Ways to describe the place

• Topic sentence: The topic sentence introduces the place that the writer will describe.. They may also describe in more detail how the writer feels about the place... • Concluding sent

Describing

places

Authors: Pham Thi

Thanh Pham Thi

Nguyet Vien Van Thi

A descriptive paragraph describes a place

so that the reader can imagine it in his or her mind.

A descriptive paragraph which describes a place has a topic sentence, supporting

sentences, and a concluding sentence.

• Topic sentence: The topic sentence

introduces the place that the writer will

describe

• Supporting sentences: The supporting

sentences give some background

information about the place They also

give descriptive details about the place

These details describe how the place look They may also describe in more detail how the writer feels about the place.

• Concluding sentence: A concluding

sentence restates the idea in the topic

sentence using different words It may also include the writer’s general feeling or a

opinion about the place.

• In a paragraph describing places, writer also

often use spatial order to organize their ideas

Spatial order is the arrangement of items in

order by space For example, when describing your favorite room at home, you could first

describe things on the left side of the doorway and then move clockwise around to the right

side You could also start on the right and move counterclockwise around to the left If you

jumped back and forth, it would be very difficult for the reader to try to see the room in his or her mind It is helpful to use some kind of spatial

order when you write a description

Spatial order words and phrases

Just as there are words and phrases to

show time order, there are words and

phrases to show spatial organization They are often prepositional phrases of location

or position Some spatial order expressions are:

+ at the top of + between

+ in the center + behind

+ on the left + in back of

+ in front of + inside

+ next to + across from

The stairway

By Toshiki Yamazaki “When I was 2 or 3 years old, I lived in a house that

had a strange atmosphere I do not remember anything about the house except the stairway It was the dark, squeaking, and quite narrow, and its steps were a little high for me to climb up From the bottom of the

stairway, it seemed like an endless climb to the top

Beyond the darkness at the top of stairway, there was the middle-aged, elegant lady leaning against the wall I had to pass her every time I went to my room, for my room was the first room from the stairs on the second floor The lady wore a beautiful dress with a quiet

pattern and a tinge of blue, and her peaceful eyes,

stared at me ever time I went up the stairs.

Example:

As I carefully climbed up the last step, her eyes

became fixed on me I was scared, yet I was also

curious about the lady She didn’t talk, nor did she

move She just stood there and watched me climbed

up the stairs One day I touched her, but she did not react Her face did not change expression, nor did

she even blink She just kept staring at me with her glittering eyes Later, we moved out of the house, and

I never saw her again Now I know that the lady was

a mannequin My aunt, whom I lived with, used it for her dressmaking class I did not know my mother

May be I imagined that the mannequin standing at

• The model paragraph “the stairway” uses spatial

organization In describing the stairway, the writer shows that as a little boy, his first view was from the bottom

looking up at the mannequin Then he climbed up the

stairway until he reached the top Thus, spatial

organization is from bottom to top

• In the first sentence, the writer say that the atmosphere

of the house is strange The writer describe that the

stairway is the dark, squeaking and quite narrow, and its step are a little high for her to climb up Then he

describes the woman: “Beyond the darkness … … … I went up the stairs.”

The end

Thanks for listening !