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Welcome back to mastery writing the narrative.
Lesson 3 video 2.
This is the second of four lectures on writing a concise paragraph.
In the first video, we discussed the central principle
and four characteristics of a well-planned
concise paragraph. In this second lecture on writing a concise paragraph,
we will start looking at specific types of paragraphs.
We will begin with the study of the descriptive paragraph.
We will discuss how to write a descriptive paragraph that grabs
a reader's attention and doesn't let go
until he or she has read the last sentence.
You want to look for the techniques that writers use when they write paragraphs that
need to describe something that is important to the reader's understanding
about what is written.
Make sure to take good notes.
As with every video, at the end you'll be
asked to write a question for inquiry.
By the end of this lesson, you will know what a descriptive paragraph must have
in order for a reader to become fully engaged in what you write;
you'll also be able to write a descriptive paragraph that jump off
the page and does
just just what you want it to: grab your reader's attention.
After you watch this lecture and take the theory
you will learn to class, there are several ways your instructor
might help you.
After the initial inquiry session, he or she might have you form a group of
sentences into descriptive paragraph with the help of your classmates;
You might do some research on composition of a descriptive paragraph;
or you might be asked to write a descriptive paragraph. Be prepared!
Watch this video and watch it again if you don't understand everything
the first time you see it.
Are you ready okay?
What is a descriptive paragraph? Remember that a paragraph is a collection
of related sentences, dealing with a single topic.
How does this definition of a paragraph
apply to a descriptive paragraph?
A well-written descriptive paragraph is a collection of sentences
that relates to a single object
through sensory enhanced details.
If a descriptive paragraph relates to a single object through sensory enhanced
details, it will represent the central principle of a paragraph:
one-paragraph-one idea
A well-written descriptive paragraph will also utilize the
four characteristics of a paragraph. It will have a topic sentence;
it will also have sufficient development details;
it will have unity; and it will have expressiveness.
We will deconstruct these four characteristics of a paragraph
to see how they apply
to a descriptive paragraph. Remember the writer's tool box?
We started with basic tools, and today we are going to enhance our toolbox
with a few specialized writing tools.
Before we get started, let's talk a bit more
about the purpose of a descriptive paragraph.
What is sensory detail?
A descriptive paragraph asks the writer to paint an image
that can move in the mind of the reader.
Painting a vivid image through writing means the writer draws a reader
into what he or she is writing by engaging in at least one of
the five senses. The writer uses sensory words that create
tastes, smells and physical sensations
that draw a reader into the writer's message.
To accomplish this aim, a writer makes sure that a descriptive paragraph
includes the four characteristics a paragraph
and that it is supported by
the central principle of a paragraph.
Let's deconstruct!
First up is the topic sentence.
The topic sentence tells the reader what your descriptive paragraph
is going to describe.
Remember:
the best way to make sure your reader knows what your descriptive paragraph is about is to
start with the topic sentence.
Let's say you want to describe a house that you remember from when
you were four years old.
You can draw your reader in right away with a topic sentence that creates the
feeling of a four-year-old
finding an amazing house.
I will show you one possible topic sentence:
Two wooden doors
made out of a really big tree made me think
that I had found a very important house.
Does this sentence create the feeling that a four year old is telling the story?
With words like "really big tree"
and "very important house," doesn't the writer
imply that a young child is describing these doors? The writer
never mentions being four years old.
If a description is done well, readers will
understand what the writer is trying to say.
What's next? sufficient development details, right?
A descriptive paragraph must provide details
that create a vivid image.
To make sure your descriptive paragraph develops vivid details,
use words that engage the senses and create feelings;
consider writing from a different point of view.
That's exactly what happened with this topic sentence.
It's written from the point if you have a child, and this leads to a second sentence
that furthers the development details.
We will talk more about development details
when we discuss expressiveness.
First we need to
talk about unity.
Unity means that a descriptive paragraph
develops with sensory details and serves the topic sentence at the same time.
Every sentence creates feeling and an
understanding of what the writer is describing.
I am going to show you the whole paragraph.
Can you tell me which sentence disrupts the unity?
Two wooden doors made from a really big tree
made me think that I had found a very important house.
I figured it was probably a castle.
These two doors reached up higher than the tip top shelf in my mom's kitchen.
These doors could probably reach up to the
top of any chimney on a normal house.
I had never seen anything like it.
Both doors had those knockers things right in the middle of them.
Dad's brother, Albert, had a door to his house with those knocking things,
but dad always just banged on the door. Everything was so high up.
I leapt and I leaned into the light of a wobbly lantern.
I grabbed for one of those knocker things. I stood on the edge is my tippy toes,
but I was too little.
Can you tell which
sentence disrupts the unity?
It's the one that talks about
Albert's door, isn't it?
If you don't exactly see how this sentence disrupts the overall unity the paragraph,
go to the materials folder for the descriptive paragraph.
You can pull it up and spend a little more time studying it.
Okay.
Let's talk about expressiveness.
Expressiveness not only makes a paragraph easy to understand,
it can also make a paragraph entertaining.
How, you might ask, does a writer make something entertaining or fun to read?
There are many ways to jazz up a descriptive paragraph;
I'm going to introduce you to one of my favorites: alliteration.
It may sound like a big word, but it is an easy concept.
Alliteration is simply the repetition of the
first consonant of several words in a row.
Remember Susie sells seashells by the seashore?
Let's see how alliteration works with our descriptive paragraph.
Can you find the sentence that has words starting with the same consonant?
Got it?
I leapt and I leaned into the light
of a wobbly lantern.
You want to draw the reader into your descriptions, and alliteration to this end,
is very valuable.
Did you notice the alliteration there?
Very valuable.
Did you also noticed the other alliteration I slipped in about one
minute ago?
You were not able to see the print, so I'll show you.
A writer develops the Sensory details of a paragraph
empowering every Sentence with Sensation while Still Serving the topic Sentence.
Every sentence serves to create feelings
and a stylized understanding of the object the writer is describing.
That's it! The descriptive paragraph. There was a lot to learn in this lecture,
and a long line up of new ideas for you to mull over.
I recommend that you watch this video again if you need to.
Make sure to post your question in the inquiry folder.
Did you catch that last alliteration?
Remember!
Work hard and have fun!
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