Observation: Take a Look!
Most of us are tried-and-true observers. Few of us can sit in a high-traffic area and resist the urge to people-watch. To hang out in a Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and people-watch is to observe; to stare out the window during class at the construction on the building next door is to observe. Anytime we look at something in detail, we're making an observation.
Observation essays are mainly about persons, places, things, or events. You might watch a softball team at practice; you might watch your dog tear up the yard. You might hang out at Donut Bank for an hour and make note of customer and staff behavior. Whatever you choose to observe, you will need to look at it objectively and closely in order to give your readers a sense of what you see. And remember to TAKE NOTES!!
When writing an observation essay, you will generally view your subject in the here and now. That is, observation essays are not written from memories; rather, you use actual, current real-time experience. Observation essays aren't arguments or personal narratives. In an observation, what you see is what you get, literally: your objective is to relate, through meaningful detail, the sense of the person, place, or thing you have chosen as a subject.
Observation essays are mainly about persons, places, things, or events. You might watch a softball team at practice; you might watch your dog tear up the yard. You might hang out at Donut Bank for an hour and make note of customer and staff behavior. Whatever you choose to observe, you will need to look at it objectively and closely in order to give your readers a sense of what you see. And remember to TAKE NOTES!!
When writing an observation essay, you will generally view your subject in the here and now. That is, observation essays are not written from memories; rather, you use actual, current real-time experience. Observation essays aren't arguments or personal narratives. In an observation, what you see is what you get, literally: your objective is to relate, through meaningful detail, the sense of the person, place, or thing you have chosen as a subject.
Brain Games - pay attention
Observation Practice - Pictures that tell a story
Your Task: Select one of the photographs shown above and, using your powers of observation, tell its story in 2-3 paragraphs.
Plan: As your pre-writing, use listing, a word web, or some other pre-writing strategy to generate ideas for your observation.
Write: Use your pre-writing to draft 2-3 paragraphs that tell the story of the photograph. Insert your image into the document.
- Who or what is depicted?
- What is happening in the photo?
- What do you see? Be specific.
- What happened in the moments before the photograph was taken? What might happen in the moments after?
- Refer to the "Hints and Tips" section below as you plan and write your observation.
Plan: As your pre-writing, use listing, a word web, or some other pre-writing strategy to generate ideas for your observation.
Write: Use your pre-writing to draft 2-3 paragraphs that tell the story of the photograph. Insert your image into the document.
Observation Essay: Hints and Tips
Great writers are often lauded for their keen observation. What these writers are able to do, what makes their work so great, is present material on a subject that allows the reader to see things in their mind as clearly as if they were seeing it with their own eyes. In fact, a great writer will present a subject so well that a reader may be shown certain details that he or she had never noticed before.
- CHOOSING A TOPIC
Considering the observation essay requires actual observation of a subject, it is a good idea to choose a topic that you can actually see, including people, places, and things. This can include your grandmother, a rock concert, or a banana tree. The possibilities are literally endless.
- WRITE IN THE PRESENT TENSE
Virtually all observation essays are written in the present tense. That is to say, the writer will be providing description of what he or she is seeing at the moment. In other words, observation essays are not written from memory (past tense) or from conjecture of an object's potential qualities (future tense.)
- DETAILS, DETAILS
The strength of an observation essay depends upon the level of detail the writer provides. Details allow the reader to see in his or her mind what you are writing about. For example, if an artist did not provide details in a painting, or a sculpture, you wouldn't know what he was trying to portray. Your aim is to convey your impressions to your audience by describing who, where, or what you're observing.
- USE YOUR SENSES
Sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; these are your primary weapons when creating an observation essay. Writing using the five senses to interpret detail is a common practice among writers of all types. However, this technique is absolutely crucial to the writer of an observation essay. While all five of the senses might not be used in the observation essay (it probably wouldn't be a good idea to describe how your grandmother tastes), use as many as possible to create a vivid image in the reader's mind. Using details allows your reader to, in effect, observe along with you--they see what you see, hear what you hear, etc. If you're observing a typical day at a local bakery, for instance, you might describe what the rows of cookies look like or how the baking bread smells.
