HOW TO FORMAT A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY in 2025
HOW TO FORMAT A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
When writing a descriptive essay, your professor will typically assign you a style guide and referencing style. In most cases, you will write your descriptive essay in MLA style. While APA or Chicago styles are often used in writing descriptive essays, MLA is the predominant style because most descriptive essays are written in English classes. This said, writing a descriptive essay typically does not require the use of outside sources. You should only use them in writing your descriptive essay if your teacher or professors tells you to. Otherwise, simply use an MLA formatting template to organize your paper prior to submission to get full marks.
Once you have formatted your descriptive essay in MLA format or as otherwise suggested by your professor, it is important to make sure that your descriptive essay is well organized. Go over the paragraphs that you have written and make sure that each paragraph you have written in your descriptive essay focuses on one element of the description, and that it ties back to your thesis. Because organization is something you are graded on when you write a descriptive essay, reviewing this element of formatting is critical for getting the best possible grade on your descriptive essay.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY AND A TRADITIONAL ESSAY?
While writing a descriptive essay involves the same techniques that you would use when you write a traditional academic essay, several critical differences exist between a traditional essay and a descriptive essay. First, when writing a descriptive essay, it is very rare that you will use sources. Second, writing a descriptive essay does not require the same type of analysis that you would make use of when presenting sources in a traditional academic essay. Third, writing a descriptive essay means that you will not be using a formal and explicit thesis of the same type that you when writing a traditional academic essay. You will instead write a descriptive essay by focusing on a key element of what you are describing as your thesis. Finally, writing a descriptive essay means that you are deviating from the traditional essay model as you might occasionally use the first person to refer to how what you are describing relates back to you.
