Descriptive Writing 102 (Guidelines to Writing Good Descriptive Essays)

Continued from last week.

2.    Select a vantage point (point of view) from which to relate events or details. We have three points of views:

a)     First person: In the subjective case, the singular form of the first person is “I,” and the plural form is “we.” “I” and “we” are called subjective case because they are both used as the subject of a sentence. “I” refers to yourself, while “we” refers to yourself and/with others.

For example: I just joined the Lagos Book Club and we are reading, “The Wonders of Africa.”

Other singular first person pronouns include the objective case (this means it is used as the object of a sentence) “me,” and the possessive case (they are used to show possession or ownership), “my” and “mine.”

Plural first person pronouns are “us” (objective case) and “our” and “ours” (possessive case).

I am certain a table will make it easier to understand.

First Person	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Case
Singular	I	Me	My
Plural	We	Us	Mine

b)  Second Person: This point of view is more appropriate in formal writing. Use the second person point of view for presentations, emails, business and technical writing.

This point of view addresses the reader. It makes use of pronouns like, “you,” “your,” and “yours.”

Second Person	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Case
Singular and Plural	You	you	your/yours

c)   Third Person: This is the most common point of view used in fiction and academic writing. The pronouns used here are “he,” “she,” and “it.”

For example: It was the best time of my life. “It” is in the singular third-person subjective case.

In addition to having singular and plural cases, the third person also has gender and neuter (a gender that refers to inanimate objects) categories.

Third Person	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Case
Singular	He (masculine)	Him (masculine)	his/his
	She (feminine)	Her (feminine)	Her/hers
	It (neuter)	It (neuter)	Its/its (neuter)
Plural	They	them	Their/theirs

3.   As you write, include vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeal to all of the reader's senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when appropriate. 

4.   Consider including figures of speech, such as analogies, similes and metaphors to help evoke feelings and paint a picture in the reader's mind.

5.   Use precise language. Specific adjectives and nouns and strong action verbs give life to the picture you are painting in the reader's mind. Do not use general adjectives, nouns, and, of course, passive verbs.

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