The Sunday News
Charles Dube
COMPOSITIONS at face value are divided into various types, like descriptive, narrative, argumentative, and short stories. These are distinct in their labels and appear far apart. But the reality of the matter is that all these are related.
They share similar characteristics and you cannot separate one from the other.
When writing a descriptive composition, narration cannot be avoided and vice versa. This is also true of the rest. For excellent work it is imperative for students to understand these diverse topics. For example, what is involved in descriptive composition? According to some scholars, descriptive writing portrays people, places, things, moments and theories with vivid detail to help the reader create a mental picture of what is being written about.
The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, places or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader’s mind. It does not tell the reader that the boy is aggressive but it shows them the boy is aggressive. It is important for the writer to make the readers feel they are a part of his/her experience of the topic under discussion. Good descriptive writing includes vivid details and appeals to all of the reader’s senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when appropriate.
Note the phrase “when appropriate” shows that these senses should not just be brought into the composition even where they are unnecessary. They should come in naturally rather than be forced to add interest to the essay. Like other compositions descriptive writing often uses figurative language such as similes and metaphors to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Figures of speech help emphasise or magnify the issues described forming pictures in the reader’s mind.
Good descriptive writing is organised. One writer of repute says when describing a person, you might begin with a physical description, followed by how that person thinks, feels and acts. Such examples help students avoid flat compositions littered with skeletal ideas lacking supportive points. It is monotonous to find descriptions like the following: He is smart. He is cunning. Students need to show that the character in question is smart or cunning.
We have to go back to narrative compositions due to public demand. Many students choose to write narrative compositions in the belief that this type is straight forward and can just relate or retell ideas without much thinking hence essays produced in this vein are characterised by mediocrity. Most of the times the compositions are skeletal, lacking in flesh. True to the general belief, a writing that is narrative gives an account of events or experiences.
What are the marks or characteristics of narrative writing? A narrative has a theme. In simple terms the theme is the subject of talk of a story. The story has a plot, a set of connected events on which a story is based. At times I refer to the plot as the structure of the story. It is highly recommended that there should be clashes between characters in the story. Problems come about as a result of differences between characters. Clashes do not necessarily mean violence. There could be clashes between good and evil and conflicts within individuals.
Suspense is another key element in story writing. It captures the interest of the reader and makes eager to know what happens next. Note that it must be interesting without being forced. Do not force matters, if humour cannot come natural into the story, do not force it. There should be action in the story. The characters should act and play an active role rather than appear like puppets. Flat statements should be avoided.
The story should have its highest point, the climax. This is a point of crisis. As stated earlier the climax should be reached through a natural course of events without being forced. It must come from the clashes, problems and activities that take place. Obviously, there must be a conclusion. What should be included in the conclusion? As stated in the previous article there are quite a number of ways of ending compositions.
The obvious ending is offering a solution to a problem presented in the story. Does your character decide to change from his evil ways he has been known for? Is he a criminal who is caught by the police or he escapes? Has your character learnt a life changing lesson from what he used to do such that he promises never again to repeat the same feat? At times it is acceptable to repeat the point established in the introduction. Readers are reminded of the point of argument in the conclusion so that at the end they feel they have learnt something from the essay.
Before I end this week’s article may I give a reminder of determiners. The most common determiners are the, called the definite article and a and an are the indefinite article. The, is known as a definite article because it names specifically a noun. It refers to a person or thing that is known about, that has just been mentioned or to that details will be given about. The indefinite article (a or an) tells that you probably do not know what the noun refers to. A precedes nouns that start with consonants. For example: He bought a watch.
An comes before nouns beginning with vowels. Eg. An egg. An owl hooted at noon. But there is an exception to this rule as an comes before nouns beginning with a silent h, like we talk of: He took an to write his test. She is an honest woman she will not cheat you.
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