descriptive essay on a new car

How To Describe A Car In Writing (200+ Examples & Words)

As a novelist, I’ve learned that the devil truly is in the details, especially when it comes to bringing vehicle scenes to life.

For example, describing cars in a way that not only paints a vivid picture for the reader but also adds depth and personality to the narrative.

Here is how to describe a car in writing:

Describe cars in writing by focusing on visual details like color and finish, specific make and model, size, and body style. Mention interior features, performance specs, and sound for a vivid depiction. Also, consider the car’s age, custom modifications, brand identity, and historical significance.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe a car in writing.

21 Best Ways to Describe Cars

Table of Contents

In this article, I’ll share my personal insights and techniques on how to describe a car in writing.

I’ll guide you through various ways to capture the essence of a car, turning it from a mere object into a pivotal element of your story.

From the roar of an engine to the glint of the sun on polished chrome, I’ll show you how to use your words to make readers feel like they’re right there, seeing, hearing, and feeling every detail of the car you’re describing.

Let’s explore the various characteristics that can be used to describe cars, each with their unique flair and storytelling potential.

1. Color and Finish

The color and finish of a car can say a lot about its personality and the statement it’s trying to make.

A glossy finish might suggest a car that’s well-cared-for and cherished, while a matte texture could indicate something more modern and understated. Metallic colors can add a sense of luxury or high-tech sophistication.

Using these descriptors, you can paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

• Crimson red, like a drop of blood under the streetlights.
• Matte black, absorbing the sunlight without a glint.
• Sunburst yellow, cheerful and impossible to ignore.
• Pearl white, shimmering softly in the moonlight.
• Midnight blue, deep and mysterious as the night sky.
• Cherry red, glossy and vibrant like a freshly picked fruit.
• Gunmetal gray, industrial and unapologetically modern.
• Electric blue, a jolt of color in a monochrome world.
• Forest green, rich and earthy, blending with the landscape.
• Rose gold, a unique blend of luxury and whimsy.

2. Make and Model

Mentioning the make and model of a car can immediately set a tone.

A vintage Mustang might evoke a sense of nostalgia and classic style, while a sleek Tesla Model S could represent cutting-edge technology and forward-thinking.

The make and model can reflect a character’s personality, status, or aspirations, making it a powerful tool in storytelling.

• Vintage Mustang, oozing with classic American muscle.
• Sleek Tesla Model S, the embodiment of modern innovation.
• Luxurious Bentley Continental, a symbol of opulence.
• Rugged Jeep Wrangler, ready for off-road adventures.
• Iconic Volkswagen Beetle, quirky and endearing.
• Sporty Porsche 911, a blend of speed and style.
• Reliable Toyota Camry, unassuming yet dependable.
• Elegant Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a statement of refined taste.
• Practical Honda Civic, the everyday workhorse.
• Flamboyant Lamborghini Aventador, turning heads at every corner.

3. Size and Body Style

The size and body style of a car can greatly influence its character in a story.

A spacious minivan might be associated with family life and practicality, whereas a compact hatchback could signify an urban lifestyle or a young, independent character.

SUVs might imply adventure and a love for the outdoors, while coupes could suggest a more personal and stylish choice.

• Spacious minivan, the stalwart of family road trips.
• Compact hatchback, zipping through city streets with ease.
• Imposing SUV, towering over the smaller cars around it.
• Sleek coupe, a personal statement of style.
• Luxurious sedan, combining comfort with elegance.
• Rugged pickup truck, a workhorse clad in steel.
• Convertible sports car, freedom with the top down.
• Subcompact city car, perfect for tight parking spots.
• Station wagon, a blend of practicality and nostalgia.
• Full-size van, a canvas for adventure and exploration.

4. Interior Features

The interior of a car often reflects the personality and lifestyle of its owner.

Describing the upholstery, dashboard design, and overall ambiance can add a layer of intimacy to your story. Leather seats might suggest luxury, while a cluttered dashboard could hint at a chaotic life.

The interior can be a small world in itself, revealing secrets and stories about its occupants.

• Plush leather seats, the epitome of luxury and comfort.
• Futuristic digital dash, glowing with information.
• Retro vinyl seats, harking back to simpler times.
• Minimalist interior, with clean lines and uncluttered spaces.
• Wooden panel accents, adding a touch of classic elegance.
• Racing seats, snug and ready for high-speed adventures.
• Neon ambient lighting, setting a vibrant mood.
• Panoramic sunroof, bringing the outside in.
• Heated and ventilated seats, comfort in any weather.
• High-tech sound system, turning the cabin into a concert hall.

5. Performance Specifications

The performance of a car can be a thrilling detail to explore in your narrative.

Describing the horsepower, acceleration, and handling can reflect the car’s capabilities and the excitement or power it brings to the scene. It’s not just about speed–it’s about how the car moves and feels, which can be a metaphor for the story’s pace and tone.

• Turbocharged engine, ready to unleash its fury.
• Swift acceleration, the thrill of zero to sixty in seconds.
• Nimble handling, dancing gracefully around corners.
• All-wheel drive, gripping the road with confidence.
• High torque, powering through challenges.
• Smooth ride, gliding over bumps and imperfections.
• Efficient fuel consumption, for the environmentally conscious.
• Advanced suspension, a balance of comfort and performance.
• Regenerative braking, the fusion of power and sustainability.
• Dynamic steering, responsive to every subtle command.

6. Sound and Acoustics

The sound of a car can be incredibly evocative.

The roar of an engine, the purr of a well-tuned motor, or the near-silence of an electric vehicle can set a scene and reflect the mood.

The acoustics of a car, from the sound of the door closing to the hum of the tires on the road, can be used to immerse readers in the experience.

• Roaring engine, announcing its presence with authority.
• Soft hum of an electric motor, whispering of the future.
• Deep and throaty exhaust note, a symphony of power.
• High-pitched whine of a supercharger, screaming performance.
• Quiet cabin, insulated from the chaos of the outside world.
• Distinctive clunk of the door, a sound of solid build.
• Rhythmic thumping of a powerful sound system.
• Squeal of tires, the sound of urgent acceleration.
• Gentle purring at idle, a beast in repose.
• Wind noise at high speed, the rush of air as the landscape blurs.

7. Age and Condition

The age and condition of a car can be a reflection of its journey and its owner’s story.

A new, spotless vehicle might represent success or a new beginning, while a vintage car could evoke nostalgia or a connection to the past. The condition – whether pristine, well-maintained, or weathered – can also hint at the character’s values and lifestyle.

• Pristine classic, lovingly restored to its former glory.
• Weathered old-timer, scars telling tales of past adventures.
• Brand-new model, sleek and untouched.
• Well-maintained family car, cared for through the years.
• Rusty beater, resilient despite its age.
• Showroom condition, with not a speck of dust.
• Battle-scarred veteran, a survivor of many road trips.
• Time-worn interior, seats holding memories of past occupants.
• Restored with original parts, a tribute to authenticity.
• Faded paint, a testament to its journey under the sun.

8. Custom Modifications

Custom modifications can make a car uniquely personal and often reflect the owner’s personality or aspirations.

From performance enhancements to aesthetic changes, each modification tells a story.

Whether it’s a powerful engine upgrade or a visually striking paint job, these details can add depth to your narrative.

• Custom spoilers, adding an aggressive flair.
• Enhanced audio system, turning the car into a rolling concert.
• Nitrous oxide system, for that extra burst of speed.
• Hydraulic suspension, dancing on the streets.
• Matte wrap finish, a modern twist on classic lines.
• LED underglow, a car that lights up the night.
• Supercharger, for a relentless surge of power.
• Racing stripes, hinting at a need for speed.
• Off-road modifications, ready for any terrain.
• Bespoke interior, tailor-made to the owner’s taste.

9. Brand Identity

The brand of a car often carries with it a set of associations and expectations.

Luxury brands like Mercedes symbolize opulence and class, while brands like Toyota are often associated with reliability and practicality.

The brand can influence how characters and settings are perceived by the reader, adding an extra layer to the narrative.

• Luxury of a Mercedes, a statement in elegance.
• Reliability of a Toyota, a trusted companion on the road.
• Performance pedigree of a Ferrari, a car that demands attention.
• Ruggedness of a Land Rover, ready for off-road escapades.
• Innovation of a Tesla, driving into the future.
• Iconic design of a Mini Cooper, quirky and fun.
• American muscle of a Ford Mustang, raw and powerful.
• German engineering of a BMW, precision and sophistication.
• Timeless elegance of a Rolls-Royce, the pinnacle of luxury.
• Sporty spirit of a Subaru WRX, adrenaline in motion.

10. Historical Significance

Cars with historical significance bring a sense of time and place to your narrative.

They can be iconic models known for their roles in famous movies or cars that marked technological breakthroughs.

These cars can serve as symbols, connecting your story to larger themes or historical moments.

• Cars from famous movies, like the DeLorean from “Back to the Future”.
• Models with a rich history, like the Ford Model T.
• Vehicles that marked technological milestones, like the first Prius.
• Cars associated with historical figures, like JFK’s Lincoln Continental.
• Iconic race cars, legends of the track.
• Pioneers of design, like the original Volkswagen Beetle.
• Cars that defined an era, like the 60s Mustangs.
• Military vehicles repurposed for civilian life, like the Willys Jeep.
• Limited edition models, rare and sought after.
• Vehicles that sparked cultural movements, like the minivan for families.

11. Aerodynamics and Design

The aerodynamics and overall design of a car not only influence its performance but also communicate a lot about its character.

Sleek contours can imply speed and elegance, while robust, wind-cutting shapes might suggest strength and resilience. This aspect of a car can be used to mirror the traits of a character or the mood of a scene.

• Sleek contours, embodying speed and efficiency.
• Wind-cutting shapes, designed for optimal performance.
• Streamlined profile, cutting through the air with ease.
• Bold aerodynamic spoilers, adding to the car’s aggressive stance.
• Scissor doors, opening up with a futuristic flair.
• Low and wide chassis, hinting at stability and power.
• Fluid lines, suggesting movement even at a standstill.
• Active aerodynamic features, adapting to enhance performance.
• Teardrop shape, for minimal wind resistance.
• Aerodynamic wheel designs, blending style with function.

12. Lighting and Accessories

Lighting and accessories can add a distinctive touch to a car, enhancing its personality and functionality.

Bright LED headlights can suggest a modern and tech-savvy car, while a panoramic sunroof might indicate a preference for luxury and openness.

These details can add depth to the setting and give readers a clearer picture of the scene.

• LED headlights, casting a bright, modern glow.
• Panoramic sunroof, offering a view of the sky above.
• Custom grille, adding a personal touch to the front.
• Tinted windows, suggesting privacy and mystique.
• Roof racks, ready for adventure and exploration.
• Fog lights, for clarity in murky conditions.
• Tailfin antennas, a nod to classic design.
• Chrome accents, adding a touch of elegance.
• Rear spoilers, for a sporty and dynamic look.
• Side skirts, enhancing the car’s sleek profile.

13. Wheels and Tires

The wheels and tires of a car are not just functional — they can also be a strong stylistic statement.

Alloy wheels can give a car a high-end, sporty look, while all-terrain tires might suggest an adventurous spirit. The design and type of wheels and tires can add realism to a scene and help convey the character’s lifestyle or preferences.

• Alloy wheels, with a sleek and modern design.
• All-terrain tires, ready to take on any road.
• Low-profile tires, for a sportier look and feel.
• Custom rims, personalizing the car’s appearance.
• Spinning hubcaps, adding a flashy touch.
• Run-flat tires, combining practicality and resilience.
• Off-road tires, rugged and ready for rough terrain.
• Chrome wheels, shining with every turn.
• Racing slicks, for the ultimate grip on the track.
• Whitewall tires, a classic and timeless choice.

14. Environmental Impact

In today’s world, the environmental impact of a car is increasingly important.

Describing a car’s eco-friendliness, such as its fuel efficiency or zero-emission status, can reflect the values of a character or the theme of a story.

Hybrid and electric models can symbolize innovation and responsibility, adding a contemporary touch to your narrative.

• Zero-emission electric vehicle, silent and clean.
• Hybrid model, balancing performance with eco-friendliness.
• High fuel efficiency, for the environmentally conscious.
• Solar-powered features, harnessing renewable energy.
• Low-emission engines, minimizing the carbon footprint.
• Regenerative braking systems, maximizing energy efficiency.
• Biofuel compatibility, a step towards sustainability.
• Lightweight materials, reducing energy consumption.
• Aerodynamic design, for improved fuel economy.
• Electric charging capabilities, embracing the future of mobility.

15. Technological Features

In a world where technology is constantly evolving, the technological features of a car can be a significant aspect of its character.

Modern tech like advanced navigation systems and safety features not only add to the car’s functionality but can also symbolize the setting’s time period or the owner’s values.

Describing these features can immerse the reader in a more realistic and relatable world.

• Autonomous driving capabilities, a glimpse into the future of travel.
• Collision avoidance systems, ensuring safety with every journey.
• Advanced navigation systems, guiding the way with precision.
• Keyless entry and start, the epitome of convenience.
• Adaptive cruise control, for a relaxed driving experience.
• Lane departure warnings, combining safety with technology.
• Wireless charging pads, keeping devices powered up on the go.
• Interactive infotainment systems, entertainment at your fingertips.
• Voice-activated controls, for effortless operation.
• Head-up display, keeping important information in the line of sight.

16. Comfort and Convenience

Comfort and convenience features in a car can greatly enhance the driving experience, making it more enjoyable and relaxed.

