what is descriptive language
While adjectives provide further description for nouns, adverbs add on to verbs. Adverbs take things up a notch, though. They can also modify other adverbs, as well as adjectives. Adverbs can be used to describe concepts such as time, place, circumstance, manner, or degree. Pretty impressive right?
The best way to expand our adjectival knowledge is to pick up a book and read. In the meantime, let’s prime the pump with this list of adjectives:
In social studies, descriptive writing can help students describe an important historical figure or event more clearly. Writing rich in detail will create vivid depictions of people and places and help make history come alive.
Writer’s Workshop connects great children’s literature with children’s own writing experiences. In this video clip from our Launching Young Readers PBS series, Lynn Reichle’s second graders practice their use of descriptive writing.
Use With Any Curriculum
Verbs can also be used carefully to help paint a clearer picture of what someone is doing. When we hear the word “talking,” we think of someone calmly discussing a topic with someone else. When we hear the word “yelling,” we think of the opposite of “talking.” The word “yelling” makes us think of someone raising his/her voice at someone else. The word “walking” is different than the word “running.” The language we use helps paint a picture of what is happening around us and what is happening in stories.
Similes are phrases that use the words “like” or “as” to describe a noun by comparing it to another noun with similar characteristics. Examples:
Have you ever become so engrossed in a book or story that you can almost smell what the character is smelling or feel what they are feeling? This happens when the author has made good use of descriptive language.
One of the benefits of using descriptive language is that it helps the writer to convey the meaning behind the text. By using descriptive language, the writer can describe exactly how a setting looks, how a character behaves or what action is taking place. The benefit for the reader is the ability to more clearly visualize what is being described.
Without the use of descriptive language, the world of literature would be a mighty boring place. Descriptive language needn’t be overly flowery or wordy, but it should be thoughtfully placed to give purpose and description to the image it is trying to create in the mind of the reader. Sometimes descriptive language is to add a poetic touch to the text, but more often than not it simply serves the purpose of cleverly describing a concept.