I smell it—a giant wave of a savory aroma clashes with my nose and the distant murmurs of my mother from upstairs reach my ears as I enter the house. With my backpack abandoned, I quickly pass through the halls into the kitchen as if it reels me to the owner of the attractive perfume. I smell it, but even more. The smell of a childhood best friend. The smell of a mother’s love. The smell of a cultured dish. As I approach the stove, I see a pile of bare potatoes relaxed in a dry, mirror-like pot. Their golden, waxy flesh shines brightly under the range hood like bread coated in egg wash, and a fork that pierces into their flesh would seep easily like stepping into the snow. I picked up one of the bare potatoes; It felt warm to the grasp. But this wasn’t exactly the source of the inviting scent that quenched my curiosity. Glancing to the left, my cheeks stand out as I smile greatly.
The pan with a charcoal black exterior was glazed with vegetable oil. The clusters of scrambled eggs, fried to a deep golden color, rested in a small pool of vegetable oil. Different kinds of toppings, like slices of unripened tomatoes, and green and red onions appear like rainbow sprinkles on a cupcake. Mixed with a dash of maggi cubes, thyme, scotch bonnet, ground crayfish, and soy sauce, I could tell the strong smell of spices was the perfume of the scrambled eggs. With a plate of egg sauce and boiled potatoes, a spoon to the mouth brings a burst of umami flavors and a touch of nature. The soft, buttery texture of the peeled, golden potatoes, the sweet, savory egg sauce, and a surprise crunch from the caramelized onions dance around my tongue. This is it. The taste of my favorite food.
Author’s Reflection:
On the first day of Mr. Denvir’s Dual Enrollment class, I was in a blank stare when I was about to write my first descriptive essay. The idea of creativity seemed so vague to me. I had an idea or two that would cross my mind, but I was too obsessed with having a perfect lead to the prompt of my essay. Eventually, I gave in and wrote down my first sentence following a simple prompt: “My first day as a senior in high school, I feel…” What followed after was the word “nervous.”
The word “nervous” is usually understood by its direct meaning. But wouldn’t it be cooler if the readers had a mental image of the word “nervous?” To answer my question, yes! The word “nervous” is like a blank canvas to the readers. So, you have to be the artist that fills in the blanks. To do that, you have to use a splash of details. When I say details, I mean words that tell the readers what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. It’s like me describing a bunch of potatoes in a pot. I showed it in a way that used not only details but specific details. This involves providing enough details that appeal to all five senses to make your description of something clear, interesting, and more than general statements. This type of essay transfers your emotions and perspective to other readers. It’s the type that creates an opportunity to be you in a creative way. But then again, it depends on your “something.”
For me, my focus is my favorite dish. I can freely use my opinions and emotions as details to my focus, but I can’t use the same details in a research report where I question tourist restrictions in Kyoto. In essays like these, I include facts and numbers as details, allowing me to forget about adding colors to my focus. This is what’s great about descriptive essays. You don’t have to write your descriptions with just emotions or just facts, it can be a mixture of both! You have at least more than one option to keep in mind and choose from.
Not only that, you can organize your descriptive essay in different ways. One of the ways I used is piling up my descriptions to create the overall vibe that phrases like “the smell of a childhood best friend,” “the smell of a mother’s love,” and “the smell of a cultured dish” add up to. If you include mostly visual details in your focus, you probably prefer to organize it spatially. This consists of describing how your focus looks whether from left to right, top to bottom, or outside then inside. For example, It could be an outside-then-inside description of a pumpkin or a left-to-right description of a room! Or you can describe your focus in chronological order. When you use details in this way, you would describe the events or changes that happen with the focus. This way, you can follow the timeline within your descriptions.
I’m glad that I wrote my first descriptive essay in Mr. Denvir’s class, and I hope you will be too. It has opened my eyes to more ways to show my creativity and made me appreciate people’s way of sharing a deeper connection with readers through words that show their vulnerability. This way of writing can give people enough confidence to express their emotions to other people, present appealing presentations, and share a new perspective. Surprisingly, it made me think outside the box with words on NYT Connections. I get to see words more than their direct meaning. All that to say, I’ve applied more of my creativity on many occasions thanks to descriptive writing. And you can too!
