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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Descriptive Writing
Lesson 6
Student objectives:
I. Grammar
What are interjections? 
Parts of Speech: A review 
II. Figurative Language 
What are alliteration and assonance?
III. Writing
Are there words I should avoid using in my writing?
 Dead words
What is descriptive poetry?
How do I write descriptive poetry?
Grammar
What are interjections?
Interjections
Interjections are words used to express emotion. Many times, interjections express a complete
idea and are not part of another sentence. Because interjections express emotions, they are
sometimes followed by an exclamation mark.
Examples:
Hurray! We get to buy ice cream.
Sorry! I didn’t mean to bump you.
No, you should not have done that.
Wow! I won the contest.
Oh! Now I get it.
When the girl stepped on the thumbtack, she shrieked, “Ouch!”
Parts of Speech: A Review
Noun: A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. 

Adjective: An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell us
more information about the noun. 

Verb: A verb expresses what something does or is. Verbs are used to show action, to
help other verbs, and to show a state or condition.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Adverb: An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs give the reader more information about when, how often, where, the degree
to which, or the manner in which something happens. 

Conjunction: A conjunction connects two or more words, word groups, or clauses.
The following are some common conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. 

Preposition: A preposition is a word or group of words that shows how a noun or
pronoun relates to another part of the sentence. Prepositions usually show relationship
in regards to location or time. The following are some common prepositions: during,
after, around, under, between, before, past, until, and over. (Other examples are listed
in Lesson 3.) 

