Using Descriptive Language In Coursework Writing – 5 Guidelines To Follow

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Have you ever read an academic essay and the writing just seemed boring and bland? If so, it’s likely that you were reading an essay with weak descriptive language. Descriptive language is one of the most important elements in any type of writing, but particularly in academic essays.

When used properly, descriptive language can make your reader feel like they’re right there in the moment with you, experiencing everything as it happens. However, if not used correctly or overused (which happens more often than not), it can do more harm than good by making your reader lose interest in what happened next. So how can you write effective descriptions in coursework without sounding like a Fresher or novice student struggling to write his coursework? You will find your answer in this article.

5 Most Important Descriptive Language Guidelines To Follow:

1. Be Careful With Your Words

Use Vivid Language

Vivid means to paint a picture with words, to give the reader the experience of being there and experiencing what you are writing about. It’s not enough to write that your character is “wearing a blue shirt,” for example, instead try using more descriptive language such as “the hem of her skirt grazed his legs as she turned away from him, exposing her bare back in its entirety.”

Use Concrete Language

The word concrete refers to something that has substance or can be touched: it is the opposite of intangible or abstract (meaning it isn’t something that can be touched). Using concrete words gives your reader something real and solid on which they can hold when reading – this will help keep their attention focused on what you are describing rather than drifting off into thought about other things going on around them or wondering why they have started reading so much lately!

2. Create A Vivid Experience

Descriptive language is used to create a vivid experience for the reader. In order to do this, you must fully describe the setting, characters, plot and action. You should also describe the emotions and physical sensations of each character as well as any sounds that may be present. Imagine being able to see everything you’re describing in your mind’s eye—to have such a clear image that you can almost hear it happening around you. That’s what descriptive language does!

Describe Setting

This can include details like where your story takes place (a house on a dirt road), what time of day it is (dusk), or even whether there are people around at all (no one). You need not include every detail about every room but if something important happens then try giving more detail about this area, so it stands out when reading through your piece later on. In addition to describing physical features like walls or floors/ceilings; consider including how things look like furniture pieces plus any decorations or other items inside these places too!

3. Create A Picture In The Mind

You can create a picture in the reader’s mind by using sensory details, vivid verbs, concrete nouns and personal experience. Sensory details are all about how you see, hear, feel or taste things. You can use these to make your writing come alive for the reader:

“I felt my heart beating fast as I listened to the siren of an ambulance outside.” (hear)
“I could smell the scent of her perfume as she passed me by.” (smell)
“The sun was shining brightly on that morning.” (see)

Vivid verbs help paint a picture with words: think action verbs instead of duller ones like “walked” or “stayed”. Using concrete nouns gives extra meaning to sentences – instead of saying someone crossed their legs when they sat down on a chair, say they sat down on a wooden chair with high arms. Using personal experiences makes your work more relatable; try sharing something from your own life that relates to what you’re writing about!

4. Use Metaphors And Similes

Metaphors and similes are examples of figurative language. They are used in writing to help explain something that is difficult to understand. Metaphors use words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ which compare two different things in order to make a point. Similes, on the other hand, do not require the word ‘like’. This makes them more direct than metaphors because they use this simple comparison without any additional explanation.

For example: The moon was like a ball of silver in the sky above me tonight when I went for my walk through the park. This sentence uses both metaphor and simile because it compares something (the moon) with another thing (a ball of silver) but does not use ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Some more examples of metaphors include “His sword slashed through his opponent like lightning” or “She hit him so hard he flew into next week”, whereas examples of similes include “His sword slashed through his opponent like lightning” and “She hit him so hard he flew into next week.”

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5. Use Active Verbs

Using power words is important, but you also need to pay attention to the verb tense. Active verbs are more powerful than passive verbs because they help you focus on the action and avoid the passive voice, which often uses words like “was” or “were” and distracts from your main point or weakens your argument by making it vague.

For example: The book was written by an author who lives in New York City and has a much weaker impact than the author who wrote this book because she lives in New York City. The first sentence doesn’t clearly tell us who did what; we don’t know who wrote what until we reach the end of the sentence!

Tips To Use Descriptive Language In Coursework Writing

Describing something or someone can be one of the most effective ways to capture your reader’s attention and really bring them into your story. The following are some tips for using descriptive language effectively:

Use Sensory Words: Sensory words help you create images in your reader’s mind and make it easier for them to picture what is happening in the story. For example, instead of saying “I walked down the street,” you could say “I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the sidewalk.”
Use Adjectives To Describe Your Characters: Adjectives can help you paint a picture of a character or scene by providing details that bring it to life. For example, instead of saying “I walked down the street,” you could say “I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the sidewalk.”
Use Specific Details: Instead of saying “She was beautiful,” you could say “Her eyes were the color of emeralds and her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.” Use description in dialogue. If your story includes a conversation between characters, try to include their physical features as well as what they are wearing. For example: “Are you going to that party tonight?” asked my friend Amy walking out of math class with me. I looked at her, surprised to hear her mention a party. “Umm, I’m not sure,” I said. “I have a lot of homework.” “Come on,” she said, linking her arm through mine. “You can do your homework later.” I shook my head, laughing at the way she always managed to convince me to do things I didn’t want to do. “Okay,” I said with a sigh as we walked down the hall together.

The paragraph written above is a good example of how to include physical details in your writing. You use lots of descriptive words and phrases that paint a picture of what is happening on the page. These sentences make me think of someone trying to convince another person to do something they don’t want to do by linking their arm through theirs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, descriptive language is an important tool for creating a vivid experience for your reader. It can be used in any type of writing and has many benefits, such as making your writing more interesting and easier to read. However, it also has some drawbacks, so you should be careful when using it so that the end result is not overwhelming or overused.