Heated seats, voice-activated controls, and other such amenities not only add a touch of luxury but can also reflect the character’s preferences and lifestyle. These details can make the scenes more vivid and relatable to the reader.

• Heated seats, a cozy embrace on cold days.
• Voice-activated controls, responding to every command.
• Automatic climate control, maintaining the perfect temperature.
• Spacious legroom, offering a comfortable ride.
• Rearview cameras, for hassle-free parking.
• Electric adjustable seats, finding the perfect position with ease.
• Sunshades, providing relief from the glaring sun.
• Hands-free trunk release, for when your hands are full.
• Massaging seats, turning every drive into a spa experience.
• Memory settings, personalizing the car to each driver.

17. Emotional Appeal

A car can evoke a wide range of emotions, from the thrill of a sports car to the nostalgia of a vintage model.

Describing the emotional appeal of a car can add depth to your narrative, allowing readers to connect with the story on a more personal level.

The excitement, pride, or sentimentality associated with a car can be a reflection of the characters’ feelings and experiences.

• The thrill of a sports car, a rush of adrenaline with every turn.
• Nostalgia of a vintage model, memories embedded in every curve.
• Pride of owning a luxury brand, a symbol of success.
• Sentimental value of a family heirloom, stories passed down with the keys.
• Joy of a first car, a milestone in independence.
• Peace of a smooth ride, a serene escape from the outside world.
• Excitement of a convertible, the wind in your hair.
• Satisfaction of an eco-friendly vehicle, driving with a clear conscience.
• Attachment to a reliable old car, a dependable companion through life’s journeys.
• Awe of a high-performance machine, the epitome of engineering marvel.

18. Symbolic Meaning

Cars can symbolize various themes and concepts in a story, from status and power to freedom and escape.

The type of car and the way it is portrayed can reflect the underlying messages or themes of your narrative.

A luxury car might symbolize wealth and status, while a rugged off-roader could represent adventure and a free spirit.

• Status symbol, a display of wealth and success.
• Representation of freedom, the ability to go anywhere at any time.
• Symbol of innovation, embracing new technologies and ideas.
• Emblem of a bygone era, a connection to the past.
• Indicator of a character’s personality, like a flashy sports car for a show-off.
• Metaphor for life’s journey, roads taken and destinations reached.
• Icon of rebellion, a departure from the conventional.
• Expression of artistic taste, through custom designs and modifications.
• Reflection of practicality and responsibility, in a family-oriented vehicle.
• Manifestation of a dream, the realization of a long-held aspiration.

19. Rarity and Exclusivity

Rarity and exclusivity can add an air of intrigue and prestige to a car.

Describing a car as a limited edition model or a rare vintage find immediately sets it apart as something special and coveted. This can be used to symbolize a character’s unique qualities or to create a sense of wonder and admiration in your narrative.

A rare car can become a plot point in itself, a treasure with its own backstory and significance.

• Limited edition models, each with its own unique serial number.
• Rare vintage finds, treasures unearthed from the past.
• Bespoke supercars, one-of-a-kind in design and performance.
• Collector’s items, sought after by enthusiasts worldwide.
• Prototype models, glimpses into what could have been.
• Exotic imports, rare sights on local roads.
• Handcrafted luxury vehicles, the pinnacle of craftsmanship.
• Discontinued models, the last of their kind.
• Cars with celebrity provenance, graced by fame.
• Historical race winners, legends in the automotive world.

20. Cultural Associations

Cars often hold a significant place in various cultures and can be associated with certain lifestyles, eras, or groups.

For example, muscle cars are an integral part of American automotive culture, symbolizing power and freedom. Luxury cars are often seen in celebrity circles, representing glamour and success.

These cultural associations can add depth to your story, connecting the car to broader themes and societal perceptions.

• Muscle cars in American culture, symbols of power and freedom.
• Luxury cars in celebrity circles, flaunting wealth and style.
• Classic British sports cars, an air of sophistication and tradition.
• Italian supercars, the embodiment of passion and design.
• German engineering, a mark of precision and quality.
• Japanese compact cars, showcasing efficiency and innovation.
• French city cars, epitomizing chic urban living.
• American pickup trucks, representing rugged individualism and practicality.
• Scandinavian electric vehicles, a commitment to sustainability and clean design.
• Russian off-road vehicles, known for their durability and resilience in harsh conditions.

21. Contrast and Comparison

Using contrast and comparison is a powerful way to highlight a car’s unique features and set it apart from others.

By drawing comparisons, you can provide context and help the reader understand a car’s positioning in terms of performance, size, luxury, and other attributes.

This approach is particularly effective in showcasing the superiority or uniqueness of a car in relation to well-known benchmarks.

• Faster than a Ferrari, a testament to unmatched speed.
• More spacious than a sedan, offering unparalleled comfort for family travel.
• More fuel-efficient than a hybrid, leading the way in eco-friendly innovation.
• More luxurious than a Rolls-Royce, setting new standards in opulence.
• Tougher than a Land Rover, ready for the most challenging terrains.
• More technologically advanced than a Tesla, pushing the boundaries of automotive tech.
• Sleeker than a Jaguar, epitomizing elegance in motion.
• More affordable than a BMW, providing luxury without the hefty price tag.
• Nimbler than a Porsche, offering superior agility and handling.
• More iconic than a Mustang, a symbol of automotive history and culture.

Here is a video that will help you learn how to describe a car in writing:

30 Best Words to Describe Cars

Choosing the right words to describe a car can elevate your writing, giving it precision and flair.

Here’s a list of 30 descriptive words, each capable of conjuring a vivid image or conveying a specific characteristic of a car:

• Sleek – streamlined and elegant.
• Robust – strong and durable.
• Innovative – featuring new ideas or methods.
• Luxurious – opulent and comfortable.
• Agile – quick and responsive.
• Rugged – tough and hard-wearing.
• Pristine – in perfect condition.
• Vintage – classic and from a past era.
• Futuristic – ahead of its time in design or technology.
• Sporty – designed for performance.
• Spacious – offering plenty of room.
• Economical – efficient in using fuel or resources.
• Eco-friendly – environmentally friendly.
• Powerful – strong and forceful in performance.
• Timeless – enduringly stylish.
• Cutting-edge – at the forefront of progress.
• Elegant – graceful and stylish.
• Compact – small and efficient in size.
• Flashy – showy and attention-grabbing.
• Dependable – reliable and trustworthy.
• Exotic – strikingly unusual or rare.
• Sleek – smooth and polished in appearance.
• State-of-the-art – using the latest technology.
• Quirky – unusual in an attractive and interesting way.
• Aerodynamic – designed to reduce air resistance.
• Customized – modified to suit personal preferences.
• Iconic – widely recognized and well-established.
• High-performance – capable of great speed or efficiency.
• Retro – imitative of a style from the recent past.
• Majestic – grand and impressive in appearance.

30 Best Phrases to Describe Cars in Writing

Phrases can paint a more detailed picture, combining words to encapsulate the essence of a car.

Here are 30 phrases that vividly depict various aspects of cars:

• “Engine purring like a contented cat.”
• “Hugging the curves with ease.”
• “Gliding silently down the street.”
• “The embodiment of speed and luxury.”
• “Roaring to life with a turn of the key.”
• “A marriage of form and function.”
• “A testament to automotive excellence.”
• “Sleek lines cutting through the air.”
• “A symphony of engineering and design.”
• “An oasis of comfort in a bustling world.”
• “Bathed in chrome and elegance.”
• “Whisper-quiet interior, a world apart.”
• “The heart of a lion under the hood.”
• “Tailored to perfection, inside and out.”
• “The roar of the engine, a call to adventure.”
• “A beacon of innovation on four wheels.”
• “A classic beauty, timeless and revered.”
• “Merging power with sustainability.”
• “A dynamic fusion of technology and style.”
• “An icon of the open road.”
• “Resonating with raw power and grace.”
• “A chariot of modern luxury.”
• “Crafted for the connoisseur.”
• “A visual and tactile delight.”
• “Commanding the road with authority.”
• “The epitome of automotive artistry.”
• “A palette of performance and elegance.”
• “Masterfully engineered for the ultimate drive.”
• “A tribute to tradition, with a modern twist.”
• “As much a journey as a destination.”

3 Full Examples of How to Describe Cars (In Different Genres)

Here are full examples of how to describe cares in writing in different kinds of stories.

Action-Packed Adventure: Describing a car chase scene

The powerful V8 engine of the mustard yellow 1969 Dodge Charger roared as the driver floored the accelerator, the rear tires struggling for grip before catapulting the muscular coupe forward. The charged beast darted through narrow alleys, its long hood and iconic Coca-Cola bottle shape making it look like a predator chasing its prey.

As the driver yanked the steering wheel to take a hard corner, the stiff suspension kept all four balding tires clung to the asphalt.

Romantic Novel: Detailing a vintage car in a romantic setting

As Sally approached the flowering meadow, she spotted a cherry red 1957 Chevy Bel Air, its chrome bumpers and trim glittering in the golden hour sunlight.

The old-fashioned tail fins gave the Chevy an endearing personality, like a faithful metal steed waiting to carry passengers on retro adventures. Sally ran her fingers along the Chevy’s smooth flanks, memories of her high school days flooding back. The supple bench seat, now lightly cracked from years in the sun, still looked inviting.

Futuristic Sci-Fi: Imagining a car in a sci-fi scenario

The UFO-like hovercar glided silently above the metallic streets, slight ripples in the air beneath its aerodynamic fuselage the only indication of its incredible speed.

Inside the dark glass cockpit, screens and holograms bathed the pilot seat in a blue glow. With the autopilot engaged, the pilot could sit back and enjoy views of the chrome spires and towering neon signs through the wraparound windshield as the gumdrop-shaped hovercar transported him through the cyberpunk megalopolis.

Final Thoughts: How to Describe a Car In Writing

Vividly detailing cars accomplishes much more than just visually depicting what a car looks like.

Masterful car descriptions in writing evoke visceral emotions in the reader, provide windows into characters’ personalities, and transport audiences to fantastical settings limited only by imagination.

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Center for Automotive Research

Descriptive Essay About A Car

This essay sample on Descriptive Essay About A Car provides all necessary basic info on this matter, including the most common “for and against” arguments. Below are the introduction, body and conclusion parts of this essay.

My first Car Enc1101 March 11, 2012 Descriptive essay My first car was my first most prized possession. I’d named her, tested her out on interstates, and took good care of her like she was one of my children. She had mirror tinted windows and was deep ocean blue that gleamed in the summer sun, she was flawless.

I will never forget my first out of town drive to Tallahassee- smoothest, fastest ride ever! Had it not been for the scenery I would’ve felt like I was driving in a race. I remember cruising from lane to lane passing other drivers as if they were just trees barely moving.

It was 2006 and so was the year of my car so I felt like we were unstoppable.

Now it’s 2012 and my car is parked in my mom’s driveway with a look of pity. It’s despicable what people will do to other’s property with no concern or compassion. In 2010, I got ready to go to work and looked outside and my car wasn’t where I parked it. I called in a police report and maybe 4 hours later my car had been found in a ditch on the westside of town. I called out of work concerned about the condition of my car.

Proficient in: Privacy

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

My mother and I drove down to the westside of town to try and find my car.

At this point my mind is trying to think of every possible reason why my car was found in no man’s land! We drove down that long road my car was cited on and stopped at local business to ask if they had seen my car nearby. One repair shop that looked as if the building was ready to retire had a tall, lanky, bald headed man outside who flagged us down. He said he noticed us driving back and forth and was wondering if we were the owners of the car that was towed that morning. I replied, “Yes sir that was my car. ” He pointed out the exact ditch my car had been towed from.

My mother and I drove over and parked her car on the side of the road. There was two houses behind the ditch one looked vacant, it was gray made of cement bricks with weeds entangled throughout the fence and a rugged yard and cardboard in the windows. I opened the gate and as I went to walk inside a lady came out of the house next door stopped me and warned me not to bother the lady who lives there. With a shocked look, I stepped back outside the gate and tried to close it as quietly as possible, at that point I was a little scared.

Before I could ask her about my car she had already gotten into her truck and sped off. My mom and I looked among the bushes and weeds to see if there was any trace of my car. Then I saw two unusually shaped dirt patches like somebody had drug something heavy up the side of the ditch. I called my mother over then I gasped. I had found a piece of the padding to my bumper of my car in the ditch. I quickly picked it up and sure enough it had a Hyundai symbol on it. I held my head down and lost all hope for my car.

At that point I knew she was no longer flawless. I couldn’t bear anymore, scared of what else I might have found amongst the dirt and debris so we drove to the impound lot nearby. As I sat quietly in the lobby my mother asked all the questions, it was too heart wrenching for me to speak I was almost in tears. Time passed I zoned out due to anxiety and disappointment, eventually my mother tells me to go look at my car the man at the desk told her it was pretty bad. I said, “No, I can’t,” put my hands over my face and started to quietly cry.

My mother walked over and sat next to me and said, “It’s going to be ok, it’s just a car you can always get another one, but you need to go look. ” I pulled myself together and went in the bathroom to wipe my eyes. My car was in the back, but I had to go out the front door and go around. I turned the corner to the back and I just wanted to fall out and cry some more. She was now a filthy ocean blue with no gleam as if she was used for a dirt bike. My front bumper was not only completely detached but on top of the front hood!

I put my hands over my mouth in shock as I walked closer to my car my heart rate rose. My blood was rushing from disappointment and anger. I walked to the back of my car and discovered where the padding had come from. My driver’s side rear bumper was completely gone only thing left was most of the tail lights. The portion of the trunk that was there had been smashed into the trunk, my trunk wouldn’t even close anymore. Considering the fact that the impound lot was charging per day to keep it there we had to find a way to move it.

