Guidelines for Writing Good Descriptions

Guidelines for Writing Good Descriptions
Organization
* OVERVIEW. Begin with a brief overview that reveals the object's
(a) overall framework, arrangement, or shape, and
(b) purpose or function.
* PARTS. Divide the object into parts and describe each part
(a) in enough detail to use, make, or draw it, and
(b) in a way that reveals its role, its relation to other parts.
* ORDER. Organize the part descriptions to help your reader:
(a) spatial order (top to bottom, outside to inside), or
(b) priority order (most to least important), or
(c) chronological order (order of [dis]assembly).
Content
* SPECIFICS.
o Include relevant specific features (such as size, shape, color, material, technical names).
o Omit irrelevant background, confusing details, and needless words.
* COMPARISON. Compare features or parts with other things already familiar.
* CONTRAST. Contrast properties with different ones to reveal their significance.
Signals for Your Reader
* FORMAT. Clarify your text with:
o Heads. Identify topics with clear, nested section headings.
o Lists. Itemize related features with indenting and marks.
o Figures. Integrate figures and text with labels and references.
* VERBAL CUES. Guide your reader's expectations with:
o Parallelism. Use parallel words and phrases for parallel ideas.
o Proleptics. Use verbal links (also, but, however, etc.) to signal how your description fits together.

Reasons for writing good descriptions
1. Make things
2. Install things
3. Discover things
4. Understand things

Imagine the entire contents of their classroom jumbled into a pile
of debris by an earthquake or tornado.
Suppose that recovering from the rubble that one specifically
marked strip now in your hand was crucial .
Describe your strip in words so that searchers could reliably find it
(and distinguish it from all other debris) amid the jumbled classroom contents?

Description Case 1: Paper Clip
Description
A "Gem-style" paper clip is a
length of stiff steel wire bent
into three flat, nested loops
(Fig. 1) to hold sheets of paper
together when they are inserted
between the loops.
The wire is a 1-mm-diameter
steel cylinder that is 10 cm
long. It is bendable in the
fingers but stiff.
FEATURE:
WHY:
FEATURE:
WHY:
The first loop (a) is a smooth,
U-shaped turn to the right
that starts 2 cm from the
outermost end of the wire.
The second loop (b) is a
U-shaped turn to the left
that starts 3 cm farther
along the wire and has a
diameter just small enough
to fit snugly within the
first loop.
FEATURE:
WHY:
FEATURE:
WHY:

Description Case 1: Paper Clip
Description
A "Gem-style" paper clip is a
length of stiff steel wire bent
into three flat, nested loops
(Fig. 1) to hold sheets of paper
together when they are inserted
between the loops.
The wire is a 1-mm-diameter
steel cylinder that is 10 cm
long. It is bendable in the
fingers but stiff.
The first loop (a) is a smooth,
U-shaped turn to the right
that starts 2 cm from the
outermost end of the wire.
Analysis
FEATURE: Overview
WHY: (1) show framework
(2) show purpose
FEATURE: contrast (implicit)
WHY: reveal design decisions
(1) vs. ribbon or braided wire
(2) vs. V-shaped turn

The third loop (c) is another
U-shaped turn to the right
that starts 2 cm beyond (b)
and has a diameter just small
enough to fit snugly within
the second loop (as well as
the first).
The wire in each inner loop
touches and runs parallel to
the outer loop that wraps
around it. All three loops
lie in the same plane, and
pushing them out of that
plane just enough to slide
several sheets of paper
between them makes the paper
clip act like a spring and
squeeze the sheets together.
FEATURE:
WHY:
FEATURE:
WHY:

The third loop (c) is another
U-shaped turn to the right
that starts 2 cm beyond (b)
and has a diameter just small
enough to fit snugly within
the second loop (as well as
the first).
The wire in each inner loop
touches and runs parallel to
the outer loop that wraps
around it. All three loops
lie in the same plane, and
pushing them out of that
plane just enough to slide
several sheets of paper
between them makes the paper
clip act like a spring and
squeeze the sheets together.
FEATURE: specifics
WHY: show relations among parts
FEATURE: comparison
WHY: reveal role of parts

Assignment
Describe 4 important attributes of a post it note.
Annotate at least 3 features you're utilizing and
why.
Include 2 illustrations in ink