What is Descriptive?

A descriptive text is a text which lists the characteristics of something. Take an example, the following is one of the text belongs to the descriptive text.

Prambanan Temple

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia, located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.

The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty. Not long after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. The main building was completed in around 1953. Much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites. A temple will only be rebuilt if at least 75% of the original stones are available, and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller shrines are now visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.

The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006. Early photos suggest that although the complex appears to be structurally intact, damage is significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the public until damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that: “it will take months to identify the precise damage”. However, some weeks later in 2006 the site re-opened for visitors. The immediate surroundings of the Hindu temples remain off-limits for safety reasons.

We get the purpose from the text above that description is used in all forms of writing to create a vivid impression of a person, place, object or event e.g. to: ·

• Describe a special place and explain why it is special.
• Describe the most important person in your live.
• Describe the animal’s habit in your report.

Descriptive writing or text is usually also used to help writer develop an aspect of their work, e.g. to create a particular mood, atmosphere or describe a place so that the reader can create vivid pictures of characters, places, objects etc. To complete our intention to, here are the characteristics based on descriptive writing or text, below;

As a feature, description is a style of writing which can be useful for other variety of purposes as:

• To engage a reader’s attention
• To create characters
• To set a mood or create an atmosphere
• To being writing to life

While in language function, descriptive writing;

• Aims to show rather than tell the reader what something/someone is like
• Relies on precisely chosen vocabulary with carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs.
• Is focused and concentrates only on the aspects that add something to the main purpose of the description.
• Sensory description-what is heard, seen, smelt, felt, tasted.Precise use of adjectives, similes, metaphors to create images/pictures in the mind e.g. their noses were met with the acrid smell of rotting flesh.
• Strong  development of the experience that “put the reader there” focuses on key details, powerful verbs and precise nouns.

Beyond the characteristics stated on, descriptive writing also consists of generic structure in range as:

1. General statement
2. Explanation
3. Closing

The description text has dominant language features as follows:

1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using action verbs
3. Using passive voice
4. Using noun phrase
5. Using adverbial phrase
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using conjunction of time and cause-effect.