Unfortunately the only way to drive it without the back bumper pulverizing my tire was to remove one of my mufflers. As I said to myself, “Great more damage,” one of the employees comes out with a huge wrench with oil stains all over him and rips it out as if pulling apart a wishbone. I turned away I couldn’t watch him do that to my precious car. He then walks over to me and hands me the key and so happily says, “Here’s the key ma’am,” like an executioner who had just completed a job. At this point I still have not spoken a word to anybody, but myself and God. I open my door and get in and crank up my car.

My car now makes this noise that sounds like a motorcycle revving up whenever it driven, thus the reason it’s now parked. Worst part of this all is at the time I only had liability coverage so, to this day she sits in my mom’s driveway in this same condition, and I get a little sad every time I see her. In conclusion, some people just want everything whether it’s theirs or somebody else’s. Honestly I wouldn’t have cared if my car was stolen and found without being diminished to nothing in the process. Moral of the story no matter how much it may cost always try to get full coverage, things happen.

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Car Description Creative Writing Tips, Prompts, & Ideas

What makes product description writing difficult? You have to give life to the inanimate. You have to describe something that people see multiple times on a daily basis, and do so in a way that makes them look at that thing differently in their head when they read your copy.

Still difficult, but at least there is a lot to get excited about.

Tell a Story; Add Some Context

The easiest way to take the ordinary to extraordinary is to transport that thing to another place and time.

You tell me, what’s better—describing the simple car sitting in your all-pavement parking lot, or the one speeding down the interstate? Or perhaps the one slow creeping down a crowded downtown street on a Friday night, heads turning and eyes glued?

I’m not saying you have to craft a piece of award-winning fiction, nor do you need to gather facts from the car’s past to create non-fiction. But you can have fun with forming a hypothetical.

Think of it as simply painting a picture; placing the vehicle within the context of the potential buyer’s life. It’s all about concrete details and examples .

If you have trouble with this step, think about car commercials. Winding roads, hair in the wind, one lane roads lined by redwoods. The environment and car’s surroundings make for the most compelling of descriptions.

Make an Emotional Connection

What do prospective buyers of the car you’re describing care most about at the end of the day? It could be their kids, or their jobs. It could be the approval of neighbors or friends. It could also be appearing wealthy or attractive, or something else entirely. Match the car to the person who typically buys the car and appeal to their emotions.

Explain Every Visual Detail

It goes back to the above. You’re aiming to build an emotional connection with the reader. You want them to feel something when reading your description other than boredom.

When you’re describing the car, look at a picture and write down every feature you see (door, spoiler, rims etc.). After that, write down every non-feature you see, glare of the sun, reflection in the window, shine of the tire, etc. Take all of this info and start crafting, using everything from the tips above and below.

Appeal to All Senses

Take the visuals from the previous step and use them to appeal to the senses other than sight.

As you can see, not everything you describe needs to be a key selling feature of the vehicle. The blinker? It’s one of the nicest sounds a car can make. Many people find it soothing, and just mentioning it can bring readers out from in front of their computer, and into the vehicle you’re describing.

Pretend Like You’re Giving a Verbal Presentation

So, as you go and when you’re done, read what you’ve written aloud. This goes for any type of copywriting , and most people do this, but it’s always a good reminder.

Don’t be Afraid of Proper Formatting

How would you feel if you were reading a cereal box you were thinking of buying and it looked like this:

If you follow all of the tips presented above, you can’t help but use normal sentence structure to encourage reading. Then, if you still need to fit in all of your SEO keywords, create another section to do so.

To end, getting creative with your car description writing isn’t easy! But, there are some fairly low hanging fruits that will help you step your game up.

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• How to write a descriptive essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. This type of essay , like the narrative essay , is more creative than most academic writing .

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Table of contents

Descriptive essay topics, tips for writing descriptively, descriptive essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about descriptive essays.

When you are assigned a descriptive essay, you’ll normally be given a specific prompt or choice of prompts. They will often ask you to describe something from your own experience.

• Describe a place you love to spend time in.
• Describe an object that has sentimental value for you.

You might also be asked to describe something outside your own experience, in which case you’ll have to use your imagination.

• Describe the experience of a soldier in the trenches of World War I.
• Describe what it might be like to live on another planet.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to describe something more abstract, like an emotion.

If you’re not given a specific prompt, try to think of something you feel confident describing in detail. Think of objects and places you know well, that provoke specific feelings or sensations, and that you can describe in an interesting way.

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The key to writing an effective descriptive essay is to find ways of bringing your subject to life for the reader. You’re not limited to providing a literal description as you would be in more formal essay types.

Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and strong word choices to create a memorable description.

Use figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphor and simile that use words in non-literal ways to create a memorable effect. This is essential in a descriptive essay; it’s what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

Take the following description of a park.

This tells us something about the place, but it’s a bit too literal and not likely to be memorable.

If we want to make the description more likely to stick in the reader’s mind, we can use some figurative language.

Here we have used a simile to compare the park to a face and the trees to facial hair. This is memorable because it’s not what the reader expects; it makes them look at the park from a different angle.

You don’t have to fill every sentence with figurative language, but using these devices in an original way at various points throughout your essay will keep the reader engaged and convey your unique perspective on your subject.

Use your senses

Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details. This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to smell, sound, touch, and taste.

Obviously not all senses will apply to every subject, but it’s always a good idea to explore what’s interesting about your subject beyond just what it looks like.

Even when your subject is more abstract, you might find a way to incorporate the senses more metaphorically, as in this descriptive essay about fear.

Choose the right words

Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs , verbs , and even nouns.

It’s easy to end up using clichéd phrases—“cold as ice,” “free as a bird”—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices. Clichés provide conventional ways of describing things, but they don’t tell the reader anything about your unique perspective on what you’re describing.

Try looking over your sentences to find places where a different word would convey your impression more precisely or vividly. Using a thesaurus can help you find alternative word choices.

• My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from above.
• My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.

However, exercise care in your choices; don’t just look for the most impressive-looking synonym you can find for every word. Overuse of a thesaurus can result in ridiculous sentences like this one:

• My feline perambulates the allotment proficiently and capers atop the palisade to regard it from aloft.

An example of a short descriptive essay, written in response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how a descriptive essay works.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

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A descriptive essay is the most creative of all essay types. It involves the use of sensory descriptors and impactful narratives to depict an object, person, or even something abstract like an emotion. This type of essay is administered by teachers and professors to gauge your understanding of language. 

In this article, we will guide you through everything there is to know about descriptive essays. This includes the descriptive essay definition, some descriptive essay topics, and various examples. To help you in your essay-writing process, we have also included an outline of a descriptive essay. 

But let’s start from the beginning: What is a descriptive essay?

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What is a descriptive essay?

A descriptive essay is a highly creative form of writing which describes an object, person, location, experience, emotion, or situation. It makes use of vivid imagery and different figures of speech to create a beautiful and immersive experience for the reader.

This type of essay is often assigned in creative writing courses in schools or colleges. It does not involve the presentation of arguments or information. It just involves creatively expressing yourself with the help of various language devices. 

Unlike a narrative essay which involves telling a story, a descriptive essay only focuses on one particular object or idea. Although most essay topics are non-fictional, descriptive essay topics can either be fictional or non-fictional. 

Let us look at a few examples of topics for a descriptive essay.

Descriptive essay topics

Since writing a descriptive essay is a creative form of writing, it can cover a wide range of topics. These topics can range from practical experiences such as “My Grandpa’s Couch” to thought experiments such as “Living in a world with no concept of time”. 

Here are a few more descriptive essay topics:

• Exploring a ghost town
• A starry night in the mountains
• A day in the life of an explorer
• Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Wandering through the Swiss meadows 
• My childhood home
• Memories of grandma’s farm
• Experiencing euphoria for the first time
• My description of utopia
• My most treasured possession

Descriptive essay structure

Since descriptive essays are highly creative in nature, the descriptive essay structure is much more fluid as compared to most academic essay types. Although they do follow a general structure, there is no specific descriptive essay format. It serves more as a guideline than a hard and fast rule. 

Descriptive essays generally don’t revolve around proving a point or making an argument. The goal is to simply provide a vivid and detailed description of a particular subject.   

Let’s study the basic structure of a descriptive essay:

1. Introduction

Wondering how to start a descriptive essay? Like all essay types, the introduction of a descriptive essay is composed of three key elements: A hook, some background information, and a thesis statement. 

However, the thesis statement of a descriptive essay is different from the thesis statements of most academic essays. It simply makes a claim regarding the subject of your choosing.

Here’s an example of a descriptive essay introduction: 

• Background information
• Thesis statement

The last day of school—a momentous occasion that marks the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work and growth. Excitement hangs in the air as students gather for one final day of shared experiences and unforgettable memories. The hallways buzz with chatter and laughter, mingling with the anticipation of summer freedom. It’s a day of mixed emotions, as the promise of lazy days ahead clashes with the bittersweet farewell to teachers and classmates who have become like family. The last day of school is a mosaic of emotions, a snapshot of a moment that holds the weight of an entire academic journey, and a prelude to the new adventures that lie just beyond the horizon.

2. Body paragraph 

A descriptive essay usually has three body paragraphs. However, the length and number of paragraphs may vary depending on the complexity and scope of your essay topic. 

A body paragraph comprises of a topic sentence that focuses on a particular aspect of the subject. The topic sentence is elaborated upon by sensory, contextual, and emotional descriptors. Each paragraph ends with a transition sentence that provides context for the next paragraph.  

Let’s understand this better with the help of an example: 

• Topic sentence
• Description
• Transition sentence

Classrooms brim with finality and accomplishment. Doodles and scribbles now grace once-neat desks, testifying to idle daydreams and shared laughter. Colorful displays and academic achievements adorn the walls, silently witnessing each student’s growth. Empty lockers echo the countless exchanges and whispered secrets they once held. Yearbooks circulate like cherished artifacts, pages filled with smiling faces and heartfelt messages. Laughter and hugs fill the hallways as friends make promises to keep in touch and embark on summer adventures. The last day of school etches indelible memories, a tapestry of nostalgia and celebration that encapsulates the joy, camaraderie, and growth of their academic journey.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion of your essay should begin with the restatement of your thesis statement along with its broader implications. You can then provide a quick summary of all the important aspects mentioned in the body paragraphs. 

Finally, you can end your essay with a powerful statement or a clincher. This can include anything from a powerful lesson to a thought-provoking quote. The goal is to leave the reader with something to think about.

Here’s an example: 

• Restated thesis statement
• Summary of body paragraphs
• Concluding statement

As the final bell echoes through the hallways and students scatter in all directions, school leaves behind a lingering sense of closure and anticipation. It is a day filled with mixed emotions—a blend of nostalgia for the memories created, gratitude for the knowledge gained, and excitement for the new chapter that awaits. The last day of school symbolizes a milestone in each student’s journey, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. It is a time to reflect on the growth, challenges overcome, and friendships forged along the way. The last day of school is not an end, but rather a stepping stone towards new horizons, where each student will continue to learn, explore, and thrive.

Now that we’ve understood how to structure a descriptive essay, let’s figure out how to write it!

How to write a descriptive essay

In order to write a perfect descriptive essay you must effectively make use of multiple creative writing devices. These creative writing devices include figures of speech, imagery, sensory and emotional descriptors, as well as evocative language.  

If you find the essay writing process challenging, we’re here to equip you with essential tips on writing a descriptive essay. Let’s take a look at how to write a descriptive essay: 

1. Use figures of speech

Literary devices such as similies, metaphors, and imagery are creative devices that describe an object or a person in a figurative sense. These creative devices add an element of interest to your essay, making it more vivid, vibrant, and colorful. 

The use of figures of speech can turn an otherwise boring piece of writing into a masterpiece. Take a look at the following example:

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with thick bark and intertwining branches.

Although this example is a good start, it can be made much more interesting with the use of figures of speech.

On that spot stood an old banyan tree with its resolve as strong as iron. Its arms intertwined as they reached for the skies, yearning for the sun.  

The use of literary devices such as personification and metaphor makes the banyan tree in the second example come to life. This is how you can make your writing more vivid, descriptive, and poetic.

2. Use your senses

Sensory descriptors are one of the most important aspects of a descriptive essay. The key is to make the reader experience what you’ve experienced. This means appealing to all five senses of the reader. 

Although the visual aspect is important, you should also focus on how something sounds, feels, and smells. The experience of touching, smelling, or feeling something is more evocative than simply viewing it. 

Some sensory descriptors are used in a literal sense:

The smell of rain in July takes me back to my childhood. The pitter-patter reminds me of my mother’s footsteps, bringing us delicious snacks. 

They can also be used metaphorically:

The beautiful, cold gaze of the moon stunned us all.

3. Use evocative language

It is a good idea to use strong, evocative language that conveys an intense action or emotion. Creative use of words is an important factor in writing a descriptive essay since passive language leads to a dull, boring essay.  Let’s take a look at the following sentences: 

The 100-meter race was completed by Usain Bolt in under 10 seconds.

Usian Bolt whizzed through the 100-meter race in under 10 seconds!

The use of the word “completed” indicates no action and the use of passive voice makes the example dull. On the other hand, the phrase “whizzed through” indicates speed and intensity which makes the second example much more interesting to read.

Now that we’ve understood the different methods of writing a descriptive essay, let’s understand its outline.

