Lesson 10 - Using Your Five Senses in Description

LESSON 10 - Using Your Five Senses in Description

When you are describing the setting or a character in your story, remember to use a few of your senses, including the sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Elementary writers usually include only the sense of sight in their description which make their writing vague and plain. Look at the example below:

Example 1:

It was a nice day. The sky was blue and there were birds in the sky. I could see trees and flowers.

The above example uses only the sense of sight. Now let's look at another example which uses a few more senses.

Example 2:

It was a hot, sunny day. The blue sky was filled with chirping birds. I could smell the freshness of the trees. The petals of the daisies felt soft and sweet against my fingers.

Could you detect the different senses in the second example?


HOMEWORK 10

Describe the following, using as many of your five senses as you can. You don't necessarily have to use them all:

1. An eerie cemetery

2. A lively birthday party

3. A gangster