Descriptive Paragraph Instructions

Descriptive Paragraph Instructions

You are required to submit the FINAL copy of this assignment, but you may first submit an optional DRAFT. This will allow you to receive qualitative feedback that can inform your revision. You should always avoid focusing solely on the grader’s DRAFT feedback; use the feedback as a supplement to the course lessons and your own revision ideas. Always expect to revise beyond what the DRAFT grader specifically notes.

Outdoor Experience Description – Detail a real or imaginary experience walking through an outdoor event or activity, such as a zoo, open-air market, festival, etc.

You only need to develop one paragraph for this assignment, but it should include many sensory details and directional transitions. Start with a topic sentence, which will also serve as the thesis statement, that explains the exhibition you are experiencing as well as mentions how the adventure ignites your senses. In the sentences following, describe your journey. What do you see? Hear? Feel? Smell? Taste? Where are these experiences located (directional transitions)? To the right? Just above? The reader should be able to build the environment around you and take part in the sensory experience you illustrate as he or she reads along, so be as descriptive as necessary, touching upon all five senses within the body paragraph. Finally, complete your paragraph with a concluding sentence that summarizes your outing, and make sure it has a point! In other words, what did you take away from this excursion?

Sample thesis statement: As I walk toward the Brookfield Zoo entrance gate for my first zoo experience, I notice a flurry of lively activity in front of me, so on my way to the gorilla den, I can feel my excitement building, and as I get closer, the sounds and smells strengthen, making the chill of my cold beverage much more apparent; I hope I am ready for this.

Notes

·         You can use either past or present tense verbs to describe your experience in this assignment, but avoid unnecessary tense shifts.

·         In addition to directional transitions, be sure to use standard transitions between sentences where applicable so that your ideas are fluid from start to finish.

Format Requirements:

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the following information:

• Your first and last name 


• Course Title (Composition I) 


• Assignment name (Descriptive Paragraph) 


• Current Date

Page Layout:

• MLA style documentation (please see the tutorial in the course topic)


• Last name and page number in upper-right corner of each page 


• Double-spacing throughout


• Title, centered after heading


• Standard font (Times New Roman or Calibri)


• 1" margins on all sides


• Save the file as .docx  or  .doc format

Length: This assignment should be at least 15 sentences in a single paragraph.  

Underline your thesis statement.