ENG 121 WEEK 4 DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY DRAFT

ENG 121 WEEK 4 DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY DRAFT

Descriptive Essay (Draft). The body of the essay draft must be 500 to 600 words in length (approximately two body pages), and it must have a title page. The essay must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.

Choose one of the following topics:

a. Have you ever felt drawn to a work of visual art, such as a photograph, painting, mural, or sculpture? If so, consider taking the art work as the subject of your descriptive essay. In your essay, you will need to help your reader visualize the art work while explaining what features of the art work compel your attention and/or provoke an emotional response. You will also need to explain why your response to the art work is meaningful to you and is likely to be meaningful to others.

b. Draft a descriptive essay about a person, place, or object that has some special meaning in your life. Your essay should provide specific detail about this person, place, or object that leverages effective writing and descriptive techniques. While your description may include some narrative features, you should make sure that readers feel as though they are “with you,” and can respond emotionally to the person, place, or object you have selected. Your description should be specific and concrete. Avoid generalizations (as in “he’s tall” or “she’s funny”) and appeal to the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).

For this essay, you should practice the strategies discussed in Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Essentials of College Writing.

Before writing the draft, generate ideas for the essay by using one of the techniques discussed in Chapter 4, such as listing, preparing an outline or tree chart, brainstorming, free writing, mind mapping, or using the” Five W’s and an H” Questions. Some people find a photo album (or its digital equivalent) can be a great source of inspiration. If you are stumped, have a look at some of the photos you have taken of people, places, or objects and ask yourself what was so important that you took the photo. (Your notes or outline will not be submitted, as you have used the discussion forum to share your methods as you prepare your draft.)