1.5: Event

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Although the three previous types of descriptive essays follow the same two organizational schemes, event descriptive essays differ slightly in the way in which they are organized. While other descriptive essays either describe the person, place, or object in question or detail the event connected to it, event descriptive essays chronologically describe an event from the past or from the future. Thus, descriptive essays that focus on an event can either detail a memory that is significant or your hopes about an upcoming event. For instance, your event descriptive essay about a past event would describe a memory that is in some way important to you, be it positively or negatively; however, your event descriptive essay about a future event would describe something to occur in the future that you are hopeful of or that you dread.

While the other descriptive essays also employ organizational schemes that outline events connected to a person, place, or object, a descriptive essay about an event must focus on the event itself. For example, you could write a descriptive essay detailing the event of your graduation from high school that could be based on a person, place, object, or event. If you wanted to stress a person through this event, you could write an essay that details how your graduation is important because it was the first time you saw your grandparents in ten years. If you wanted to stress a place through this event, you could write an essay that details how important the stadium you graduated in is to you. If you wanted to stress an object through the event, you could write an essay that describes how important your diploma is to you. However, if you wanted to stress the importance of the graduation, or the event itself, you could write an essay that describes how all the things listed above, your grandparents, the location, and your diploma, all make the event significant to you.

Below is a table describing the significance of each essay type.
Essay Type	Person/People	Place	Object	Event
Significance of Essay	Your grandparents are important to you because they came to your graduation.	The central park in your home town is important to you because you graduated there.	Your diploma is important to you because it symbolizes you maturing into an adult.	Your graduation itself is important because it was the first time you saw your grandparents in ten years at the central park in your home town when you received your diploma

Hence, while in the other descriptive essays you must never let the event overshadow the significance of the person, place, or object being described, in an event descriptive essay you should focus on how the people, place, and objects surrounding the event make it important. In this way, an event descriptive essay is a lot like the characteristics person, place, and object essays. Thus, think of the objects, people, and place of an event as the characteristics that make the event important to you whenever constructing an event descriptive essay.

Review Questions

Write a descriptive essay about a school event that you attended or that you plan on attending in the future. Remember to include the people, location, or objects that made, or will make, the event significant.
Write a descriptive essay about the 2008 Presidential Election, focusing on why this election was significant in the United States.