Lesson 6.09: Perfectly Polished Papers

Look at the image and read the sentence below to see if you can identify which seashell is being described.

Nestled into the speckled brown sand, the spiraled seashell rests between intermittent pauses of waves.

You weren't told which seashell, but you were given clues based on the details. You have a choice of five seashells.

Let's see if another sentence will provide more clues.

Coca-colored grooves and ridges sweep the body in a tornadic fashion.

This should have helped you narrow down your choices to three shells. Let's read one last sentence to see if you can choose the right shell based on the description.

The framework of the shell appears to be swiveling on its side inching its way back to the sea.

Did you find the correct shell?

Imagine you were told, "Look at the seashell on the left near the pink one." That isn't very descriptive, is it? It is telling you where to look, not showing you.

In all forms of writing, you need to be descriptive so that the reader can be shown the information instead of just told.

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