Writing in the Frame: Descriptive Writing

The snow fell again from the iron-gray sky in rough sheets, relentless and harsh.  Accompanying it like a wild cello was the wind, up and down the scale.   For a lifetime the storm raged and howled as if there were wolves at the door.   But the morning played a different tune.  With a rosy dawn came the forgiving sun, and a quiet landscape frosted in white.  On the middle branches of the one lone pine, a bright cardinal sat and sang its morning, after- storm song.    

So, dear tutors, you get the idea.   Descriptive writing should be descriptive, focused on showing vs. telling, the use of sensory details, and the use of devices including simile and metaphor, personification and hyperbole (can you find a sample of each above?).     Students sometimes get lost in a descriptive assignment and write a great narrative but forget that they are supposed to be incorporating a heavy dose of description.   This week and next we can expect lots of students working on their descriptive assignments.   To help them out, focus on what the assignment is asking for.    Maybe make some lists of descriptors based on senses and emotions, or divide a sheet into physical and emotional qualities, if applicable.  You could help a student come up with a metaphor or two.    It might not be as easy as pie, but with some guidelines, we can help students stay on a vivid track.  (“Picture yourself on a boat on the river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies…”).