- USE COMPARATIVE TECHNIQUES
There is a natural tendency for people to use comparison in order to better understand something. One thing is related to another in order to quantify its characteristics. For the writer, the techniques of similes and metaphors allow for these comparisons. When you use metaphor and simile, you're evoking relationships between things. These comparisons connect one thing to another, making the reader think in more concrete terms about what it is you're describing. Saying "The man's nose was red" conveys color. But saying "The man's nose glowed redly, like a pulsating neon 'DINER' sign at 3 in the morning" conveys a much more specific image. Additionally, if you're writing a paper about a man who keeps late hours or who hangs out in diners, you've made a further connection--you've reinforced your topic through description.
- CHOOSE RELEVANT DETAILS
In the search for details to strengthen the overall level of description, writers of observation essays often fall into the "over-description" trap. They will describe every detail imaginable in hopes of painting a clear picture in the reader's mind. Unfortunately, adding in details that has no relevance to your subject only serves to clutter up the essay. Make sure that every detail you choose to include is relevant to your topic.
- SEARCH FOR PRECISE LANGUAGE
As you've seen, the goal of an observation essay is to be as descriptive as possible. In order to accomplish this, writers should choose the most precise words when constructing sentences. For example, describing something as "small" can lead to a wide range of images, but calling something "microscopic" is much more precise. Calling a tree you're writing about "big" won't tell us as much as words like "hulking," "gargantuan," or "towering.
Observation: Writing Task
Once you have finished your observation you need to consider what you witnessed and develop a thesis statement. What were you able to conclude from your observation? Is it that life around a simple fishing pond is far more complicated than it seems at first glance, or that the fishing pond is a restful place to visit? Is it that human behavior at McDonald's has predictable patterns? Whatever your conclusion, build toward it with the use of demonstrated details so that you can convince the reader of your point over the course of your paper.
Develop your observation into a 2-3 page essay (500-750 words)
Develop your observation into a 2-3 page essay (500-750 words)
Getting Started After Your Observation
You have been assigned a paper in which you observe and then discuss a group of people or a situation in a significant way. Since you have a doctor's appointment, you jot down notes about the other people waiting. After reviewing your notes, you realize that strangers in a crowded place deal with the situation differently: some people interact with others, while some people tune out others. You decide the paper will explain how these two groups respond in different ways to a crowded place.
In beginning your essay two hooks (or attention-getting techniques) that might be useful here are
observer of the two groups.
The hook sets up a contrast between the two groups you’ve identified, so a comparison/contrast strategy is a good way to
introduce your paper. The thesis gives your opinion about the subject so that the reader knows what the focus of the paper will
be. The thesis is your "promise" to the reader. In the example below, the reader anticipates that she will learn about two different
responses people have to crowded environments.
(hook→) Did you ever notice how, in a crowded situation, some people strike up a conversation with anyone, but others seem to curl up inside themselves? (development→) While waiting at the doctor’s office last Thursday, I noticed that most people seemed locked inside themselves, but a few tried to strike up conversations with anyone who would listen. The two groups, the silent and the chatty, have different methods of passing time. The silent ones tuck their heads inside magazines, study the walls or their hands, or even pretend to sleep. The chatty ones stare across the room until they catch someone’s eye, ask questions of the receptionist, or make comments to no one in particular. (thesis statement→) People deal with strangers in crowded situations in two basic ways: by withdrawing or by connecting.
In beginning your essay two hooks (or attention-getting techniques) that might be useful here are
- an intriguing statement or rhetorical question: Why is it that in a crowded situation some people strike up a conversation with anyone, but others seem to curl up inside themselves?
