descriptive text:

Text Structure:
▪ Identification Þ identifies thing, person, place, phenomenon to be described.
▪ Description Þ gives the information of particular thing, person, or place being discussed or describes parts, qualities, or characteristics.
Grammatical Features:
▪ Who? What?
▪ Using Linking verb and Simple Present Tense
▪ Epithet: adjective or adjective phrase
▪ Attributive (the)
▪ Use of attributive and identifying process
▪ Focus on specific participants
▪ Frequent use of epithets and classifier in nominal groups


Example of Descriptive Text:

Identification

My Pets
We have three family pets: a dog, a cat, and a tortoise.

Descriptions
The dog’s name is Benjamin. He is big golden Labrador. He is beautiful. He has big brown eyes and a long tail. He is very friendly dog, but he is sometimes a little stupid. Dogs are expensive to keep but they are fun to play with.
Our cat is named Martha. She is quite young, but she is not a kitten. She is very pretty. She has black and white fur and green eyes. She’s smart, too and very clean.
The tortoise’s name is Rocky. He has short, fat legs, a long neck, and a very hard shell. He is also very old and slow. He’s ugly and dirty, but I like him.

The purpose of description is to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader may picture that which is being described. Descriptive writing may be found in the other rhetorical modes