Photo Portrait Assignment 

In this assignment, you will be writing TWO descriptive paragraphs.  Each paragraph should be a minimum of 6 complete sentences.  Please follow all the requirements of the assignment below.

 

You have received a copy of a photo picture of one of the people (or pairs of people) listed below.  Study this picture carefully, taking in the exact details of how the person/people in your picture are portrayed.

Description of Picture

Name of Person(s) in Picture

Woman with a tattoo on Spin magazine cover: 

Ani DiFranco

(She’s a rock and folk music artist.)

Two older people, a man and a woman:

Richard Briers and Geraldine McEwan

(They are vaudeville performers.)

Woman in heavy white make-up with extremely long eyelashes:

Carol

(I have no idea who she really is.)

Man in a white suit with many dark, blurry people in the background:

Eddie Izzard

(He is a pop artist who was very popular in the `80’s.)

Woman smoking a cigarette and wearing a lace shirt:

Courtney Love

(She is an actress and singer.  She used to be married to Kurt Cobain.)

ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Write a descriptive paragraph of the person(s) in your picture.  Be sure to:
    • Use their name at the start of the paragraph so your audience knows who you are talking about.
    • Use specific adjectives, similes, AND HYPERBOLES to describe the person(s) in a way that is true to how they are portrayed in the picture.
    • Try to convey a particular TONE in your descriptive language to help your audience see the person(s) as the picture portrays s/he/them.
    • After your paragraph is finished, EDIT your work and LABEL the tone of your paragraph.

 

  1. Write a second descriptive paragraph of the person(s) in your picture.  This time:
    • CHANGE the tone of your description and the portrayal of the person in your picture.
    • Use specific adjectives, similes, AND HYPERBOLES to describe the person(s) in a way that is DIFFERENT to how they are portrayed in the picture.
    • HOWEVER, be sure to pick up on details from the picture to keep in your paragraph.  For example, if the person is wearing a white suit, then you must keep that suit white.  Simply use different adjectives/descriptions to make that white suit come across differently to your audience.  (e.g.  “dazzling white suit” versus “blinding white suit;”  the first description is far more positive than the second).
    • After your paragraph is finished, EDIT your work and LABEL the tone of your paragraph.

 

Reminder:  “Nasty” is not a tone.  If you need a list of tone words, refer back to the Word Sort handout from a couple weeks ago.