Descriptive essay outline

The outline of a descriptive essay is less structured compared to most academic essay types. It merely serves as a guideline that you can use to flesh out your essay. It also helps you develop a coherent structure and logical flow for your topic sentences. 

If you’re not familiar with creating an essay outline, you can take help of essay outline generators . In order to help you further develop your essay, we’ve created an outline for your reference. The following descriptive essay outline revolves around the nostalgia experienced when going through an old diary.

Turning the Pages of Time

I. Introduction

A. Hook: Engaging opening sentence to grab the reader’s attention.

B. Background: Briefly explain the significance of finding your old diary and the memories associated with it.

C. Thesis statement: Clearly state the main idea of the essay, highlighting the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

II. The discovery

A. Setting the scene: Describe the circumstances and location where you stumbled upon your old diary.

B. Initial emotions: Express the range of emotions that flooded your mind upon finding the diary.

C. Anticipation: Share the anticipation and curiosity about what lies within the pages of the diary.

III. The diary’s contents

A. Opening the pages: Describe the physical act of opening the diary and the smell and texture of the pages.

B. Memories unfolded: Reflect on the memories and experiences captured in the diary entries.

C. Emotional impact: Discuss the emotional response evoked by reading your own words and reliving past moments.

IV. Nostalgic reflections

A. Time traveling: Explain how reading the diary transported you back to the time and place when the entries were written.

B. Reconnecting with your past self: Describe the process of reconnecting with your past self and reevaluating your thoughts and experiences.

C. Lessons and insights: Highlight any valuable lessons, self-discoveries, or personal growth revealed through the diary’s contents.

V. Resonating with present self

A. Relevance to current life: Discuss how the insights and reflections from the diary still resonate with your present self.

B. Perspective shifts: Explain any shifts in perspective or newfound understanding that arose from revisiting the diary.

C. Appreciation: Express gratitude for the diary and its role in preserving and enriching your personal history.

VI. Cherishing the rediscovery

A. Preservation: Discuss the steps you took to preserve and protect the diary after finding it.

B. Future reflections: Share your intentions and plans for continuing the habit of journaling or preserving personal memories.

C. Closing thoughts: Reflect on the lasting impact of finding your old diary and the value of personal reflection and self-expression.

VII. Conclusion

A. Recap: Summarize the emotional journey of rediscovering your old diary.

B. Significance: Emphasize the personal and emotional significance of reconnecting with your past self through the diary.

C. Closing remarks: Conclude with a reflection on the power of personal artifacts and the importance of preserving one’s history.

Now that we have taken a look at the descriptive essay structure let’s look at an example.

Descriptive essay example

To help you better understand the process of descriptive essay writing, we’ve constructed an example. The following example revolves around an imaginary situation. It describes the writer’s voyage through the cosmos.

Exploring the Cosmos

As the rocket engines ignited, the powerful thrust propelled us into the vast expanse of space. The vibrations rattled through the cabin, merging with the palpable anticipation that filled the air. We were embarking on a remarkable journey through the cosmos, leaving behind the familiarity of Earth and venturing into the unknown.

Outside the small window, the twinkling stars grew brighter, casting a mesmerizing glow on the infinite darkness. The view was awe-inspiring as if we were floating amidst a sea of diamonds, each one beckoning us to explore its mysteries. The depth and grandeur of space stretched out before us, reminding us of the minuscule nature of our existence in the universe.

As we traversed through the cosmic void, weightlessness engulfed our bodies, releasing us from the Earth’s gravitational pull. Every movement became a ballet, effortlessly gliding from one corner of the spacecraft to another. The sensation was both exhilarating and disorienting as if the boundaries of physical limitations had dissolved.

The silence in space was profound, a symphony of tranquility. Without the interference of atmospheric sounds, we were left with the gentle hum of the spaceship’s systems and the rhythmic beating of our own hearts. It was a humbling reminder of the vastness and serenity that lay beyond our home planet.

Farther into our journey, celestial bodies came into view, captivating us with their sheer beauty. The fiery hues of neighboring planets illuminated the darkness, displaying their own distinct personalities. We marveled at the majestic rings of Saturn, a delicate masterpiece encircling the giant planet, and the crimson swirls of Jupiter, a tempestuous giant with its own cosmic dance.

Time seemed to lose its grip on the vastness of space. Hours felt like mere moments as we traveled through light-years, witnessing the unimaginable beauty of celestial phenomena. We were reminded of the sheer magnitude of the cosmos, a testament to the wonders that lie beyond our earthly confines.

Eventually, the time came for us to return to our home planet. As we reentered Earth’s atmosphere, the fiery descent illuminated the sky, marking our triumphant return. The journey through space left an everlasting mark on our souls, forever changing our perception of our place in the universe.

Our journey was more than a physical exploration; it was a voyage of wonder and introspection. It taught us the fragility and interconnectedness of all things and ignited an insatiable curiosity to continue unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. We were forever transformed by the immensity and beauty that awaited us beyond our pale blue dot in the vast expanse of space.

After writing the essay, it’s important to edit and proofread it, which is a not easy. If you find essay editing challenging, you can consider taking the help of an essay editing service .  

Want to keep reading? Here are the newest articles we’ve worked on:

• How to Start an Essay
• Expository Essays | Step-by-Step Manual
• How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• Types of Essays
• Compare and Contrast Essay

Frequently Asked Questions

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Best Descriptive Essays: Examples & How-to Guide [+ Tips]

A descriptive essay is an academic paper that challenges a school or college student to describe something. It can be a person, a place, an object, a situation—anything an individual can depict in writing. The task is to show your abilities to communicate an experience in an essay format using vivid, illustrative language.

To understand how to write this paper, you’ll need to study some descriptive essay examples for college. Besides, you need to contemplate these aspects:

• how someone or somewhere looks;
• what happens with the person or place;
• what historical record you can add, if at all possible.

Our team has prepared this guide so that you’ll manage to write a famous descriptive essay. Learn how to outline your paper, nail the structure and the thesis statement. See the tips and explanations below, along with descriptive essay samples.

• 🖌️ Why Descriptive?

Research & Prepare

Outline your essay, write descriptively, revise & polish.

• 🖼️ Essay Examples

🖌️ What Makes an Essay Descriptive?

It’s time to make clear what we mean by a descriptive essay . For example, let’s suppose we were asked to write about a sports stadium. Here are two introductions we might come up with:

Example 1: A stadium is a place where sports, concerts, or other events take place. Usually, there will be a field or a stage, which most often will be surrounded completely or partially by a structure where spectators can sit or stand to watch.

Example 2: American sports nuts got what was probably their first sight of Twickenham rugby stadium when the Rugby World Cup Final was played there in 2015. Rugby has been played at Whitton Road in Twickenham since 1907, and the first international match took place three years later in 1910; when no game was scheduled, horses grazed the pitch. What is now the shining steel and glass double-decker West Stand was still, in the 1960s, a car park. Currently one of the world’s most state-of-the-art grounds, Twickenham holds 82,000 people, and it’s no longer horses when rugby is not being played but world-famous bands like U2, The Rolling Stones, and Bon Jovi who fill the place.

The first introduction is excellent for analytical essays as it’s a definition of what a sports stadium is. The second one depicts a specific stadium, and that – that act of describing – is what makes it descriptive.

When you’re writing a descriptive essay, it’s the style of the second example and not the first that you should be striving for. Try to use living, vivid language to draw a picture in words of whatever it is you’re writing about.

🎨 How to Write Good Descriptive Essays

When you’re writing a paper, the standard advice would be:

• Say what you’re going to tell your reader.
• Say what you’ve told your reader.

The same fundamental structure applies to a descriptive essay. Yet, there are numerous nuances that you should keep in mind to produce an outstanding paper. In the following sections, we’ll elaborate on them in detail.

So, you are ready to write your excellent descriptive essay, but you don’t know how to start? Don’t be lost. While writing any kind of paper, start with the research and preparation. Take a look at our tips!

• Consider the topic that you’re working with. Whether it’s assigned or picked by you, make sure you understand it completely. Make sure that it’s a descriptive essay that you’re supposed to write.
• Have a brainstorming session. Jot down some notes on what you think about the matter. Some of them will be useless, but it’s okay: among all the ideas, you’ll find something useful for your paper.
• Do some research. Find out what other people think about the place or event, if possible. Make notes about essential historical facts and people’s opinions.
• Add details. A good descriptive essay should be full of specifics. So, include background information, dates, names, physical characteristics, etc. This trick will help the reader to dive deep into the story and get the idea better.
• Are you going to go with your perspective?
• Are you going to go with other people’s opinions?
• Would the best result for this particular essay come from weighing the options? (So, you’d write, “Some people think this and some people believe in that ).

After all these steps, you’ll have enough material to create your descriptive essay structure.

When you have enough facts and memories, you can move on to the next step – outlining. We highly recommend you create an outline before you start writing an essay. It will help you to structure your ideas logically and coherently.

Your essay outline should include the following elements:

• Introduction . A good introduction should be catchy and concise. Start with the hook—an attention-grabbing element (rhetorical question, joke, statistics, etc.). Then, provide the general background and highlight the issues your essay will cover. End your intro with a clear thesis statement—a sentence that reflects your position.
• Body paragraphs . Each body paragraph should contain only one idea and start from the topic sentence, so the reader knows what to focus on. Make your body paragraphs full of details and specific examples. Don’t be too general because you risk losing the reader’s attention very fast.
• Conclusion . Wrap up your essay by restating the main points and summarizing your key ideas. Don’t include any new facts in the last paragraph. If you suspect that you miss an essential argument, better add it in the body.

Besides having a good structure, the best descriptive essay should be composed of strong and dynamic words. In this section, we will explain how to make your paper illustrative and memorable.

To make your writing descriptive , try the following:

• Choose your POV.

Decide who is the narrator of your story and filter the vocabulary through the narrator’s perspective. For example, you are describing your memories of childhood. Thus, your character is a child. Think how the kid’s perception of the world differs from reality and try to convey the feelings using appropriate words. Note that you can still write in the third person.

• Rely on precise words.

Avoid too abstract terms and general words. Instead, use dynamic vocabulary that precisely conveys your feelings. For example, you might write, “I felt bad.” Let’s make it more specific! How about writing, “I felt exhausted/ horrified/ anxious/ sick/ stressed, etc.”?

• Use figures of speech.

Don’t forget about the wide variety of literary devices! Use comparisons, metaphors, onomatopoeia, or exaggeration. You might say, “my girlfriend has beautiful eyes.” But Shakspeare would say. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” ( Sonnet, 130 ). Strive to be this creative!

• Keep connotations and variations in mind.

Use the richness of the language to improve your creative writing skills. English is full of synonyms and various grammar structures. Take the maximum benefit from them. BUT! Avoid using the word if you are unsure about its meaning.

• Compare and contrast.

Nothing can help to describe things better than comparison. So, deepen your sentences by examining the contrast and similarities between the objects or emotions.

• Implement sensory details.

Do you remember the five basic human senses? They are sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Rather than just telling the story, try to appeal to the reader’s five senses. This trick will help you to make the audience more engaged in your narrative.

When you reach the end, you haven’t finished. What you’ve done is to create the first version of your descriptive essay. Professional writers know how vital the first draft is because it isn’t possible to edit a blank page.

To revise and polish your text, follow these steps:

• Check the structure. Your essay has to contain all the fundamental parts (introduction, main body, conclusion). Also, make sure that there are transitions between the key points and topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph.
• Check the balance. All the essay parts should be approximate of the same significance. Keep in mind that each point should have the same number of details and arguments.
• Make sure you explored all the points. Read your introduction, paying extra attention to the thesis statement. Then, look through the entire essay and check whether you discussed every aspect you introduced in the first paragraph.
• Examine your information. Every piece of data and detail has to be valid. Make sure your arguments are logical, and your examples are appropriate. If something seems weak, rewrite it or consider cutting that part down.
• Polish your conclusion. The last paragraph of your essay should correspond to the introduction. Moreover, it should summarize your points and make a final impression on the reader. Make your conclusion memorable and dynamic.

You may go through this revision and rewriting process several times. Or you may become so skilled at writing descriptive essays that you’re good to go after the first revision.

🖼️ Famous Descriptive Essay Examples

Now that we’ve discussed how to write a descriptive essay, we should tell you the last crucial tip. Your chances of composing a perfect paper are low when you don’t check the samples first.

Here, you can find specific descriptive essay examples in these guides:

• Coral Reef Essay :

Do you admire wildlife? Are you fascinated by the divine beauty of the sea and ocean creatures? If you have a task to write about nature, or you can choose the topic yourself, think about composing a descriptive essay about coral reefs!

• Harriet Tubman Essay :

Do you need to talk about an outstanding historical figure? Or you need to compose a descriptive essay about a person? Choose an American political activist Harriet Tubman. Her biography and achievements won’t leave you indifferent!

• Americanism Essay :

Americanism is one of the most common paper topics for college students in the U.S. Has your instructor gave you the assignment to write about the USA identity? Compose a descriptive essay on Americanism!

• Halloween Essay :

Everybody loves holidays! And the teachers like to give the tasks to write about them. If you are wondering what celebration to select, consider choosing Halloween. It offers a bunch of traditions to describe.

