Using language techniques and precise vocabulary to write excellent descriptions
I can write an excellent description which meets the ambitious success criteria.
Using language techniques and precise vocabulary to write excellent descriptions
I can write an excellent description which meets the ambitious success criteria.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Excellent descriptions and narratives will focus on describing details, rather than trying to write too much.
- Figurative language can be used to create vivid imagery.
- Using semantic fields as part of your description can help characterise the setting.
- Describing the features of something rather than its overall impression (showing not telling) makes description vivid.
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.
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.
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).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
