New
New
Year 11
Eduqas

Using language techniques and precise vocabulary to write excellent descriptions

I can write an excellent description which meets the ambitious success criteria.

New
New
Year 11
Eduqas

Using language techniques and precise vocabulary to write excellent descriptions

I can write an excellent description which meets the ambitious success criteria.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Excellent descriptions and narratives will focus on describing details, rather than trying to write too much.
  2. Figurative language can be used to create vivid imagery.
  3. Using semantic fields as part of your description can help characterise the setting.
  4. Describing the features of something rather than its overall impression (showing not telling) makes description vivid.

Common misconception

Students often think that describing something's overall appearance makes a good description.

Description is about making your reader imagine what you are imagining. You have to give really specific details about a person or setting.

Keywords

  • Elfin - We would describe a small and delicate person, with a slightly mischievous look about them as elfin.

  • Veneer - A veneer is a thin layer of more expensive material that is attached to a less expensive material to make it look more grand.

  • Encroach - If a person intrudes on someone else’s personal space, they are encroaching.

  • Accumulate - If you accumulate evidence, you have gathered lots of it together.

  • Obscure - If you obscure something from view, you make it difficult to see.

In learning cycle 1, when students are asked to draw a house, at each stage of this activity, get them to hold their houses up so that they can compare them and see how different they all look because the description isn't specific enough.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the model answer used for this lesson. You will find it in the additional materials.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Showing and not is a great way of making your descriptions more vivid.
Correct Answer: telling, Telling, telling., Telling.
Q2.
Which of the following is an example of a semantic field?
Correct answer: blue, ocean, aqua, mermaid, fin-like, shell
green, emerald, yellow, cyan, purple, red
huge, big, average, small, minute
Correct answer: hideous, ugly, gargoyle, wretched, recoil, horror
Q3.
Starting with the smallest, put these words in order from smallest to largest.
1 - minute
2 - tiny
3 - miniature
4 - small
5 - compact
Q4.
Which of these words might you use to describe this person?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: isolated
enveloped
Correct answer: deserted
surrounded
Correct answer: alienated
Q5.
Which of the following nouns is the most appropriate in describing this body of water?
An image in a quiz
spring
stream
Correct answer: lake
pond
ocean
Q6.
Which of the following images would you be least likely to use as a comparison to the lightning pictured here?
An image in a quiz
roots of a tree
rivers
arteries and veins
fingers spreading
Correct answer: petals on a flower

6 Questions

Q1.
Good description should be ...
vague
Correct answer: vivid
Correct answer: detailed
dramatic
Correct answer: multi-sensory
Q2.
Which of the following verbs has negative, sinister connotations?
protected
Correct answer: smothered
covered
Correct answer: encroached
embraced
Q3.
Starting with the most positive, rank these words from most positive to least positive.
1 - beamed
2 - grinned
3 - smiled
4 - smirked
5 - sneered
Q4.
Which of the following uses figurative language?
He clenched his fists and shivered with rage.
Correct answer: He felt a wave of anger surge through him.
Correct answer: His blood began to boil.
His face turned bright red.
Correct answer: His voice rose to a roar.
Q5.
Which of the following words could be a synonym for 'hid' in this sentence: 'The darkness hid him from view.'
objected
accumulated
encroached
Correct answer: obscured
enthralled
Q6.
Which of the following statements would you choose to describe this sofa?
An image in a quiz
The armchair was relatively plain and dull, with no distinguishing features.
Correct answer: The fabric was adorned with faded depictions of various citrus fruits.
The plush, velvet seat of the sofa looked inviting.
Correct answer: Lurid orange cotton cloaked the rounded frame of the sofa.
Hues of magenta and cyan were splashed across the woollen fabric of the sofa.

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