Week 1: Descriptive Analysis Essay (Due Week 2)
Description and narration are among some of the most important writing skills. You use description and narrative techniques on a daily basis for school, your personal life, and your career. In an introduction to business class, you might write a business plan in which you describe your product or service. Over the phone with a customer service representative, you might need to describe the problem you are having so that it can be solved. At work, you may need to submit a monthly or weekly report in which you describe your accomplishments and challenges. As you can see, description and narration are vital elements of everyday communication.
In the Descriptive Analysis Essay you will practice describing events with a clear purpose. The topic for this essay is inspired by the sample essay “Case Narrative” in Chapter 5. Be sure to read Chapter 5, Describing and Narrating: Memories, and consult the Week 1 Lesson, especially the Assignment Connection, to help you complete this essay successfully.
For this essay, describe a project or complication that you have experienced in the workplace and what was learned from it.
- What was the event or complication?
- Who was involved and what emotions did they experience?
- What specific problems or conflicts were faced?
- What was the outcome?
- What did you learn from the experience? (thesis)
The overall structure of your descriptive essay should look something like this.
- Introduction and thesis
- Background details (time and place)
- Description and Significance (What happened and why does it matter?)
- Resolution (What actions were taken?)
- Conclusion
For this assignment, you will not use any external resources. However, you will need to format the essay in APA style. The seventh edition of the APA Style Manual has some important changes, so please use the APA essay template provided in the Files section.
Additional requirements include the following.
- Two to three double-spaced pages (500-750 words), not including the title page
- Typed and submitted in Microsoft Word format
- 12-point font, 1-in. margins, Times or Times New Roman style
- An APA title page
The grading rubric is shown below.
Descriptive Analysis Essay Assignment Rubric
| Category | Points | Criteria |
| Introduction and Thesis | 20 | Introduction clearly states the context and event and provides a thoughtful rationale for that choice. It includes a well-crafted thesis. |
| Organization | 20 | The essay is organized following the assignment instructions and includes an introduction, background, descriptive narration, resolution, analysis, and conclusion. The essay is logically divided into paragraphs based on these sections. |
| Development | 50 | The essay demonstrates attention to detail through rich description, analytical skills through explaining what the details mean, and connecting the context of the event to the thesis and main idea. |
| Style and Mechanics | 10 | The voice of the writer is clear, distinct, and appropriate. The writer’s message is clearly communicated with appropriate spelling and use of grammar and punctuation. Errors do not significantly interfere with meaning. |
| Total | 100 | The assignment meets or exceeds the above criteria. |
