1. Describe

1. Definition:

Give an accurate account of something.

2. Examples:

Describe the soldier’s outward appearance.

Describe the setting of the story and its effect on the character’s state of mind.

Describe the situation in the cartoon by referring to the text and point out its message.

Describe the social/historical/political/economic background as depicted in the text.

3. Description:

Describing can refer to elements in a text or in a picture/cartoon etc. Therefore you are supposed to write down special phenomena of a setting/person/happening etc. so that the reader gets a visual impression of what you are talking about.

4. Useful Vocabulary:

The phrases below can help you describing cartoons and pictures:

-The cartoon illustrates…

-In the photo, we can see…

-In the foreground/middle distance/background, there…

-At the top/bottom of the picture, there…

-In the middle/in the upper/lower half, we can make out…

-On the left/right, at the left/right side, we can identify…

-In the top right/left corner, in the bottom right/left corner, there…

-The speech/thought bubble in the cartoon says “…”

-The caption says that this is a photo of…

-The artist uses a label which says…

-The artist expresses…by using…

Useful verbs to describe a setting/person/happening etc.:

-illustrate, see, portray, make out, identify, show, express, realize, recognize, become aware of, get the impression (that), seem, point at, refer to, mean, contrast, present

5. Advice:

Describing means to objectively write down significant phenomena of a person/setting/happening etc. Describe everything systematically to help the reader get a structured visual impression of your words. You should always begin with general facts about what is to be described and then get more and more into detail.

by Sarah Stöppel