How to Write a Description
Chinese Workers Come to America
The thin, stooped man swung his hammer high in the air, bringing it down with a loud clang! upon the steel railroad spike. His tan skin was wrinkled and burned by the sun, his hands blistered and bandaged with tattered gray rags. His dirt-smeared forehead glistened in the hot California sun as he struck the spike again and again. The frantic buzzing of locusts and the sharp clatter of hundreds of hammers rang in his ears as he worked. He thought again of his family far away in China. He hoped the money he earned on the railroad would be enough to help them.
Between the years 1849 and 1879, thousands of Chinese people sailed to America to find work. Times were hard in china, and people had heard about jobs on the railroad and in the California gold fields. By the year 1879, there were almost 75,000 Chinese people living and working in California.
Someone telling about a railroad worker from China could write a description about him. A description is a way to make picture with words. Descriptions help readers imagine the things, places, people, actions or events in your writing. Descriptions can tell about a writer's thoughts, feelings, or experiences.
Follow the steps to learn how to write a description.
STEPS IN Writing a Description
1. Decide on a Topic
Decide exactly what you want to describe. To get ideas, ask yourself some of these questions and list the answers.
Who? A Chinese man
What? Working on the railroad
When? In the 1860s
Where? In California
Why? To earn money
2. Include Details
What people or objects are part of the scene? What details will help your readers picture them? Use descriptive words and verbs to paint a picture of your topic.
The golden dawn sunshine burst forth from behind the icy mountaintops. The muffled snaps of twigs sounded from beneath the workers' boots as they crunched along the forest path.
3. Use Words about the Five Scenes
Describe what a person would see, hear, feel, smell, and taste.
Jian Li heard the high shriek of the whistle that signaled the end of the week day. He dropped his pick with a thud on the dry, dusty ground. He took a small orange from his pocket. Sinking his teeth into the bitter skin, he felt the orange's sweet, sticky juicy wash over his dry mouth.
TIP: It sometimes helps to brainstorm ideas for descriptive words and verbs before you begin writing.