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1.4: Object

  • Page ID
    6516
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    By now, you may have noticed a pattern when it comes to organizing a descriptive essay. As you remember, you organize a descriptive essay about a person or place based either upon the characteristics associated with the person/place or an event associated with the person/place, and an object descriptive essay is no exception to this organizational scheme. When writing a descriptive essay about an object, you must first decide why you have chosen this specific object to write about. In answering this question, you will know how to organize your paper. If you decide that an object is important to you because of the characteristics the object possesses, then you would organize the body of your paper around these characteristics or reason. However, if an object is important to you because it was part of a significant event in your life, then you would produce body paragraphs that explain the event in chronological order.

    For instance, image you wanted to write a descriptive essay about a tree at a local park. Consider the two ways of organizing this essay described in the table below.
    Organization Type Characteristics Event
    Criteria
    1. Good for climbing
    2. Tire swing
    3. Displays the change in seasons
    You received your first kiss from your first crush under this tree
    Explanation You would organize your paper around the main reasons why this is your favorite tree with each of these characteristics serving as a body paragraph. You would organize your paper around this event and how it has made this tree more important to you.

    Although the organizational scheme you choose rests solely on the content you intend to include, the object must be the focus of either paper. Make sure the characteristics of an object or the retelling of an event does not overshadow the impact of the object being described. For example, when describing the event of your first kiss, you would need to make sure that you did not spend too much of your paper focusing on your first crush. Additionally, when writing about an event connected to the object, be sure to connect the event to the significance of the object so that the event itself does not outshine the object being described. In focusing on not only the organization of the essay but also the significance of the object, the object descriptive essay that you compose will stress both the description and importance of the object being described.

    Review Questions

    1. Write a descriptive essay about a gift you received on your birthday. Remember you can arrange your essay according to the characteristics of the object or by detailing the event at which you received it.
    2. Write a descriptive essay about one of the state birds. Be sure to indicate why the bird is important to the state it represents.

    This page titled 1.4: Object is shared under a CK-12 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by CK-12 Foundation via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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