A Dominant Impression: Writing Better Description

When writing a description, the dominant impression created (through the use of the senses, metaphor and other rhetorical devices) helps determine the purpose of descriptive writing (paragraph or essay).

Try this exercise: look over your descriptive writing and find what impression you are trying to create (you may want to shock, to enlighten, to gather sympathy, to make us all warm and fuzzy . . .). Now, find all the places in your writing that helps you to achieve that impression.

What did you find? Add, focus and strengthen sentences that help to create the impression you want. The reader will find your ideas easier to follow.

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