Description essay is one of the most common and, one might even say, standard types of written work. It is also considered the simplest of all.
Genre characteristic
So, this work is based on description as a type of speech. That is why it is quite easy to compose it. Indeed, in the description there are some elements of the narrative, and they are an integral part of our colloquial speech.
The descriptive essay answers a question that sounds something like this: "Which one?" or "What?". And it is necessary to answer it in a special way, in accordance with the style. It is necessary that the author could feel the specifics of the descriptive style of speech. What are its features? Any essay-description should contain details. They are the whole point. Whether it is an essay-description of an object, thing, person or phenomenon - it is necessary to tell about them in an interesting way. At this moment, you need to imagine yourself as an artist and be able to paint a picture with a word. This is perhaps the most difficult, especially for thosestudents who are about to do this for the first time.
Speech style
Many students take the phrase "more details" literally. This is bad, because they start just listing everything. If, for example, an essay describing a person was given, many write something like this: "She has beautiful blond hair, blue eyes, expressive lips and an aristocratic nose."
A banal enumeration is suitable for a thesis plan, according to which it is planned to write an essay later, however, in the work itself, the topic of the description should be disclosed as much as possible.
The same phrase can be presented much more expressively if it is formatted accordingly. For example: "Her appearance is unusual: beautiful blond hair shimmering in the sun with gold, bottomless eyes the color of a stormy sky and sensual scarlet lips - her image can inspire an artist to write a picture that will later become a world masterpiece." The difference is obvious: the meaning has not changed, but the phrase was presented much more effectively. You want to read such a sentence with a breath - in this style, the author's inspiration is felt, which is transmitted to the reader.
Sense of proportion
The extent to which the author feels the measure of what is permitted is very important. In writing, especially. Although a description essay requires details and adjectives, their abundance is unacceptable. Otherwise, the text will lose its meaning. You need to be able to intelligently combine beautiful descriptive phrases with reasoning and narration. Otherwise, it will turn out not an essay, butfiction, slightly similar to literature, written in the style of melodrama.
How to describe a person?
If the essay is dedicated to any person (it can be, by the way, a literary character), then attention should be paid not only to his appearance, but also to his character. Mood, habits, facial expressions, habits are also desirable to touch. All this will help create a more complete picture of a person, especially if the image is very contradictory - for example, with a beautiful appearance, but an ugly soul.
By the way - great theme. It can be written something like this: "This is an ideal person. Expressive cheekbones, well-shaped lips, a smooth nose, a confident look of smart brown eyes - this young man was really handsome. But his soul was not as perfect as his appearance. This outwardly perfect young man he could hardly hide his hatred of life, people, society under the mask of decency. And this did not make him any more beautiful."
Absolutely every person, after reading, will have before their eyes the image of that very young man or that perfect girl, which was mentioned earlier. In the compositions of this genre, it is important to take into account all the little things. And let them be a little bit: a little about appearance, a few words about habits, about how he smiles, a few phrases about character - all this will help much better in creating a full-fledged verbal portrait than a simple dry listing of things obvious to the author.
Landscape essay
Genre"landscape essay" as such does not exist. However, many schoolchildren have to write an essay describing the forest. Or a seascape. Or maybe mountain. In any case, the description of nature is an essay that every student has to work on. By the way, doing this is much easier than, for example, talking about a person.
In this case, too, one cannot do without details and artistic and expressive means. In other words, the principle is the same, only it is necessary to describe not a person, but nature. Take, for example, a seascape. "A light breeze that excites the blue, like turquoise, water of the boundless sea, stretching far beyond the horizon, a fresh wind blowing cool on the face, the cries of seagulls barely audible in the distance - everything is so peaceful, calm … Being here, a person involuntarily begins to believe that time has stopped". Such a phrase is quite suitable for describing what the author wants to convey.
Conclusion
As you can see from the examples given earlier, the most important thing that an essay-description requires is details. They should be in moderation, just like "beautiful words". But their presence is mandatory, because otherwise the essay will not correspond to genre features.
Finally, it should be said about how the conclusion should look. In it, the author should express his attitude to what he was talking about. And it should not look like "I think …". It is necessary to do this carefully, as if it were not the author of the essay who speaks at all. Take the same example fromdescription of a handsome young man. What is the best way to end your story about such a specific character? You can write something like this: “We are surrounded by a lot of beautiful people. They can have perfect figures and well-groomed aristocratic faces. Incredible eye color or an expressive look that you can’t tear yourself away from. However, inside they can be empty. Evil, soulless, selfish. Appearance is important, no doubt. But is it worth paying attention only to it?…"
Finishing an essay of this kind with an open question would be a good writer's move. Usually such an epilogue leaves the impression of understatement and gives you the opportunity to think about what you have read.
