول), sensitive (=touchy, حساس), practical…
  • Attitudes towards other people: sociable, quarrelsome (=liking to argue with other people), argumentative, easy-going (=relaxed and happy to accept things without worrying, هادئ), even-tempered (=not easily made angry), honest, trustworthy (=able to be relied on as honest or truthful, جذير بالثقة), reliable, sincere...


skinny/ bony

frail

messy clothes
middle-aged

shabby

slim

smart

stocky


thin

tidy clothes

well-built

wrinkled

freckled







Examples:
  • She’s very beautiful and attractive. She’s young. She’s slim and tall, about 1m75. She’s got long straight fair hair and big blue eyes. She’s got a small nose and a big mouth. She’s funny, nice and friendly.
  • He’s good-looking and attractive. He’s young. He’s slim and tall, about 1m90. He’s got short straight brown hair and big green eyes. He’s got a medium-sized nose and a big mouth. He’s nice and friendly.

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