Descriptive Essay Topics

• Description of punk culture.
• The beauty of Dresden.
• Give a description of Sweetbay Magnolia ornamental tree.
• Memorable design of Apple Company’s logo.  
• Representation of emotions while viewing art or nature.  
• Describe the Paricutín volcano .
• Give a description of Diana Krall’s concert at Jazz Festival in San Sebastián.
• Compare the interior and exterior of the Palatine Chapel and St. Michael’s Chapel.
• Discuss the design principles and visual elements of the Baptistery of San Giovanni’s south doors.
• The unusual style of the Graduate House of the University of Toronto. 
• The description of the Jewish religious service.
• The magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  
• The overview of my dream car .
• Discuss the design of Britam Tower in Nairobi.  
• An exceptional scenery of the Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
• Description and analysis of the film The Joker .
• The day I was buying a laptop .
• Give a description of main types of friendship .
• Main holidays in Pakistan and how they are celebrated.
• The historical atmosphere of Ellis Island.
• The unique culture of Cook Island inhabitants.
• Describe the impressions of the picture.
• Describe traditions and culture of the Kootenai Indians.
• What does my dream home look like?
• Discuss the visual elements of Lady Sennuwy statue .
• Balinese wedding ceremonies and traditions.
• Recount your first day at college .
• Describe and analyze Susan Anthony’s life and achievements .
• The unique beauty of the Amazon rainforest .
• The important elements of the Haitian flag.  
• Values and specifics of Brazilian culture .
• The magnificence of Shark Valley.  
• Describe the activities and personality of Eleanor Roosevelt.  
• Describe the writing process.
• The peculiarities of a tapa and it’s role in cultural ceremonies.
• Give the description of the statue of Osiris-Antinous.
• Discuss the Ways of Christmas Sweater Day celebration.  
• What impresses you the most in Cézanne’s art.
• Description of Atlantis Paradise Island site .
• Describe the peculiarities of your favorite music.
• Analyze the characteristics of contemporary design in Evolution Queen Wall Bed.
• Movements, symbolism, and transformation of the Chinese Dragon Dance and Lion Dance.  
• Describe the falling in love process.
• Narrate about your first try to ride a bicycle .
• Representation of the ancient Greek design: the marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis.  
• Discuss the thematic elements of Indian Fire God painting by Frederic Remington.
• The personality and art of Tracey Emin.  
• Describe the history of PayPal company. 
• Describe the features and historical meaning of the Column of Trajan.  
• Overview of the painting Toy Pieta by Scott Avett.

In case these ideas aren’t for you, you can find more descriptive essay topics on our website.

Thanks for visiting our page! Share it with your friends and explore the other articles on our website. We have more useful information for you.

🔗 References

• Descriptive Writing, Organization and Structure: Writing Center, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Examples of How to Write a Good Descriptive Paragraph: Richard Nordquist, ThoughtCo
• How Can I Write More Descriptively: Sweetland Center for Writing, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the University of Michigan
• Revising the Draft: Laura Saltz, the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Descriptive Essays: Purdue Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
• Paragraph Development, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at the University of Southern California
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Descriptive Essay: Your Guide to Writing an Effective One

A descriptive essay is one of the four main types of essays, alongside narrative, argumentative, and expository essays. Among these, descriptive essays can be particularly challenging because they demand a keen eye for detail and an appreciation for aesthetics. By vividly describing scenes and details, you engage your reader’s senses, making your essay memorable and engaging. In this guide, our essay writers will break down the writing process for you, offering step-by-step instructions, practical examples, and clear definitions to help you excel in your next assignment.

What is a Descriptive Essay?

Descriptive writing aims to vividly portray something through essays, helping readers visualize and feel the scene or object being described. Such essays draw on detailed descriptions to create a clear and impactful image that not only presents the subject but also evokes emotions and memories.

There are three main techniques used in descriptive writing: naming, detailing, and comparing .

Naming identifies the subject and its characteristics, answering questions like 'What is it?' and 'What features does it have?'

Detailing elaborates on these features, providing answers to detailed questions such as 'How many are there?' and 'What is its value?' Techniques like synesthesia and comparisons enhance these descriptions.

Comparing uses similes and metaphors to make descriptions more vivid, linking the subject to familiar concepts.

What Is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay?

The purpose of a descriptive essay is multifaceted. Primarily, it allows writers to give readers a vivid impression of a person, place, or event, making the subject come alive through words. By using detailed descriptions, writers can help readers visualize settings and characters as if they were seeing them firsthand.

Additionally, descriptive essays can serve to clarify abstract ideas. By describing these concepts with concrete images and examples, writers make complex ideas easier to understand and more relatable to the reader.

Descriptive essays also aim to make information more memorable. When details are vivid, they are more likely to stick in the reader's mind, enhancing recall and engagement with the text.

Lastly, it can bolster an argument by providing concrete, detailed evidence that supports a point of view. This helps persuade the reader by making the argument more tangible and credible.

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Descriptive Essay Topics

When you're tasked with writing a descriptive essay, you'll usually get a prompt that asks you to describe something. These descriptive essay prompts allow you to explore different settings, time periods, and imaginative scenarios in your essays. 

Personal Prompts:

• Describe a favorite childhood memory.
• Describe a treasured family heirloom.

Imaginative Prompts:

• Describe a day in the life of a pirate.
• Describe what it would be like to explore an underwater city.

Historical Prompts:

• Describe the atmosphere of a bustling ancient marketplace.
• Describe the experience of witnessing a significant moment in history, like the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Nature Prompts:

• Describe the sights and sounds of a peaceful forest at dawn.
• Describe the feeling of standing at the edge of a majestic waterfall.

Everyday Prompts:

• Describe the chaos of a busy morning commute in a big city.
• Describe the tranquility of a sunset picnic in the countryside.

If you need topic ideas for other essay genres, consult our guide on narrative essay topics .

How to Write a Descriptive Essay in 8 Steps

Now that you understand the essence and purpose of this type of essay let's explore some fundamental yet valuable tips for writing a descriptive essay. 

Step 1: Select Your Topic

The first step in creating a captivating descriptive essay is choosing the right topic. Start by paying close attention to your surroundings. 

• Consider describing a person you know well in your life, like a sibling, a close friend, or a teacher who has made a significant impact on you.
• Alternatively, you could focus on a specific place or object that holds sentimental value to you, such as a favorite vacation spot, a cherished childhood toy, or a meaningful piece of jewelry.
• Another option is to explore a strong emotion that you have experienced, like excitement, nostalgia, or determination. 

Avoid using overly technical or jargon-filled language in your topic selection. Instead, aim for simplicity and clarity to ensure that your chosen topic resonates with your audience and allows you to convey your unique perspective effectively.

Step 2: Gather Details

Once you've selected your topic for your descriptive essay, the next step is to gather details that will bring your chosen subject to life on the page. Start by closely observing your subject, whether it's a person, place, object, or emotion. Pay attention to its appearance, characteristics, and any unique features that stand out to you.

For example, if you've chosen to describe your childhood home, take note of its architectural style, color scheme, and any distinctive elements like a front porch or a cozy fireplace. Recall memories associated with the home, such as family gatherings or quiet moments spent reading in your favorite spot.

If your topic is a person, like a close friend or family member, observe their physical appearance, mannerisms, and personality traits. Consider the ways in which they interact with others and the impact they have on your life.

Step 3: Draft an Outline

When structuring your essay, you can organize your paragraphs from top to bottom or near to far, chronologically, or from general to specific. Here's a simple descriptive essay outline from our custom writers to guide you: 

Step 4: Develop a Thesis Statement

When developing your thesis statement, consider the main points or aspects of your subject that you want to highlight in your essay. Think about the emotions or impressions you want to evoke in the reader and tailor your thesis statement accordingly.

For example, if you're writing about your favorite childhood memory, your thesis statement could be: 'My summers spent at my grandparents' farm were filled with laughter, adventure, and a sense of belonging.'

Or, if you're describing a beautiful sunset, your thesis statement might be: 'The breathtaking colors and serene atmosphere of the sunset over the ocean evoke a sense of peace and wonder.'

Step 5: Craft the Introduction

Start your descriptive essay introduction by hooking the reader with an engaging opening sentence or anecdote related to your topic. This could be a vivid description, a thought-provoking question, or a surprising fact. For example:

• Growing up on my grandparents' farm, each summer brought new adventures and unforgettable memories that still warm my heart to this day.

After hooking the reader, provide some background information or context for your topic. This could include brief details about the setting, time period, or significance of your subject. For instance:

• Nestled in the rolling hills of the countryside, my grandparents' farm was a sanctuary of simple pleasures and cherished traditions.

Finally, end your introduction with your thesis statement, clearly stating the main point of your essay. This ties everything together and gives the reader a roadmap for what to expect in the rest of your essay. 

Step 6: Compose the Body Paragraphs

Once you've crafted your introduction, it's time to compose the body paragraphs, where you delve into the details and descriptions that bring your topic to life.

Each body paragraph should focus on a specific aspect or detail of your topic, expanding upon the ideas presented in your thesis statement. Use vivid language, sensory details, and descriptive devices to paint a clear picture for the reader.

For example, if you're writing about summers spent at your grandparents' farm, you could dedicate one body paragraph to describing the sights and sounds of the farm:

• The rolling fields stretched out before me, golden waves of wheat swaying gently in the breeze. The air was filled with the sweet scent of wildflowers, mingling with the earthy aroma of freshly turned soil.

In another body paragraph, you might explore the adventures and activities that filled your days:

• From sunrise to sunset, there was never a dull moment on the farm. Whether we were exploring the woods, splashing in the creek, or helping with chores, each day brought new excitement and adventure.

Continue with additional body paragraphs, each focusing on a different aspect of your topic and providing rich, detailed descriptions. Be sure to vary your language and sentence structure to keep the reader engaged and interested.

Step 7: Conclude the Essay

The conclusion should bring together all the ideas presented in your essay. Avoid introducing any new information in the conclusion. Instead, focus on evaluating your thoughts and reflections on the topic. End with a strong final sentence that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

For example, if you were writing about summers spent at your grandparents' farm, your conclusion might reflect on the significance of those memories:

• 'As I reminisce about the summers spent amid the rustic charm of my grandparents' farm, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude for the simple pleasures and cherished moments that shaped my childhood. The laughter echoing through the fields, the adventures awaiting around every corner, and the sense of belonging that enveloped me there will forever hold a special place in my heart.'

Step 8: Refine Your Essay

Once you've finished writing your essay, it's time to refine it for clarity and impact. Start by reading your essay aloud to yourself. Listen for any sentences that sound awkward or unclear. Mark these sentences so you can revise them later.

You can also read your essay aloud to others and ask for their feedback. Invite friends, family members, teachers, or mentors to listen to your essay and share their thoughts. Ask them if there are any parts that are difficult to understand or if they have trouble picturing the subject you're describing.

Be receptive to constructive criticism and feedback. Use it as an opportunity to improve your essay and make it stronger. And if it sounds too demanding right now, you can buy cheap essay to sidestep the hassle and reclaim some much-needed free time.

Descriptive Essay Format

The standard format for a descriptive essay typically includes five paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, you can also organize your essay into sections, allowing for flexibility in the length of the body paragraphs.

Introductory Paragraph: This paragraph sets the scene by describing where, when, and to whom the experience occurred. It should include descriptive words to capture the reader's attention.

First Body Paragraph: Here, the writer provides details that allow the reader to visualize the situation. Descriptive language is key in painting a clear picture for the reader.

Second Body Paragraph: More details are provided, with a focus on using descriptive adjectives. Figurative language, such as metaphor (e.g., describing the city as a 'jungle of concrete'), can enhance the imagery.

Third Body Paragraph: The writer continues to appeal to the reader's senses with visually descriptive words. Figurative language, like personification (e.g., describing the wind as a playful dancer), adds depth to the description.

Conclusion: The conclusion alludes to another sense, such as touch or sound, and uses strong words to signify closure. It ends with a powerful concluding sentence to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Descriptive Essay Examples

In this section, you'll discover essay examples that demonstrate how to captivate your readers' attention effectively. After exploring these examples, you might find yourself tempted to ask, 'Can someone do my homework for me?' - and that's completely understandable! We're here to help you become more confident and articulate communicators through your writing!

3 Additional Tips for Writing

While writing a descriptive essay, your goal is to make your subject come alive for the reader. Unlike more formal essays, you have the freedom to be creative with your descriptions, using figurative language, sensory details, and precise word choices to make your writing memorable.

Use Figurative Language: Figurative language, like metaphors and similes, adds flair to your descriptions. Instead of sticking to literal descriptions, use comparisons to create unique and memorable imagery. 

• For instance, describing a city as a bustling beehive of activity ' or a forest as ' a blanket of whispers ' adds an unexpected twist that captures the reader's attention.

Engage Your Senses: In a descriptive essay, don't just focus on what something looks like; appeal to all the senses. Describe how things smell, sound, feel, and even taste, if applicable. This adds depth and richness to your descriptions, making them more immersive. 

• For example, instead of just describing a beach visually, include sensory details like feeling the warm sand between your toes , hearing the rhythmic crash of waves , and t asting the salty sea breeze.

Choose Your Words Carefully: Use effective adjectives, verbs, and nouns to convey your impressions vividly. Avoid clichés and opt for original, precise language that reflects your unique perspective. Take the time to review your sentences and consider if there are better word choices that could enhance your description.

In Wrapping Up

To sum it up, descriptive essays are all about encouraging students like you to explore your surroundings and unleash your creativity by describing scenes in detail with words. When you carefully select and organize these descriptive details, it not only enhances your writing but also sharpens your critical thinking skills. Plus, diving into this expressive writing style allows you to appreciate the beauty of language and feel more connected to written communication. And remember, if you ever need a little boost in your writing journey, our descriptive essay writing service is here to help!

Need To Describe Something But DON'T KNOW HOW?

Let one of our essay writers do it for you, all you have to do is send us your paper requirements and wait for your original paper to be written.