Interjection: An interjection is added to a sentence to expresses emotion. It is not
grammatically related to any other words in the sentence. Because an interjection
expresses emotion, an exclamation mark often follows the interjection. The following
are some common interjections: Hey! Gee whiz! Ah. Oh! My goodness. Ouch! 
Parts of Speech: A Review Activity
Read each of the following sentences. Each of the underlined words is a particular part of
speech. Identify each words as a noun, adjective, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction,
preposition, or interjection.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Petunias bloom brightly in the spring.
Running and biking are two of my favorite activities.
Oh my goodness! I can’t believe you just said that.
It took an amazing amount of courage for him to speak in front of the crowd.
When the whales glided toward the open ocean, the marine biologists sighed with
relief.
6. She walked through the door to an imaginary world.
7. Though she adored vanilla ice cream, she only indulged seldomly.
Figurative Language
What are Alliteration and Assonance?
Alliteration is a figure of speech where consonant sounds repeat in two or more neighboring
words. The repetitive sound is usually at the beginning of each word. Tongue twisters effectively
use alliteration to maintain an amusing and entertaining tone, while alliteration in poetry can
subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) catch and hold the readers’ attention.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Example:
Example:
Example:
The ridiculously red rhinoceros ran rapidly toward the raging river.
Quinella Quist quite quickly quelled the quarreling quartet.
The bubbling brook sounded like music as it meandered in the meadow.
Assonance is a figure of speech where vowel sounds within a word match the same sounds in
words nearby, while the consonant sounds do not match. For example, stream and dream are
rhyming words with assonance, and tune and food show assonance. Assonance helps with the
flow of a story or poem. It gives a piece of writing a subtle fluidity.
Example:
Example:
The fleeting feet of the sleeping geese sounded quietly in the night.
Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things.
So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems.
~Carl Sandburg, Early Moon
In Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can
Stay,” he uses both alliteration and assonance to
create a poem with wonderful fluidity. Try
reading it aloud and appreciating the rhythmic
nature of the alliterative and assonant sounds.
NOTE: Frost also uses a rhyming pattern to
further beautify the poem as it is read aloud.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour. Then
leaf subsides to leaf. So
Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
~Robert Frost Now You Try It
1.
Identify the alliteration in the following phrase by underlining the repeating consonant
sound.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
2.
Identify the assonance in the following phrase by underlining the repeating vowel sound.
I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless. (Thin Lizzy, “With Love”)
3.
Create an alliteration using your name. Example: Jumping Ms. Julie
_______________________
_______________________
4.
Find or create a phrase that contains assonance.
_______________________________________________________________________
Writing
Are there words I should avoid using in my writing?
Dead Words
There are many words in the English language that are useful in conversation but make writing
boring, wordy, and vague. These dead words were helpful in getting you started learning to
write. Now, you can use more specific, interesting language!
Read the following two paragraphs and observe how the writer revised the dead words in his
paragraph. (Note: Pronouns can be overused and become boring as well. Notice how the writer
used more specific nouns to replace the nouns and pronouns.)
Example:
The mountains in the distance were pretty and nice. Seeing them made me feel great. They
were really cool to look at. Being in nature gave me a good feeling that I will never forget.
Revised example:
The Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance were captivating and majestic. Observing
them gave me a sense of awe. The Sierras were marvelous to view, and being in nature left
me ecstatic. The mountains etched a photograph in my mind that I will never forget.
We now must lay our dead words to rest and move on to more specific, interesting, and colorful
words. I have created a list of dead words and alternative synonyms to help you. This is not a
complete list of possible dead words. I encourage you to begin your own list of dead words to
spice up your writing and keep your reader interested.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Dead Words
Alternative Synonyms
sad
happy
stuff
fun
cool
scared
get
see
do
make
feel
great
good
funny
melancholy, heartbreaking, depressing, miserable, cheerless
content, jovial, ecstatic, delighted, pleased, cheerful, on cloud nine
items, objects, name the specific nouns you are referring to
amusing, enjoyable, entertaining, pleasurable
wonderful, marvelous, fascinating, excellent, distinctive
frightened, petrified, nervous, anxious, worried, afraid
receive, obtain, acquire, buy, discover, succeed in
observe, notice, witness, catch a glimpse of, spot, distinguish
perform, fix, carry out, execute, act, achieve, accomplish
create, build, craft, compose, assemble, produce
sense, experience, suffer, believe, deem, consider, touch, handle
wonderful, impressive, grand, celebrated, splendid, majestic
superior, excellent, first-rate, exceptional, fine, lovely, delightful
humorous, comic, hilarious, amusing, witty, laughable, jovial, unusual,
unique, distinctive, odd, strange, peculiar
extremely, exceedingly, fantastically, unusually, incredibly, intensely,
truly, fully, especially, shockingly, bitterly, severely, surely, mightily
pleasant, charming, fascinating, captivating, delightful, pleasing
very, really
nice
Begin your own list of dead or boring words to avoid in your own writing. Be ready to share a
dead word or two with some alternative synonyms in class!
Dead Words
Alternative Synonyms
While revising the first draft of your poem this week, be sure to replace dead words with more
specific and lively words.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
What is descriptive poetry?
Descriptive poetry is a short piece of imaginative writing, laid out in lines, that is meant to be
read aloud. Unlike sentences and paragraphs, poetry does not need to follow grammatical rules
or contain specific parts of a paragraph. A poem can be a song, or it can be a picture in words.
Many poems rhyme, but free verse poems do not.
All strong poems have one thing in common: they are made up of imaginative, colorful, and
specific words, as well as various types of figurative language, to create an image, emotion, or
other sensation in the mind of the reader. For example, read the poem below by Jack Prelutsky
from his book, The New Kid on the Block. You will notice he works with a single focused topic,
but he doesn’t reveal it until the end.
Enjoy the poem, and think about which of Mr. Prelutsky’s ideas you would like to use in your
own poem. Using the questions below, be ready to discuss this poem in our class.
Louder Than a Clap of Thunder
What do you enjoy about the poem?
Louder than a clap of thunder,
louder than an eagle screams,
louder than a dragon blunders,
or a dozen football teams,
louder than a four alarmer,
or a rushing waterfall,
louder than a knight in armor
jumping from a ten-foot wall.
Louder than an earthquake rumbles,
louder than a tidal wave,
louder than an ogre grumbles as
he stumbles through his cave,
louder than stampeding cattle,
louder than a cannon roars,
louder than a giant’s rattle,
that’s how loud my father SNORES!
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
How do you think Mr. Prelutsky chose his topic?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
What words does Mr. Prelutsky use that you
especially like?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
~Jack Prelutsky
Did Mr. Prelutsky use any “dead words” in his
poem? If yes, what were they? _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What types of figurative language did Mr. Prelutsky use in his poem?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
What punctuation or grammatical structures did he use (such as capitalization, phrases, complete
sentences, punctuation)?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Was he consistent with this structure? _______________________________________________
In the following example, Christina Rossetti begins with a single focused topic: a caterpillar’s
life. Enjoy the poem, and think about which of Ms. Rossetti’s ideas you would like to use in your
own poem. Using the questions below, be ready to discuss this poem in our class.
Caterpillar
What did you enjoy about the poem?
______________________________________
______________________________________
How do you think she chose her topic?
___________________________________
___________________________________
Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry?
Take your walk
To the shady leaf or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you,
Spin and die,
To live again as a butterfly.
What words did Ms. Rossetti use that you
especially liked? _____________________
~Christina Rossetti
______________________________________________________________________________
Did Ms. Rossetti use any “dead words” in her poem? If yes, what were they, and why do you
think she used them? ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What types of figurative language did Ms. Rossetti use in her poem? ______________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What punctuation or grammatical structures did she use (capitalization, phrases, complete
sentences, punctuation)? _________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Was she consistent with this structure? ______________________________________________
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
How do I write descriptive poetry?
The Writing Process works the same for poetry as it does for paragraph writing. The first step is
the prewriting or brainstorming stage. Getting started is often easier if you warm up first. Choose
one or more of the prewriting activities below to help warm up your brain.
Step 1: Prewriting
 Word Play: This activity will help you get your rhyming gears working. Choose a
word, any word; then, come up with a list of other words that rhyme. Begin with one
syllable words and move on to two and more syllable words. 

