CIE IGCSE English Language: Section B: Writing To Describe

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CIE IGCSE English Language Your notes
Section B: Writing to Describe

Contents
Describe: T he Basics
Word Classes
Immerse the Reader
Show Don’t Tell
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Describe: The Basics

Your notes
Be Detailed
Create an image for your reader

Writing to describe is a bit like explaining a picture or a film-clip. You need to re-create that image,
only using words, so that the person reading your description has an almost exact replica of that
image in their head afterwards. It’s a bit like telepathy! The important thing to remember is to
be detailed .
Take this picture, for example. Imagine you need to explain what this looks like to someone who can’t
see it, and they want to know exactly what it looks like. The trick is in the DETAIL. You need to be very,
very specific about your description.
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Your notes
If you’re not specific, they’re going to be missing crucial

elements and the image they have in their head will be very
different to what you intend.You want to describe the first
picture, but if you’re not careful, you’re reader will end up
with the second one.
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Things to Remember
Your notes
Let your reader see what you see

Descriptive writing isn’t literary fiction.
You’re not telling a story. That’s the ‘narrative’ part of Section B.
All you’re doing is creating a visualisation for the reader using language.
”
“Everything is complicated if no one explains it to you.”
Fredrik Backman
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Word Classes
Your notes
Core Word Classes
So how to write these detailed descriptions that you need for the exam? The best place to start is
with your core word classes, which are:
Adjectives
Nouns
Verbs
Adverbs
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Use Adjectives
Size, shape and colour can be a good start , so try and use 1-2 adjectives before the noun.For Your notes
example….
“Here’s is an apple”. That does the job – but there’s nothing distinctive about
that description. So be more detailed by adding a couple of adjectives.
Make it a “large, green apple”.That’s getting there, but it’s still a bit vague. So
let’s add more detail, this time to a hairbrush:
“A medium-sized, round, red hairbrush with several rows of

bristles.”
This detail gives the reader a much clearer image of your
object. But it sounds a little forensic – almost like a piece
of evidence at a crime scene. So we need to bring our
descriptions to life a bit more….
Try to make your objects slightly extraordinary or
unusual.So perhaps your apple is “misshapen and
battered, with a bruise on one side”.
Here are some more examples of how to use adjectives.

She was wearing red shoes = ruby-red ballet-style shoes without a heel.
He was wearing a tie = blue and pink polka-dot tie that was slightly too tight.
She took out a cookie = chocolate-chip cookie slightly larger than the palm of her hand.
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Exam Tip
Your notes
You can add these adjectives after you’ve finished, when you’re checking your work and want to
inject a bit more detail.
Specify Your Nouns

Be as specific as you can with your objects.Tell the
reader what type of apple you’re describing: is it a Granny
Smith, or a Pink Lady or an uncooked baking apple?If
you’re describing a scene with a dog in it, specify what
type of breed: perhaps a small, overweight pug.It’s these
extra details that show your examiner that you have
some imagination, but also that you also are aware
of cultural details around you.
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Upgrade Your Verbs & Adverbs

If someone is walking in your scene, think about HOW they’re walking, but also WHY they’re walking in Your notes
the first place.So are they’re strolling because it’s a casual walk, or are they creeping because they
don’t want to get caught doing something? Is someone sauntering because they have a bit of an
attitude? There are lots of different ways of walking so you should specify the exact manner
because it will give a much clearer and more nuanced image, plus it adds extra connotations to your
writing.When they’re deliberate, and you’ve added them for effect, connotations make your writing
more sophisticated because they influence the emotions going on; they can make the scene more
uplifting or eerie or sombre etc.This also makes your writing more suspenseful and dramatic, and can
add much more depth by creating an atmosphere which can enhance or foreshadow some drama
that’s about to happen:
“She meandered in the hallway a while – slightly unsteadily –
before creeping up the second flight of stairs.”Obviously the
writer could have just said “She walked around in the hallway
before she went upstairs.”But the words “meander” and
“creep” have slightly ominous connotations so immediately
our reader knows something sinister might be about to
happen. All because we’ve carefully chosen the precise
verbs to suit the scene.Finally, the other detail in that
example which gives it its ominous effect is the
adverb unsteadily, which shows how also enhancing your
adverbs helps to increase the level of detail in your writing.
Here are some examples of some adverbs you can use:

Helplessly Nervously Passionately Boldly
Absently Coolly Guiltily Knowingly
Viciously Energetically Stealthily Queasily
Rudely Sedately Solemnly Reluctantly
Righteously Shrilly Silently Respectfully
Righteously Coolly Passionately
Think about the connotations of each of these words, and how they might change the emotions of a
sentence.
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There are obviously hundreds of others you can use! But this short list should gives you an idea about
how much more exciting and realistic your writing can be.
Your notes
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Immerse the Reader