How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

What is a descriptive essay, what is the purpose of a descriptive essay.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

• New samples
• New information on each of the rest sections 

Axelrod, R. B. and Cooper, R. C. (2008). The st martin’s guide to writing. (English Edition). New York: Bedford/St Martins

Okono, U. M. (2021). Descriptive essay: An assessment of performance by undergraduates of AkwaIbom State University. Erudite Journal of Linguistics and Languages . https://www.globalacademicstar.com/download/article/descriptive-essay-an-assessment-of-performance-by-undergraduates-of-akwa-ibom-state-university.pdf

Okono. U. M. (2020). “Qualities of a good essay: An assessment of the writings of Nigerian undergraduates.” International Journal on integrated Education. 3: vi.

https://irsc-asc.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/8/1/31813909/e7__descriptive_essay_guidelines.pdf

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How to Write a Strong Descriptive Essay

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 Fact Checked

Brainstorming Ideas for the Essay

Writing the essay, polishing the essay, outline for a descriptive essay, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,530,393 times.

A good descriptive essay creates a vivid picture of the topic in the reader’s mind. You may need to write a descriptive essay as a class assignment or you may decide to write one as a fun writing challenge. Start by brainstorming ideas for the essay. Then, outline and write the essay using vivid sensory details and strong descriptions. Always polish your essay and proofread it so it is at its best.

Best Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay

Outline the essay in sections and create a thesis statement to base the essay on. Then, write a strong introduction and describe the subject matter using creative and vivid adjectives. Use similes, metaphors, and your own emotions to help you bring the topic to life.

• You could also choose a fictional person to write about, such as a character in a book, a story, or a play. You could write about a character on your favorite TV show or video game.

• Another take on this option is to write about a made-up place or object, such as the fantastical school in your favorite book or the magic wand from your favorite TV show.

• You could also choose a more specific emotion, such as brotherly love or self-hatred. These emotions can make for powerful descriptive essays.

• For example, if you were writing about a person like your mother, you may write down under “sound” : “soft voice at night, clack of her shoes on the floor tiles, bang of the spoon when she cooks.”

• If you are writing the essay for a class, your instructor should specify if they want a five paragraph essay or if you have the freedom to use sections instead.

• For example, if you were writing a descriptive essay about your mother, you may have a thesis statement like: “In many ways, my mother is the reigning queen of our house, full of contradictions that we are too afraid to question.”

• For example, if you were writing the essay about your mom, you may start with: “My mother is not like other mothers. She is a fierce protector and a mysterious woman to my sisters and I.”
• If you were writing an essay about an object, you may start with: "Try as I might, I had a hard time keeping my pet rock alive."

• You can also use adjectives that connect to the senses, such “rotting,” “bright,” “hefty,” “rough,” and “pungent.”
• For example, you may describe your mother as "bright," "tough," and "scented with jasmine."

• You can also use similes, where you use “like” or “as” to compare one thing to another. For example, you may write, “My mother is like a fierce warrior in battle, if the battlefield were PTA meetings and the checkout line at the grocery store.”

• For example, you may write about your complicated feelings about your mother. You may note that you feel sadness about your mother’s sacrifices for the family and joy for the privileges you have in your life because of her.

• For example, you may end a descriptive essay about your mother by noting, “In all that she has sacrificed for us, I see her strength, courage, and fierce love for her family, traits I hope to emulate in my own life.”

• You can also read the essay aloud to others to get their feedback. Ask them to let you know if there are any unclear or vague sentences in the essay.

• Be open to constructive criticism and feedback from others. This will only make your essay stronger.

• If you have a word count requirement for the essay, make sure you meet it. Add more detail to the paper or take unnecessary content out to reach the word count.

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• ↑ https://www.writeexpress.com/descriptive-essay.html
• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 24 July 2020.
• ↑ https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/organization-and-structure/descriptive-writing.html
• ↑ https://spcollege.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=10168248
• ↑ https://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/style_purpose_strategy/descriptive_essay.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/descriptive_essays.html

About This Article

To write a descriptive essay, start by choosing a topic, like a person, place, or specific emotion. Next, write down a list of sensory details about the topic, like how it sounds, smells, and feels. After this brainstorming session, outline the essay, dividing it into an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Open with a vivid introduction that uses sensory details, then introduce your thesis statement, which the rest of your essay should support. Strengthen your essay further by using metaphors and similes to describe your topic, and the emotions it evokes. To learn how to put the finishing touches on your essay, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment? Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Advantages of technology development

Disadvantages of technology development, reference list.

The idea of flying cars is not new. It can be traced back to the early twentieth century, when the Wright Brother first discovered the aircraft and people realised that they could fly, ever since they have been chasing the dream of a flying cars. Flying cars, also known as road able aircrafts, is an airplane which would not necessarily be drivable on the roads but also in the airspace. Several different efforts have been made to sum the merits of a vertical takeoff and landing craft with that of a high-speed and responsive craft. Even in the eightieth century there was an effort to build a gliding horse cart, which, however did not succeed. In United States Patent and Trademark Office, there are almost eighty patents that have been filed for the several forms of flying cars. Some of these have in reality taken off, but many did or have not.

Early experiments of the flying car can be traced back in the 1910s, a decade after the Wright Brothers’ first flight. The first functioning (although still argued) road able aircraft, called the Curtiss Auto plane, was developed in 1917 by Glenn Curtis, who is considered the father of the flying car. It was a small plane with three wings, which spanned about twenty seven feet and could carry a load of 710 pounds and used the vehicle’s motor to drive a four-bladed propeller attached at the back of the vehicle. At that time, the thought of a car with wings was an exciting advancement, and Curtiss had a dream of making it the best personal mode transport of everyone who could pay a price for it. However, the Aerobile never actually took off though it made a few hops (Duller, 1982).

In 1933, the U.S. Air Commerce Bureau made a call to airplane makers to develop an airplane model, which could be sold for lesser than US$700. The Flivver competition, as it was known, managed to produce several flying car models, among them was the Aerobile developed Waldo Waterman, who was a naval aviator on North Island, San Diego Bay. The funny-looking three wheeled vehicle performed better than a vehicle and than its predecessor, with a typical 100-horsepower Studebaker engine motor below the top, steering wheel in the cockpit and propeller at the back car. Unfortunately, since it was initiated at the time of the Great Depression, the Aerobile was met with many challenges, although it could take off, it never wedged on. Nevertheless, Waterman worked on and improved the model, but it never got flight certifications. (Anufriyev, 2008)

In the 1946, Robert Fulton built the Airphibian basing his idea on adapting a plane for the road rather than adapting a car for flying. The plane could be easily converted to a car by removing the wings and tail hood of the plane to fit on the road and the propellers could be kept in the craft’s fuselage. The Airphibian was the first flying car to get a certification by the Civil Aviation Authority, the antecedent of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It featured a 150 hp, six-cylinder engine, lightweight fibreglass body, four passenger seats, four removable wings and tail and flew at 120 mph and drive at 50 mph. Although the model was the best then, the maker was faced with financial constraints and some technicalities.

Then in 1947 Consolidated-Vultee built the Convaircar that was featured with a detachable airplane unit, lightweight fibreglass shell and could accommodate four people. The flying car offered one hour of flight and a gas mileage of 45 miles/gallon.

In 1949, Molt Taylor, inspired by the Airphibian and Robert Fulton, designed the Aerocar perhaps the most famous road able aircraft car. The Aerocar was designed to drive, fly and then drive again with consistency. The car had a fibreglass body, a 3 meter long drive shaft connected with the engine to the propellers. It cruised at 120 m/h in the air and was the second and last flying car to get the FAA’s certification. In fact in 1970, Ford Motor Co. made efforts to market the car but its plans were disrupted by the then looming oil crises.

Ever since several models have been put to test including the Advanced Vehicle Engineers (AVE) Mizar, The Moller Skycar, with the latest one being the Terrafugia Transition. The Terrafugia is featured with a two seating capacity and folding wings. The makers plan to release its batch in the market by 2011. Although, these pioneers did not actually manage to build a viable road able aircraft, and some even died testing their ideas, they showed to the world that a vehicle could be developed to fly and enthused a new group of flying car enthusiasts. “With advances in lightweight material, computer modelling and computer-aided airplane, the dream is almost realised”.

More developments have been done in areas of technology fields whereby machines have been developed that are used to assist humans. The discovery of airplanes brought a great impact in the transport industry as the stake holders were able to define the best mechanisms of dealing with different transport issues that arose as time went by. As a result of technology, mass aircraft-car production was experienced as aircraft–car production machines were automated meaning limited time would be used to come up with high production. This high production translated to faster economic growth and made a country more stable economically. It is this that led European countries and the USA to start rivaling one another as a way of trying to be seen in the face of the whole world as being more developed than the other.

In addition computers have made transport gadgets more convenient with the incorporation of the internet and other sophisticated communication gadgets. A bulk of information is loaded into a computer and compressed into a smaller unit then stored where it can be retrieved easily for use at a convenient time. More so they are used in programming by various transportation programmes making it easier to follow an outlined series of events without the need of manual guidance. Communication gadgets also have reduced communication distance between different transport agencies as one can deliver a message to a distance person within a very short period of time. (Bourne, 1995)

Vehicle- aircrafts and other automobile machines have made transport faster and the same time saving time and energy that would have been used while travelling by road. The development of e-learning has improved the system of education greatly as learners grow to have the skills and experience on how to use the flying car while incorporating modern technology and at the same time relieving them the burden of carrying books. As a result, globalization is being encouraged worldwide for all countries to be members in the project, and the main driving force behind the achievement of this goal is technology. This sees the entire nation working together on the economic market to improve their transportation sector.

As much as it holds credit in the lives of many people, technology has had a great negative impact. The most outstanding of all this is the resulting of unemployment to many people as machines have taken over what used to be done by humans leaving them jobless. This has contributed to a rise in poverty as only few people who are experienced are the ones able to secure employment to work with the machines. Another thing to note is the increase in mortality as a result of accidents from the automobile machines; also some people have been reported to have lost their lives in factories while working with the flying car project. Global warming is as a result of technology as emissions which are harmful to environment are released into the ecosystem untreated.

In addition long exposure to the radioactive materials or fossil fuels used in the manufacture of the automobiles when not well regulated has led to eye problems which are long term. Maintenance of the automobiles machines and all other machines are very expensive thereby placing a financial burden on people when they break down.

In conclusion road able aircrafts is an idea whose time has come, it may have been little more of a dream for the past century, things may be turning around, which will see the invention to be realised. Being a technological advancement like no other, there are pros and cons, but it is evident that they are more of an advantage and efforts should be made to see the idea come to pass. The main challenges to road able aircrafts have technically been the weight of the materials, the controllability, and the lack of infrastructure to sustain the many vehicles flying around (Franklin)

Because of new, lighter, stronger materials, the challenges about weight have been greatly reduced. And because of computer modelling and computer-aided systems that can automate a large part of the flight, that challenge has been addressed. However, infrastructure has not been put in place which can sustain everyone to fly rather than drive. For now, treating flying cars as aircrafts which can also be driven may seem to be the way out. Pilots will still require a license to drive them, and the cars will have to be subjected to the same FAA considerations as small aircrafts.

Anufriyev, A. (2008) Flying Car . Moscow: Aleksandr Anufriyev.

Bourne, JR. (1995). The influence of technology on engineering education . Florida: CRC Press.

Duller, HJ. (1982). Development technology: International library of anthropology . London: Routledge.

Franklin, U. “Real World of Technology “. House of Anansi Press. Web.

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• Krakow Energy Efficiency Project (Poland)
• Electronics Engineering: Thermocouples as Temperature Sensors
• Universal Serial Bus / FireWire
• Mechanical Engineering Lab: Chevrolet Engine Performance
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, March 18). Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment? https://ivypanda.com/essays/flying-cars-necessity-or-entertainment/

"Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment?" IvyPanda , 18 Mar. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/flying-cars-necessity-or-entertainment/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment'. 18 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment?" March 18, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/flying-cars-necessity-or-entertainment/.

1. IvyPanda . "Flying Cars: Necessity or Entertainment?" March 18, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/flying-cars-necessity-or-entertainment/.

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French Journal of English Studies

Home Numéros 59 1 - Tisser les liens : voyager, e... 36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Teac...

36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Teaching Travel Writing and Mindfulness in the Tradition of Hokusai and Thoreau

L'auteur américain Henry David Thoreau est un écrivain du voyage qui a rarement quitté sa ville natale de Concorde, Massachusetts, où il a vécu de 1817 à 1862. Son approche du "voyage" consiste à accorder une profonde attention à son environnement ordinaire et à voir le monde à partir de perspectives multiples, comme il l'explique avec subtilité dans Walden (1854). Inspiré par Thoreau et par la célèbre série de gravures du peintre d'estampes japonais Katsushika Hokusai, intitulée 36 vues du Mt. Fuji (1830-32), j'ai fait un cours sur "L'écriture thoreauvienne du voyage" à l'Université de l'Idaho, que j'appelle 36 vues des montagnes de Moscow: ou, Faire un grand voyage — l'esprit et le carnet ouvert — dans un petit lieu . Cet article explore la philosophie et les stratégies pédagogiques de ce cours, qui tente de partager avec les étudiants les vertus d'un regard neuf sur le monde, avec les yeux vraiment ouverts, avec le regard d'un voyageur, en "faisant un grand voyage" à Moscow, Idaho. Les étudiants affinent aussi leurs compétences d'écriture et apprennent les traditions littéraires et artistiques associées au voyage et au sens du lieu.