 Object Observations: Choose an object: a pet, a potato, an MP3 player, a brick
wall, anything. Then write down everything you notice about that object. You may
even want to observe that object at different times of the day and write down your
observations each time. 

 Synonym Silliness: Think of an adjective such as sad, happy, joyous, or angry. Then
write down as many words as you can find that have a similar meaning. This may
help you as you write your poem. 
Step 2: Choose your topic.
 Choose something you find interesting: a pet, a stuffed animal, your favorite place,
playing your favorite sport, your sister or brother, your grandmother, a toy, an
activity, and so on.
Step 3: First Draft
 Take a long look at the subject or action that you have chosen, and ask yourself the
following questions as you begin to write. 
o What makes your subject special? 
o Do you want your poem to rhyme?
o Do you want your poem to be amusing or serious?
o What are the little details that make your subject unique? Example: My dog has
long ears that look like old socks. 
o How can you compare the details of your subjects to other things in the world?
o What does your subject do? Does it have an end goal? 
o How can you show your subject to your reader rather than tell? Example: Rather
than saying the sunset is colorful, you could say, “The sunset reminded me of
watercolor paints swirling around each other.”
o How can you use metaphors, similes, or hyperbole in the poem?
Whatever you choose to write about, be sure that you describe something, even if it is silly. 
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Step 4: Take a break. Once you have finished your first draft, take a break. Take a walk outside,
play a game with a family member, or read a book. Find some way to occupy yourself before
returning to your poem.
Step 5: Revise
 Read your poem. How could you change it to make it more effective? 
 Ask yourself: 
o How do the words sound together? 
o Do the words create a picture in your mind’s eye? 
o Have other people read your poem. What do they feel? How do they imagine what
you are describing? 
o Do you need to add more details? 
o How can you rewrite the poem at least once? (Jack Prelutsky once rewrote a poem
100 times!) 

