Using vocabulary choices, similes, and metaphors to plan descriptive writing | English

Starter quiz

What is an adjective?
- the person, place or thing that is doing the action
- a being, having or doing word
- a word that describes or modifies a noun ✓
What emotion does the adjective 'delightful' suggest?
- positive ✓
- negative
- neutral
What is a plan?
- when you go back and improve and edit your writing
- when you think about how you're going to do your writing ✓
- when you read someone else's writing and offer suggestions
What is a simile?
- where you give human characteristics to non-human things
- where you create a comparison using 'like' or 'as' ✓
- where you create a comparison by saying something is something else
Which of the following is a metaphor?
- Her hands were as rough as sandpaper.
- The towers were sentinels. ✓
- The moon chuckled wryly to itself.
Writing that describes something in an interesting and detailed way is called ______ writing.
- 'descriptive' ✓

What is the mood of a text?
- The general feeling that a writer creates. ✓
- The amount of linguistic devices a writer uses.
- The way a writer chooses to open and close a text.
What emotion does the adjective 'intimidating' create?
- Positive
- Negative ✓
- Neutral
What is the atmosphere of a text?
- The feeling or sense created by an environment or setting. ✓
- Where the first line mirrors the closing line of a text.
- Where the writer uses negative adjectives to create an unsettling effect.
To bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind is to ______ something.
- evoke ✓
- discourage
- suspect
- emote
Starting with the first, place the steps to create a simile in chronological order.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  Decide on mood
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Take an object form the scene and add an adjective
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  Find something to compare it to that fits with the mood
Why might similes and metaphors be effective in descriptive writing?
- They can make the abstract more familiar. ✓
- They add ambitious vocabulary to your writing.
- They add ambitious punctuation to your writing.
- They can make the abstract less familiar.

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Planning before you write will support you to demonstrate skill in key areas and ensure your piece is cohesive.
Supporting details describe the focus of each paragraph in more detail – using sensory detail (at least 3 senses).
Similes and metaphors are effective in descriptive writing because they help the reader to picture the scene.
Choose verbs or adjectives that work together to create an overall atmosphere.

That there is a set formula to follow when it comes to choosing what to focus on in an image.

When looking at an image for descriptive writing, you should think about what catches your eye and then focus on those elements.

Plan - A set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something.
Atmosphere - The feeling or sense evoked by an environment or setting.
Descriptive - Describing something in an interesting and detailed way.
Evoke - To bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind.
Mood - The general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader.