Working on academic papers is a must, no matter how intensely students hate this task. Descriptive writing could be interesting, but for reaching success here, it is essential to find good descriptive essay topics. A lot of things depend on creativity and imagination, but your personal interest is even more important. We’re going to help you find a topic that will suit your tastes, but first, let’s figure out what is a descriptive essay? These assignments are a piece of writing focused on re-creating a specific experience, place, person, or event: a writer’s goal is to present it in a detailed and clear way. So, each student must pick a subject and describe it, building a vivid picture of it in the minds of their audience.
Descriptive writing prompts are important because they help you sharpen your memory, analyze your thoughts and reactions, and train your writing as well as expand your vocabulary. They are also exciting, but of course, this factor relies on which topic you select. There are some tips and suggestions that could guide you in this process, so if you need assistance, we are here to help you.
Strategies for Choosing Great Descriptive Essay Ideas
Many students underestimate the importance of topics. They are happy to grab the first one they see, and then they face hours or even days of boring research and inefficient drafts, ending up with a mediocre paper a professor cannot evaluate highly. This is a big mistake, so if you’d like to avoid such unfortunate results, keep tips below in mind.
- Go for personal focus. Never choose descriptive essay prompts that you don’t care about. They should be personally interesting for you — this is the only way to make sure that your paper is pleasing to everyone related to it. Writers can do a good job only if they enjoy what they’re doing (unless they are already experienced enough, but it’s a rarity among students). So, look into your memory. Think about something you’d like to describe: it could be a trip somewhere, a favorite place, or even a beloved person.
- Consider the volume. It is vital to base a topic on the word count you’ll have to cover and the amount of details available to you. Let’s look at these examples: you decided to write about an instance where you met your favorite actor. The problem is, you saw him briefly and nothing truly of note happened, so you could come up with several descriptive paragraph topics, but it won’t be enough for a 5-page essay. You’d have to choose another theme in this case. Equally, if you have a large idea that could make for 10 pages while the task requires you to write only 1, this isn’t the best decision. So never forget about word count and adjust volume of your ideas accordingly.
- Adjust topic based on vocabulary. If you study at college, you likely have an average vocabulary fitting the academic sphere. In case you study at university, your word supply is more complex, so you could afford to look at more creative descriptive topics. High school students have less diverse vocabulary, so evaluate your skills objectively. This factor affects the choice you will make, so if you plan to describe a fight you witnessed, you should assess whether you know enough words and expressions for it.
- Look for supporting sources. They are not always necessary, but they’ll definitely be a plus. If you choose a more scientific kind of work, you should support your opinions and impressions with other people’s words. Look for such sources, but be sure they are credible. Focus on articles and books, not on blogs and general sites.
75 Topics for Descriptive Essay on Different Levels
Another option for choosing an inspiring topic entails looking through relevant lists. We composed one specifically for the sake of students who are looking for inspiration yet can’t settle on any exciting ideas. You won’t experience any troubles with using it: either pick an option directly from it or use some of them as a foundation for developing your own. We concentrated on five major categories, each having 15 descriptive topics in it.
Descriptive Essay Topics About Famous People
There are lots of ideas for descriptive essay in this category. With how many famous people have changed our world, you could pick any of them to craft your essay.
- Donald Trump: Describe His Rise to Power and His Eventual Downfall
- Explain What Diaries Belonging to Marilyn Monroe Revealed About Her Past
- Why Is Mother Theresa Known All Over the World? Describe Her Life and Personality
- Describe the Real Circumstances Surrounding Discoveries That Christopher Columbus Made
- Describe the Productive Life of Walt Disney & His Legacy
- Explain Why Leonardo Da Vinci Is Considered Unique: Focus on His Discoveries and Inventions
- Explore Rise of Any Popular Soviet Leader to Absolute Power
- Who Is Greta Thunberg? Talk About Her Personality as Expressed By Her Ideas
There are also fictional famous people: they could make for good descriptive essay titles.
- Harry Potter: Describe His Heroic Attributes and How They Relate to His Personality
- Explain the Mystery Posed by the Figure of Merlin: What Do We Know About Him?
- Describe All Heroics Attributed to King Arthur
- Describe Changes in Attitude toward Vampires That Jacob Black Experienced
- Talk About the Love Story between Jack and Rose from Titanic
- Voldemort: What Events in the Life of Tom Riddle Created a Monster
- Describe What Makes Katniss from Hunger Games an Inspiring Power Leader
Descriptive Topics About Celebrities
We are surrounded by celebrities. If you’d like to explore one of them, check this descriptive essay topics list.
- Mads Mikkelsen as the Most Atypical Star in the Global Movie Industry
- Describe Problems that Johnny Depp Has Been Experiencing Recently
- Tragedy and Comedy of Jim Carrey’s Life: Describe This Mix
- Describe the Changing Array of Roles Performed by Emma Watson
- Daniel Radcliffe and His Attempts to Move On From Harry Potter
- Explore and Explain Leonardo DiCaprio’s Struggles to Receive Oscar
- Dive Into Descriptions of Reasons for Charles Chaplin’s Popularity
- How Morgan Freeman Changed Entertainment Industry
- Acting in Violent Movies: Describe What Roles Sylvester Stallone Played
- Elaborate on How George Clooney Started Being Considered an Icon of Attractiveness
- Describe Career of Steven Spielberg Along with His Success and Failures
- Sad Stories: Describe What Choices Kate Winslet Makes in Her Movies
- Being a Pirate: Talk About Adventures Orlando Bloom Had When Playing Will Turner
- Creativity and Elegance of Keira Knightley: Describe Life Journey of This Actress
- Describe Singing Career of Hugh Jackman and How It Mixed with His Actor Choices