Stick with your poem until your heart tells you it is finished. If you get stuck, take another
break or sleep on it. Sometimes, getting away from the poem will inspire you to make it even
stronger at a later time. Just remember to come back to it, though.  
Step 6: Edit
 Check your poem for spelling errors. 
 Are you consistent in using grammatical rules? 
Step 7: Publish
 Add a picture or drawing, if you like. (Not required.) 
 Send it to your teacher as an attachment. 

Feel free to check out http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry to publish your poem online.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
To the right is an example of a free verse poem by Janet
S. Wong from her book, The Rainbow Hand: Poems
about Mothers and Children. Enjoy! And remember,
poems do not need to rhyme to be engaging.
In Mother’s Shadow
I walk behind
Mother through the
woods careful
not to touch the poison oak
she points to with her stick.
She sees snakes before
they move.
She finds her way by
the smell of the trees.
The very moment
my shoes grow
heavy,
she gives me water,
gives me shade
in her steady
shadow.
~Janet S. Wong Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6 Assignments:
When typing your assignments, please make sure to use MLA format. When naming your
documents, please be sure to include the class name (DW), your name, and the assignment
number.
Example: DW-Your name-6A
Also, when you e-mail your assignments to me as an attachment, be sure the subject line of your
email includes the name of your assignment. If you attach several assignments, your subject line
should look like the sample below:
Example: DW-Your name-6A, 6B, 6C (and so on)
6A. Vocabulary: For this week’s vocabulary, please choose two new words from a book you are
reading. Make sure to choose words that you do not know. You will need to look up the
definition and synonyms for each of your words. You will also use the word in your own
sentence. Do not copy the sentence from the book. Using Word or Open Office, you should
create two word entries using the following format:
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
Word:
Definition:
Synonyms:
Part of Speech:
Sentence:
Remember to use MLA format!
6B. Figures of Speech Journal: In a book you are reading or in another text, find two examples
of alliteration or assonance. Then on one side of an index card or a piece of paper, copy down the
example of alliteration or assonance and beneath it draw a picture to represent it. Please feel free
to be silly and have fun with it. On the other side of the card or paper, identify the figure of
speech as alliteration or assonance and explain why your example shows alliteration or
assonance. I highly encourage you to hand write and hand draw these cards.
When you have finished your cards, type out each of them (minus the picture) into Word or
Open Office. These must be written in complete sentences.
Example:
How much wood would a
woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck
could chuck wood?
A picture of a small animal cutting
wood.
This is an example of alliteration.
The “ch” and “ck” sounds repeat at
the beginning, middle, and end
of the words.
6C. Descriptive Writing Assignment: In this assignment, you will write a descriptive poem.
There is not a minimum number of lines that you need to write; however, you need to create a
complete image and/or feeling in the mind of your reader. Also be sure that you use consistent
grammatical patterns. (Example: Begin each new line with a capital letter, or you may choose to
only capitalize the letter at the beginning of each sentence. The important point is that you
remain consistent.)
Please spend time revising your poem with all of the tools we have practiced in this lesson and
this class.
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Descriptive Writing – Lesson 6
You will need to include an example of alliteration or assonance in addition to using MLA
format. I would also love to see examples of other forms of figurative language that we have
used in this class. Enjoy this poetry assignment, and please send me a message if you have any
questions.
Step 1: Prewriting.
(Choose a prewriting activity to warm up your descriptive juices.)
Step 2: Choose your topic:________________________________________________________
Step 3: Write your first draft using ideas you brainstormed in your prewriting activity.
(Please remember to include at least one example of alliteration or assonance.)
Step 4: Take a break, and do something else for a short time.
Step 5: Revise your poem. Try rewriting it at least once.
(Please remember to check that you have included at least one example of alliteration or
assonance.)
Step 6: Edit your poem. Be sure that you have corrected all errors in spelling and that your
grammatical patterns are consistent.
Step 7: Publish your poem and share it.
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