- an intriguing description or vivid image: She hadn’t stopped talking for the past 45 minutes as I tried to read my book, and my wait for the doctor was becoming unbearable.
observer of the two groups.
The hook sets up a contrast between the two groups you’ve identified, so a comparison/contrast strategy is a good way to
introduce your paper. The thesis gives your opinion about the subject so that the reader knows what the focus of the paper will
be. The thesis is your "promise" to the reader. In the example below, the reader anticipates that she will learn about two different
responses people have to crowded environments.
(hook→) Did you ever notice how, in a crowded situation, some people strike up a conversation with anyone, but others seem to curl up inside themselves? (development→) While waiting at the doctor’s office last Thursday, I noticed that most people seemed locked inside themselves, but a few tried to strike up conversations with anyone who would listen. The two groups, the silent and the chatty, have different methods of passing time. The silent ones tuck their heads inside magazines, study the walls or their hands, or even pretend to sleep. The chatty ones stare across the room until they catch someone’s eye, ask questions of the receptionist, or make comments to no one in particular. (thesis statement→) People deal with strangers in crowded situations in two basic ways: by withdrawing or by connecting.
Example
The farm being observed is shrouded in fog. There is a lot of refuse doting the front yard. I see convenience store cups, dormant, avoiding decay. There is a blue tractor out front with a flat tire. On occasion someone exits through a side door and enters a garage. All over are various cats of different ages and colors.
The house that anchors this piece of farm land is a single story house of recent years. It seems out of place to me. It is not covered with the mud and dirt that has been painted on other structures here. At the same time it is not a new home and the exterior paint will remain the same until it is scrap lumber someday. A wooden ramp has been built coming out of the side door. A measurement error must have been made as it hovers above the ground, waiting for the weight of a walker to complete the task. It has become a place to set down various items that never made it all the way out of the house. Bags of empty beverage cans, a dog food bag, and a cat climbing stand, all laying claim to this hovering board.
Raising its head over the house like a curious child is a hint of metal building. A large aluminum structure is safely resting behind the farm house. This aging giant has been here longer than the house it would seem. The rising dull metal walls of it are scatter with strange dents and buckles. Every blemish has a secret story of wayward ladders and farm equipment saying hello by leaving its mark.....
(Courtesy of studymode.com)
What to take from this example: This author uses precise and vivid language to paint her picture of the scene. Small details evoke a clear feeling of the farm she is observing. Her description is exceptional, but we cannot see her interpretation.
What might she use as the question or statement to tie all her details together? What could the hook be? Perhaps she would say, "All old places tell a story," or "Farms feel differently from other places." She could even say, "Old buildings should be torn down." It could be any idea that is supported by details from the observation.
The house that anchors this piece of farm land is a single story house of recent years. It seems out of place to me. It is not covered with the mud and dirt that has been painted on other structures here. At the same time it is not a new home and the exterior paint will remain the same until it is scrap lumber someday. A wooden ramp has been built coming out of the side door. A measurement error must have been made as it hovers above the ground, waiting for the weight of a walker to complete the task. It has become a place to set down various items that never made it all the way out of the house. Bags of empty beverage cans, a dog food bag, and a cat climbing stand, all laying claim to this hovering board.
Raising its head over the house like a curious child is a hint of metal building. A large aluminum structure is safely resting behind the farm house. This aging giant has been here longer than the house it would seem. The rising dull metal walls of it are scatter with strange dents and buckles. Every blemish has a secret story of wayward ladders and farm equipment saying hello by leaving its mark.....
(Courtesy of studymode.com)
What to take from this example: This author uses precise and vivid language to paint her picture of the scene. Small details evoke a clear feeling of the farm she is observing. Her description is exceptional, but we cannot see her interpretation.
What might she use as the question or statement to tie all her details together? What could the hook be? Perhaps she would say, "All old places tell a story," or "Farms feel differently from other places." She could even say, "Old buildings should be torn down." It could be any idea that is supported by details from the observation.