Index terms

Keywords: , designing a writing class to foster engagement.

1 The signs at the edge of town say, "Entering Moscow, Idaho. Population 25,060." This is a small hamlet in the midst of a sea of rolling hills, where farmers grow varieties of wheat, lentils, peas, and garbanzo beans, irrigated by natural rainfall. Although the town of Moscow has a somewhat cosmopolitan feel because of the presence of the University of Idaho (with its 13,000 students and a few thousand faculty and staff members), elegant restaurants, several bookstores and music stores, and a patchwork of artsy coffee shops on Main Street, the entire mini-metropolis has only about a dozen traffic lights and a single high school. As a professor of creative writing and the environmental humanities at the university, I have long been interested in finding ways to give special focuses to my writing and literature classes that will help my students think about the circumstances of their own lives and find not only academic meaning but personal significance in our subjects. I have recently taught graduate writing workshops on such themes as "The Body" and "Crisis," but when I was given the opportunity recently to teach an undergraduate writing class on Personal and Exploratory Writing, I decided to choose a focus that would bring me—and my students—back to one of the writers who has long been of central interest to me: Henry David Thoreau.

2 One of the courses I have routinely taught during the past six years is Environmental Writing, an undergraduate class that I offer as part of the university's Semester in the Wild Program, a unique undergraduate opportunity that sends a small group of students to study five courses (Ecology, Environmental History, Environmental Writing, Outdoor Leadership and Wilderness Survival, and Wilderness Management and Policy) at a remote research station located in the middle of the largest wilderness area (the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness) in the United States south of Alaska. In "Teaching with Wolves," a recent article about the Semester in the Wild Program, I explained that my goal in the Environmental Writing class is to help the students "synthesize their experience in the wilderness with the content of the various classes" and "to think ahead to their professional lives and their lives as engaged citizens, for which critical thinking and communication skills are so important" (325). A foundational text for the Environmental Writing class is a selection from Thoreau's personal journal, specifically the entries he made October 1-20, 1853, which I collected in the 1993 writing textbook Being in the World: An Environmental Reader for Writers . I ask the students in the Semester in the Wild Program to deeply immerse themselves in Thoreau's precise and colorful descriptions of the physical world that is immediately present to him and, in turn, to engage with their immediate encounters with the world in their wilderness location. Thoreau's entries read like this:

Oct. 4. The maples are reddening, and birches yellowing. The mouse-ear in the shade in the middle of the day, so hoary, looks as if the frost still lay on it. Well it wears the frost. Bumblebees are on the Aster undulates , and gnats are dancing in the air. Oct. 5. The howling of the wind about the house just before a storm to-night sounds extremely like a loon on the pond. How fit! Oct. 6 and 7. Windy. Elms bare. (372)

3 In thinking ahead to my class on Personal and Exploratory Writing, which would be offered on the main campus of the University of Idaho in the fall semester of 2018, I wanted to find a topic that would instill in my students the Thoreauvian spirit of visceral engagement with the world, engagement on the physical, emotional, and philosophical levels, while still allowing my students to remain in the city and live their regular lives as students. It occurred to me that part of what makes Thoreau's journal, which he maintained almost daily from 1837 (when he was twenty years old) to 1861 (just a year before his death), such a rich and elegant work is his sense of being a traveler, even when not traveling geographically.

Traveling a Good Deal in Moscow

I have traveled a good deal in Concord…. --Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854; 4)

4 For Thoreau, one did not need to travel a substantial physical distance in order to be a traveler, in order to bring a traveler's frame of mind to daily experience. His most famous book, Walden , is well known as an account of the author's ideas and daily experiments in simple living during the two years, two months, and two days (July 4, 1845, to September 6, 1847) he spent inhabiting a simple wooden house that he built on the shore of Walden Pond, a small lake to the west of Boston, Massachusetts. Walden Pond is not a remote location—it is not out in the wilderness. It is on the edge of a small village, much like Moscow, Idaho. The concept of "traveling a good deal in Concord" is a kind of philosophical and psychological riddle. What does it mean to travel extensively in such a small place? The answer to this question is meaningful not only to teachers hoping to design writing classes in the spirit of Thoreau but to all who are interested in travel as an experience and in the literary genre of travel writing.

5 Much of Walden is an exercise in deftly establishing a playful and intellectually challenging system of synonyms, an array of words—"economy," "deliberateness," "simplicity," "dawn," "awakening," "higher laws," etc.—that all add up to powerful probing of what it means to live a mindful and attentive life in the world. "Travel" serves as a key, if subtle, metaphor for the mindful life—it is a metaphor and also, in a sense, a clue: if we can achieve the traveler's perspective without going far afield, then we might accomplish a kind of enlightenment. Thoreau's interest in mindfulness becomes clear in chapter two of Walden , "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," in which he writes, "Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me. To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face?" The latter question implies the author's feeling that he is himself merely evolving as an awakened individual, not yet fully awake, or mindful, in his efforts to live "a poetic or divine life" (90). Thoreau proceeds to assert that "We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn…. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor" (90). Just what this endeavor might be is not immediately spelled out in the text, but the author does quickly point out the value of focusing on only a few activities or ideas at a time, so as not to let our lives be "frittered away by detail." He writes: "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; … and keep your accounts on your thumb nail" (91). The strong emphasis in the crucial second chapter of Walden is on the importance of waking up and living deliberately through a conscious effort to engage in particular activities that support such awakening. It occurs to me that "travel," or simply making one's way through town with the mindset of a traveler, could be one of these activities.

6 It is in the final chapter of the book, titled "Conclusion," that Thoreau makes clear the relationship between travel and living an attentive life. He begins the chapter by cataloguing the various physical locales throughout North America or around the world to which one might travel—Canada, Ohio, Colorado, and even Tierra del Fuego. But Thoreau states: "Our voyaging is only great-circle sailing, and the doctors prescribe for diseases of the skin merely. One hastens to Southern Africa to chase the giraffe; but surely that is not the game he would be after." What comes next is brief quotation from the seventeenth-century English poet William Habbington (but presented anonymously in Thoreau's text), which might be one of the most significant passages in the entire book:

Direct your eye sight inward, and you'll find A thousand regions in your mind Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be Expert in home-cosmography. (320)

7 This admonition to travel the mysterious territory of one's own mind and master the strange cosmos of the self is actually a challenge to the reader—and probably to the author himself—to focus on self-reflection and small-scale, local movement as if such activities were akin to exploration on a grand, planetary scale. What is really at issue here is not the physical distance of one's journey, but the mental flexibility of one's approach to the world, one's ability to look at the world with a fresh, estranged point of view. Soon after his discussion of the virtues of interior travel, Thoreau explains why he left his simple home at Walden Pond after a few years of experimental living there, writing, "It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves" (323). In other words, no matter what we're doing in life, we can fall into a "beaten track" if we're not careful, thus failing to stay "awake."

8 As I thought about my writing class at the University of Idaho, I wondered how I might design a series of readings and writing exercises for university students that would somehow emulate the Thoreauvian objective of achieving ultra-mindfulness in a local environment. One of the greatest challenges in designing such a class is the fact that it took Thoreau himself many years to develop an attentiveness to his environment and his own emotional rhythms and an efficiency of expression that would enable him to describe such travel-without-travel, and I would have only sixteen weeks to achieve this with my own students. The first task, I decided, was to invite my students into the essential philosophical stance of the class, and I did this by asking my students to read the opening chapter of Walden ("Economy") in which he talks about traveling "a good deal" in his small New England village as well as the second chapter and the conclusion, which reveal the author's enthusiasm (some might even say obsession ) for trying to achieve an awakened condition and which, in the end, suggest that waking up to the meaning of one's life in the world might be best accomplished by attempting the paradoxical feat of becoming "expert in home-cosmography." As I stated it among the objectives for my course titled 36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Or, Traveling a Good Deal—with Open Minds and Notebooks—in a Small Place , one of our goals together (along with practicing nonfiction writing skills and learning about the genre of travel writing) would be to "Cultivate a ‘Thoreauvian' way of appreciating the subtleties of the ordinary world."

Windy. Elms Bare.

9 For me, the elegance and heightened sensitivity of Thoreau's engagement with place is most movingly exemplified in his journal, especially in the 1850s after he's mastered the art of observation and nuanced, efficient description of specific natural phenomena and environmental conditions. His early entries in the journal are abstract mini-essays on such topics as truth, beauty, and "The Poet," but over time the journal notations become so immersed in the direct experience of the more-than-human world, in daily sensory experiences, that the pronoun "I" even drops out of many of these records. Lawrence Buell aptly describes this Thoreauvian mode of expression as "self-relinquishment" (156) in his 1995 book The Environmental Imagination , suggesting such writing "question[s] the authority of the superintending consciousness. As such, it opens up the prospect of a thoroughgoing perceptual breakthrough, suggesting the possibility of a more ecocentric state of being than most of us have dreamed of" (144-45). By the time Thoreau wrote "Windy. Elms bare" (372) as his single entry for October 6 and 7, 1853, he had entered what we might call an "ecocentric zone of consciousness" in his work, attaining the ability to channel his complex perceptions of season change (including meteorology and botany and even his own emotional state) into brief, evocative prose.

10 I certainly do not expect my students to be able to do such writing after only a brief introduction to the course and to Thoreau's own methods of journal writing, but after laying the foundation of the Thoreauvian philosophy of nearby travel and explaining to my students what I call the "building blocks of the personal essay" (description, narration, and exposition), I ask them to engage in a preliminary journal-writing exercise that involves preparing five journal entries, each "a paragraph or two in length," that offer detailed physical descriptions of ordinary phenomena from their lives (plants, birds, buildings, street signs, people, food, etc.), emphasizing shape, color, movement or change, shadow, and sometimes sound, smell, taste, and/or touch. The goal of the journal entries, I tell the students, is to begin to get them thinking about close observation, vivid descriptive language, and the potential to give their later essays in the class an effective texture by balancing more abstract information and ideas with evocative descriptive passages and storytelling.

11 I am currently teaching this class, and I am writing this article in early September, as we are entering the fourth week of the semester. The students have just completed the journal-writing exercise and are now preparing to write the first of five brief essays on different aspects of Moscow that will eventually be braided together, as discrete sections of the longer piece, into a full-scale literary essay about Moscow, Idaho, from the perspective of a traveler. For the journal exercise, my students wrote some rather remarkable descriptive statements, which I think bodes well for their upcoming work. One student, Elizabeth Isakson, wrote stunning journal descriptions of a cup of coffee, her own feet, a lemon, a basil leaf, and a patch of grass. For instance, she wrote:

Steaming hot liquid poured into a mug. No cream, just black. Yet it appears the same brown as excretion. The texture tells another story with meniscus that fades from clear to gold and again brown. The smell is intoxicating for those who are addicted. Sweetness fills the nostrils; bitterness rushes over the tongue. The contrast somehow complements itself. Earthy undertones flower up, yet this beverage is much more satisfying than dirt. When the mug runs dry, specks of dark grounds remain swimming in the sunken meniscus. Steam no longer rises because energy has found a new home.

12 For the grassy lawn, she wrote:

Calico with shades of green, the grass is yellowing. Once vibrant, it's now speckled with straw. Sticking out are tall, seeding dandelions. Still some dips in the ground have maintained thick, soft patches of green. The light dances along falling down from the trees above, creating a stained-glass appearance made from various green shades. The individual blades are stiff enough to stand erect, but they will yield to even slight forces of wind or pressure. Made from several long strands seemingly fused together, some blades fray at the end, appearing brittle. But they do not simply break off; they hold fast to the blade to which they belong.

13 The point of this journal writing is for the students to look closely enough at ordinary reality to feel estranged from it, as if they have never before encountered (or attempted to describe) a cup of coffee or a field of grass—or a lemon or a basil leaf or their own body. Thus, the Thoreauvian objective of practicing home-cosmography begins to take shape. The familiar becomes exotic, note-worthy, and strangely beautiful, just as it often does for the geographical travel writer, whose adventures occur far away from where she or he normally lives. Travel, in a sense, is an antidote to complacency, to over-familiarity. But the premise of my class in Thoreauvian travel writing is that a slight shift of perspective can overcome the complacency we might naturally feel in our home surroundings. To accomplish this we need a certain degree of disorientation. This is the next challenge for our class.

The Blessing of Being Lost

14 Most of us take great pains to "get oriented" and "know where we're going," whether this is while running our daily errands or when thinking about the essential trajectories of our lives. We're often instructed by anxious parents to develop a sense of purpose and a sense of direction, if only for the sake of basic safety. But the traveler operates according to a somewhat different set of priorities, perhaps, elevating adventure and insight above basic comfort and security, at least to some degree. This certainly seems to be the case for the Thoreauvian traveler, or for Thoreau himself. In Walden , he writes:

…not until we are completely lost, or turned round,--for a man needs only be turned round once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost,--do we appreciate the vastness and strangeness of Nature. Every man has to learn the points of compass again as often as he awakes, whether from sleep or any abstraction. Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations. (171)

15 I could explicate this passage at length, but that's not really my purpose here. I read this as a celebration of salutary disorientation, of the potential to be lost in such a way as to deepen one's ability to pay attention to oneself and one's surroundings, natural and otherwise. If travel is to a great degree an experience uniquely capable of triggering attentiveness to our own physical and psychological condition, to other cultures and the minds and needs of other people, and to a million small details of our environment that we might take for granted at home but that accrue special significance when we're away, I would argue that much of this attentiveness is owed to the sense of being lost, even the fear of being lost, that often happens when we leave our normal habitat.

