Nix puny descriptive paragraph
Put descriptive requirement in essay

Dismayed by the anemic, undernourished descriptions students write? You aren't alone. Most writing teachers wail that their students haven't a clue how to flesh out a description.

The answer is not having students "add words" or "add details" to an existing paragraph.

It isn't even requiring more practice in writing description.

The simplest and best way to set students to write more fully developed description is by having students embed their descriptive paragraph in a traditional five-paragraph essay.

Inexperienced writers need context

The typical student sees no point in writing a descriptive paragraph by itself. From a student's perspective, it is just another dumb assignment an English teacher dreamed up.

Without a context in which to frame a description, the typical student is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of available detail. Within a couple sentences, most students give up trying. The result is puny paragraphs.

On the other hand, if the description is part of an essay on a what students see as authentic topics — topics related to their classroom studies — they can more readily see how much detail they must provide. The essay's thesis and writing skeleton™ provide context in which students can choose appropriate detail.

Description in nonfiction

English teachers like to introduce descriptive writing in conjunction with teaching literature. I find it is better to introduce descriptive writing as part of teaching students to read nonfiction.

The description used in nonfiction is less flowery, less imaginative than that in fiction and poetry. The typical student understands nonfiction description better than more imaginative description.

I assume I need to start my discussion of description (or any other topic) with examples that 80 percent of my students can grasp. If I am lucky, I can pull in the other 20 percent and move the 80 percent to a deeper level of understanding.

Embed description requirement

A good writing prompt gives students adequate guidance so they can write their essays without coming back to the teacher with dumb questions. Part of that guidance can be directions about how to develop certain parts of the essay.

Since many workplace and academic writing situations require a paragraph or a section of a paper to be organized differently than the paper as a whole, it is perfectly reasonable to have students write a paragraph using something other than expository paragraph development as part of a traditional thesis and support (persuasive pattern) essay.

3 prompts that seek description

Embed your descriptive paragraph requirement in an essay prompt where it fits naturally. Here are three examples of a natural fit for a description:

All of those writing prompts provide a context and reason for writing a descriptive paragraph.

Precision, not poetry, is needed

Descriptive writing in the nonfiction most students will be required to do requires precise language rather than poetic language.

Before you get your knickers into a twist over students' dull writing, worry about their imprecise writing. Remember, the scientist does not describe her emotional reaction to looking at a beaker; she describes the amount and quantity of material within the beaker and what happens in the beaker.

Demand specifics for terms such as "many" and "a lot." You don't let your children get away with telling you "everybody else in school" can die their hair green; don't let your writing students get away with using everybody when they mean three specific individuals.

Once students can write using precise nouns and precise verbs, you may allow them to move on to writing a descriptive paragraph that expresses an emotional response. For example, you could have your more experienced writers discuss a novel or short story they read and include a paragraph about their emotional reaction to the story.

Aside: One place where students should not use precise verbs is in presenting evidence in academic papers.