Your notes
Use of Imagery
See
Hear
Smell
Taste
Touch
& Personification
Visual
Appeal to the reader’s sense of sight so they can imagine what the scene looks like.For
instance:“After years of heavy smoking, the once-white
walls in her living room were now the colour of a torched
crem-brulee.”As long as the reader knows what crème
brulee looks like, they now have a very accurate
description of how the living room walls appear.
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Auditory
Write for the reader’s hearing senses so they can imagine what sounds are going on.“George woke to Your notes
the sound of his Labrador barking, deep and loud,
repeatedly and angrily, at the neighbour’s cat standing
on the opposite side of the window.”It helps us
imagine the sound now we know its pitch and
volume.Be aware: onomatopoeia can be effective –
perhaps a burst tyre can hiss or blood can gargle – but
don’t use it gratuitously – only if it adds extra detail
to your description.
Olfactory
Think about what scents and smells are going on. You can even cause a physical reaction with this
one! Particularly if you’re describing food because you can get the reader’s mouth to water. For
instance:“As I lifted my slice of pizza from the box,
that rich, creamy smell of four melted cheeses –
together with the sweet, sticky smell of buffalo-
chicken – sent my tastebuds gushing.”Adding
some detail about the smells in the scene helps
place the reader there and makes it much more
realistic.
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Gustatory
If the person in your description is eating, what tastes can you describe?For instance:“The roasted Your notes
hazelnut mixed with the flavour of dark chocolate. It was sweet, and bitter, with a slight aftertaste of wood
– that same taste you get when you bite the top of a pencil.”Be creative, using your own experiences to
help express your ideas.
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Tactile
What do the objects in your scene feel like? Is the blanket someone’s sat on slightly itchy and course; Your notes
is the ticket they’re holding slightly waxy; is the snowball they’re holding so cold that it feels numb to
begin with, then turns slightly wet, and suddenly it feel like hundreds of needles are going into their
skin as the cold sets in? We’ve all felt these sensations, so almost everyone can relate to these
feelings. Another example here:“I was expecting it to be wet and slimy, but as the snake moved on my
palm it was surprisingly dry and incredibly smooth – like a well-polished wooden banister.”
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Personification
You can also immerse your reader by using personification to bring some of these senses to life a bit Your notes
more.
The wheels screamed
The trees trembled
The dog danced enthusiastically
The fire swallowed the whole building
The mountains bullied and intimidated the valley underneath
You could even make your landscape an extra ‘character’ in your
description.
Here’s an example by Emily Dickenson to show how effective that
can be:
“When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath,”
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Show Don’t Tell

Your notes
Size & Weight
If you’re trying to convey just how loud, fast, large or small something is, try to compare it to
something the reader can easily imagine.For example,
A spider is as large as the base of a baked bean can.
When the cat was lying down it was roughly the length of
a cricket bat.
The baby she was holding was about the siz e and weight
of a watermelon
These comparisons really help the reader “see” and “feel”
the siz e and weight of what you’re trying to describe. Most
things – whether it’s a spider, cat or baby – can vary hugely in
siz e. So it helps the reader to have a more accurate image if
you compare it to something that doesn’t vary in shape and
size all that much.
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Unusual Similes
Try and make your similes slightly unusual, or incongruous. Your writing will be much more fun and Your notes
interesting if you use some creative juxtaposition and hyperbole.For example:“The battered old
briefcase was placed on the desk. Its scuffed
brown leather looked like the skin of an old
sunbather and, as she placed it on the clear
glass, she thought how it looked like an ancient
artefact being taken out for inspection.”The
comparison of the leather to sun-damaged
skin helps to convey the detail of the colour
and texture of the case, while the contrasts
between the old and new (the glass Vs the
briefcase, the sunbather Vs the woman etc)
help the reader to create a clear image of the
scene.Incongruous comparisons help to set
a tone, usually of intrigue. When you’re
revising, try to practice being deliberately incongruous by contrasting things in your descriptions
that woludn’t normally go together.
Oxymorons and paradoxes can also be very effective tools:
The silence was deafening.
He was an honest thief.
It was beautifully ugly.
Exam Tip
Avoid clichés or your writing will become predicatable and boring. Instead, show the examiner
you’re an independent thinker and that you can write with originality.Here are some examples of
clichés that are sure to turn your examiner off:
Frightened to death
Quiet before the storm
Old as the hills
Fit as a fiddle
Nerves of steel
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Creating a Semantic Field

Your notes
“As the train hurtled towards the station at full speed, the brakes screamed desperately – the sound of a
Prima Donna about to smash a bulb with her voice. Hot smoke billowed as the friction heated up, releasing
the smell of burning rubber. The train alarm sounds – a deafening whistle like a thousand kettles sounding
at once – before carriages knock into themselves so that the train becomes a giant mechanical caterpillar,
curling up as it makes its way forward.”
You’ll notice in this example a semantic field of panic and alarm, created by the words: scream, smash,
heated, burning. It’s an appropriate semantic field, given the context of a train crash. So when you
create a semantic field, think about what mood you want to create. How do you want the reader to
feel?happy / melancholic / nostalgic / sombre etc?Make sure you pick the right connotations from
your word class choices to create the right mood and atmosphere.
A good acronym to remember these techniques is POSH JAM
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Personification
Oxymoron/Onomatopoeia Your notes
Simile
Hyperbole
Juxtaposition
Adjectives
Metaphor
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CIE IGCSE English Language Your notes

Section B: Writing to Describe

Describe: The Basics

Create an image for your reader

If you’re not specific, they’re going to be missing crucial

Let your reader see what you see

“A medium-sized, round, red hairbrush with several rows of

Here are some more examples of how to use adjectives.

Specify Your Nouns

Upgrade Your Verbs & Adverbs

Here are some examples of some adverbs you can use:

Immerse the Reader

Show Don’t Tell

Creating a Semantic Field

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