16 So in my class I try to help my students "get lost" in a positive way. Here in Moscow, the major local landmark is a place called Moscow Mountain, a forested ridge of land just north of town, running approximately twenty kilometers to the east of the city. Moscow "Mountain" does not really have a single, distinctive peak like a typical mountain—it is, as I say, more of a ridge than a pinnacle. When I began contemplating this class on Thoreauvian travel writing, the central concepts I had in mind were Thoreau's notion of traveling a good deal in Concord and also the idea of looking at a specific place from many different angles. The latter idea is not only Thoreauvian, but perhaps well captured in the eighteen-century Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's series of woodblock prints known as 36 Views of Mt. Fuji , which offers an array of different angles on the mountain itself and on other landscape features (lakes, the sea, forests, clouds, trees, wind) and human behavior which is represented in many of the prints, often with Mt. Fuji in the distant background or off to the side. In fact, I imagine Hokusai's approach to representing Mt. Fuji as so important to the concept of this travel writing class that I call the class "36 Views of Moscow Mountain," symbolizing the multiple approaches I'll be asking my students to take in contemplating and describing not only Moscow Mountain itself, but the culture and landscape and the essential experience of Moscow the town. The idea of using Hokusai's series of prints as a focal point of this class came to me, in part, from reading American studies scholar Cathy Davidson's 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan , a memoir that offers sixteen short essays about different facets of her life as a visiting professor in that island nation.

17 The first of five brief essays my students will prepare for the class is what I'm calling a "Moscow Mountain descriptive essay," building upon the small descriptive journal entries they've written recently. In this case, though, I am asking the students to describe the shapes and colors of the Moscow Mountain ridge, while also telling a brief story or two about their observations of the mountain, either by visiting the mountain itself to take a walk or a bike ride or by explaining how they glimpse portions of the darkly forested ridge in the distance while walking around the University of Idaho campus or doing things in town. In preparation for the Moscow Mountain essays, we read several essays or book chapters that emphasize "organizing principles" in writing, often the use of particular landscape features, such as trees or mountains, as a literary focal point. For instance, in David Gessner's "Soaring with Castro," from his 2007 book Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond , he not only refers to La Gran Piedra (a small mountain in southeastern Cuba) as a narrative focal point, but to the osprey, or fish eagle, itself and its migratory journey as an organizing principle for his literary project (203). Likewise, in his essay "I Climb a Tree and Become Dissatisfied with My Lot," Chicago author Leonard Dubkin writes about his decision, as a newly fired journalist, to climb up a tree in Chicago's Lincoln Park to observe and listen to the birds that gather in the green branches in the evening, despite the fact that most adults would consider this a strange and inappropriate activity. We also looked at several of Hokusai's woodblock prints and analyzed these together in class, trying to determine how the mountain served as an organizing principle for each print or whether there were other key features of the prints—clouds, ocean waves, hats and pieces of paper floating in the wind, humans bent over in labor—that dominate the images, with Fuji looking on in the distance.

18 I asked my students to think of Hokusai's representations of Mt. Fuji as aesthetic models, or metaphors, for what they might try to do in their brief (2-3 pages) literary essays about Moscow Mountain. What I soon discovered was that many of my students, even students who have spent their entire lives in Moscow, either were not aware of Moscow Mountain at all or had never actually set foot on the mountain. So we spent half an hour during one class session, walking to a vantage point on the university campus, where I could point out where the mountain is and we could discuss how one might begin to write about such a landscape feature in a literary essay. Although I had thought of the essay describing the mountain as a way of encouraging the students to think about a familiar landscape as an orienting device, I quickly learned that this will be a rather challenging exercise for many of the students, as it will force them to think about an object or a place that is easily visible during their ordinary lives, but that they typically ignore. Paying attention to the mountain, the ridge, will compel them to reorient themselves in this city and think about a background landscape feature that they've been taking for granted until now. I think of this as an act of disorientation or being lost—a process of rethinking their own presence in this town that has a nearby mountain that most of them seldom think about. I believe Thoreau would consider this a good, healthy experience, a way of being present anew in a familiar place.

36 Views—Or, When You Invert Your Head

19 Another key aspect of Hokusai's visual project and Thoreau's literary project is the idea of changing perspective. One can view Mt. Fuji from 36 different points of views, or from thousands of different perspectives, and it is never quite the same place—every perspective is original, fresh, mind-expanding. The impulse to shift perspective in pursuit of mindfulness is also ever-present in Thoreau's work, particularly in his personal journal and in Walden . This idea is particularly evident, to me, in the chapter of Walden titled "The Ponds," where he writes:

Standing on the smooth sandy beach at the east end of the pond, in a calm September afternoon, when a slight haze makes the opposite shore line indistinct, I have seen whence came the expression, "the glassy surface of a lake." When you invert your head, it looks like a thread of finest gossamer stretched across the valley, and gleaming against the distinct pine woods, separating one stratum of the atmosphere from another. (186)

20 Elsewhere in the chapter, Thoreau describes the view of the pond from the top of nearby hills and the shapes and colors of pebbles in the water when viewed from close up. He chances physical perspective again and again throughout the chapter, but it is in the act of looking upside down, actually suggesting that one might invert one's head, that he most vividly conveys the idea of looking at the world in different ways in order to be lost and awakened, just as the traveler to a distant land might feel lost and invigorated by such exposure to an unknown place.

21 After asking students to write their first essay about Moscow Mountain, I give them four additional short essays to write, each two to four pages long. We read short examples of place-based essays, some of them explicitly related to travel, and then the students work on their own essays on similar topics. The second short essay is about food—I call this the "Moscow Meal" essay. We read the final chapter of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006), "The Perfect Meal," and Anthony Bourdain's chapter "Where Cooks Come From" in the book A Cook's Tour (2001) are two of the works we study in preparation for the food essay. The three remaining short essays including a "Moscow People" essay (exploring local characters are important facets of the place), a more philosophical essay about "the concept of Moscow," and a final "Moscow Encounter" essay that tells the story of a dramatic moment of interaction with a person, an animal, a memorable thing to eat or drink, a sunset, or something else. Along the way, we read the work of Wendell Berry, Joan Didion, Barbara Kingsolver, Kim Stafford, Paul Theroux, and other authors. Before each small essay is due, we spend a class session holding small-group workshops, allowing the students to discuss their essays-in-progress with each other and share portions of their manuscripts. The idea is that they will learn about writing even by talking with each other about their essays. In addition to writing about Moscow from various angles, they will learn about additional points of view by considering the angles of insight developed by their fellow students. All of this is the writerly equivalent of "inverting [their] heads."

Beneath the Smooth Skin of Place

22 Aside from Thoreau's writing and Hokusai's images, perhaps the most important writer to provide inspiration for this class is Indiana-based essayist Scott Russell Sanders. Shortly after introducing the students to Thoreau's key ideas in Walden and to the richness of his descriptive writing in the journal, I ask them to read his essay "Buckeye," which first appeared in Sanders's Writing from the Center (1995). "Buckeye" demonstrates the elegant braiding together of descriptive, narrative, and expository/reflective prose, and it also offers a strong argument about the importance of creating literature and art about place—what he refers to as "shared lore" (5)—as a way of articulating the meaning of a place and potentially saving places that would otherwise be exploited for resources, flooded behind dams, or otherwise neglected or damaged. The essay uses many of the essential literary devices, ranging from dialogue to narrative scenes, that I hope my students will practice in their own essays, while also offering a vivid argument in support of the kind of place-based writing the students are working on.

23 Another vital aspect of our work together in this class is the effort to capture the wonderful idiosyncrasies of this place, akin to the idiosyncrasies of any place that we examine closely enough to reveal its unique personality. Sanders's essay "Beneath the Smooth Skin of America," which we study together in Week 9 of the course, addresses this topic poignantly. The author challenges readers to learn the "durable realities" of the places where they live, the details of "watershed, biome, habitat, food-chain, climate, topography, ecosystem and the areas defined by these natural features they call bioregions" (17). "The earth," he writes, "needs fewer tourists and more inhabitants" (16). By Week 9 of the semester, the students have written about Moscow Mountain, about local food, and about local characters, and they are ready at this point to reflect on some of the more philosophical dimensions of living in a small academic village surrounded by farmland and beyond that surrounded by the Cascade mountain range to the West and the Rockies to the East. "We need a richer vocabulary of place" (18), urges Sanders. By this point in the semester, by reading various examples of place-based writing and by practicing their own powers of observation and expression, my students will, I hope, have developed a somewhat richer vocabulary to describe their own experiences in this specific place, a place they've been trying to explore with "open minds and notebooks." Sanders argues that

if we pay attention, we begin to notice patterns in the local landscape. Perceiving those patterns, acquiring names and theories and stories for them, we cease to be tourists and become inhabitants. The bioregional consciousness I am talking about means bearing your place in mind, keeping track of its condition and needs, committing yourself to its care. (18)

24 Many of my students will spend only four or five years in Moscow, long enough to earn a degree before moving back to their hometowns or journeying out into the world in pursuit of jobs or further education. Moscow will be a waystation for some of these student writers, not a permanent home. Yet I am hoping that this semester-long experiment in Thoreauvian attentiveness and place-based writing will infect these young people with both the bioregional consciousness Sanders describes and a broader fascination with place, including the cultural (yes, the human ) dimensions of this and any other place. I feel such a mindfulness will enrich the lives of my students, whether they remain here or move to any other location on the planet or many such locations in succession.

25 Toward the end of "Beneath the Smooth Skin of America," Sanders tells the story of encountering a father with two young daughters near a city park in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives. Sanders is "grazing" on wild mulberries from a neighborhood tree, and the girls are keen to join him in savoring the local fruit. But their father pulls them away, stating, "Thank you very much, but we never eat anything that grows wild. Never ever." To this Sanders responds: "If you hold by that rule, you will not get sick from eating poison berries, but neither will you be nourished from eating sweet ones. Why not learn to distinguish one from the other? Why feed belly and mind only from packages?" (19-20). By looking at Moscow Mountain—and at Moscow, Idaho, more broadly—from numerous points of view, my students, I hope, will nourish their own bellies and minds with the wild fruit and ideas of this place. I say this while chewing a tart, juicy, and, yes, slightly sweet plum that I pulled from a feral tree in my own Moscow neighborhood yesterday, an emblem of engagement, of being here.

Bibliography

BUELL, Lawrence, The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture , Harvard University Press, 1995.

DAVIDSON, Cathy, 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan , Duke University Press, 2006.

DUBKIN, Leonard, "I Climb a Tree and Become Dissatisfied with My Lot." Enchanted Streets: The Unlikely Adventures of an Urban Nature Lover , Little, Brown and Company, 1947, 34-42.

GESSNER, David, Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond , Beacon, 2007.

ISAKSON, Elizabeth, "Journals." Assignment for 36 Views of Moscow Mountain (English 208), University of Idaho, Fall 2018.

SANDERS, Scott Russell, "Buckeye" and "Beneath the Smooth Skin of America." Writing from the Center , Indiana University Press, 1995, pp. 1-8, 9-21.

SLOVIC, Scott, "Teaching with Wolves", Western American Literature 52.3 (Fall 2017): 323-31.

THOREAU, Henry David, "October 1-20, 1853", Being in the World: An Environmental Reader for Writers , edited by Scott H. Slovic and Terrell F. Dixon, Macmillan, 1993, 371-75.

THOREAU, Henry David, Walden . 1854. Princeton University Press, 1971.

Bibliographical reference

Scott Slovic , “ 36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Teaching Travel Writing and Mindfulness in the Tradition of Hokusai and Thoreau ” ,  Caliban , 59 | 2018, 41-54.

Electronic reference

Scott Slovic , “ 36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Teaching Travel Writing and Mindfulness in the Tradition of Hokusai and Thoreau ” ,  Caliban [Online], 59 | 2018, Online since 01 June 2018 , connection on 08 September 2024 . URL : http://journals.openedition.org/caliban/3688; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/caliban.3688

About the author

Scott slovic.

University of Idaho Scott Slovic is University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Idaho, USA. The author and editor of many books and articles, he edited the journal ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment from 1995 to 2020. His latest coedited book is The Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication  (2019).

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• Introduction (version en français) [Full text] Introduction [Full text | translation | en] Published in Caliban , 64 | 2020
• To Collapse or Not to Collapse? A Joint Interview [Full text] Published in Caliban , 63 | 2020
• Furrowed Brows, Questioning Earth: Minding the Loess Soil of the Palouse [Full text] Published in Caliban , 61 | 2019
• Foreword: Thinking of “Earth Island” on Earth Day 2016 [Full text] Published in Caliban , 55 | 2016

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• 69-70 | 2023 Caliban at 60
• 67-68 | 2022 Religious Dispute and Toleration in Early Modern Literature and History
• 65-66 | 2021 Peterloo 1819 and After: Perspectives from Britain and Beyond
• 64 | 2020 Animal Love. Considering Animal Attachments in Anglophone Literature and Culture
• 63 | 2020 Dynamics of Collapse in Fantasy, the Fantastic and SF
• 62 | 2019 Female Suffrage in British Art, Literature and History
• 61 | 2019 Land’s Furrows and Sorrows in Anglophone Countries
• 60 | 2018 The Life of Forgetting in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century British Literature
• 59 | 2018 Anglophone Travel and Exploration Writing: Meetings Between the Human and Nonhuman
• 58 | 2017 The Mediterranean and its Hinterlands
• 57 | 2017 The Animal Question in Alice Munro's Stories
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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Travel and Tourism Industry — The History of Moscow City

The History of Moscow City

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