Week 10: Descriptive Writing & Realistic Short Story Drafting

1.     Read the following imagery-rich passage, paying attention to details that make you see, hear, smell, taste, and/or feel that which is being described:

“The hot July sun beat relentlessly down, casting an orange glare over the farm buildings, the fields, the pond. Even the usually cool green willows bordering the pond hung wilted and dry. The low buzzing of mosquitoes hung about us.  Our sun-baked backs ached for relief. We quickly pulled off our sweaty clothes and plunged into the pond, but the tepid water only stifled us, and we soon climbed onto the brown, dusty bank. Our parched throats longed for something cool—a tart strawberry ice, a tall frosted glass of sweetly sour lemonade.

“We pulled our clothes out of the crackling underbrush, the sharp briars pulling at our heavy, wet clothes.  We wriggled into our damp jeans and ambled toward the watermelon patch. As we began to cut open the nearest melon, we could smell the pungent skin mingling with the dusty odor of the dry earth. Suddenly, the melon gave way with a crack, revealing the deep, pink sweetness inside.”

2.     Then, list ten examples of phrases from the passage that show imagery & classify them by the sense that they appeal to (sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch).
3.  Descriptive writing is often facilitated by strong word choices.  For each of the following words, find at least five more precise synonyms.  For the last two words*, please find *ten more precise synonyms:

• scared
• happy
• sad
• big
• small
• strong
• tired
• angry
• want
• fight
• many
• said*
• went*

4.     Choose your top THREE story ideas from last week.  For each of those three story ideas, write a descriptive paragraph that focuses in on a character or a setting within that story idea, using imagery and descriptive word choices.