Two Descriptions Paper
You must visit the place of your choice (see #1 below) and then, based on your
observations only, you must write two descriptions of the same place. Each
description must convey a different dominant impression. One description must
make the reader want to visit this place, and one description must make the
reader want to avoid this place.
To get full credit for this assignment, you must do three things.
1. Go to a place of your choice and observe this place for 15-20 minutes, making
notes of what you observe. Be sure to use all five senses. Please note: you may
not use your home or your yard for this assignment. Some good places are the
zoo, a park, a movie theater, a café, a shopping mall. Do not rely on memories of
a place you have been to before; this will not fulfill the assignment properly.
2. Write two descriptive paragraphs of this place, each conveying a different
dominant impression and each consisting of 125-175 words. Describe only what
you observed during your 15-20 minute period.
3. Write an analysis of at least 150 words. In your analysis, do the following:
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Explain how you created the differing impressions. What choices did
you have to make about which details to include and which to leave
out? What about “word choice”? Cite specific examples of each
strategy you used.
Identify the most important thing you have learned as a writer from this
exercise.
Note: This is NOT the formulaic “5-paragraph essay” many of you learned in high
school. This is just three separate paragraphs in one paper. In other words, treat
this assignment as three separate paragraph-writing exercises.