Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Using Description- Showing, Not Telling

Description
It is the recipe for a great narrative. Your job is to make the story a mind movie for your reader. In prior blog posts, you've learned that strategies for using description in your narrative:  Detailing a Person, Place, or Thing,  Elaborating on an Event, and Using Sensory Details.
Today you'll learn another strategy called Showing, Not Telling.

Showing, Not Telling
There is a difference between showing and telling.  Think of the concept of Show and Tell.  First you showed the item, then you told about it.

  • How was showing it different than telling about it?

Showing is a special way of telling.  It means you can visualize it.  The readers may all see the same thing.  Now how can we do this with our writing?


Take these two examples:

The food looked gross.

The gray slimy slop sloshed in the bowl.
  • Which one "tells" and which one "shows"?
More examples:
(I took this from Lola's story)

I looked up and saw a panicked squirrel.

Above me a squirrel darted and forth from one tree branch to another, chattering loudly.

How is showing different from telling?

Can you turn these telling sentences into showing sentences?  Give it a try in a comment.

It was cold.
It was hot.
My mom is nice.
My friend is funny.
The sky was beautiful.
The day was dreary.
His outfit is colorful.
My bedroom is plain.
My desk is messy.
My bedroom is messy.
The pizza was good.
I like school.
Recess is fun.
I have a good friend.


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