Descriptive essay

The Timepiece

Out from his palms it rose, its presence edifying its status as if angelic hosts were beckoning it. The silver gleaming surface caught my eye from afar. When I slightly looked at it from the other side of the living room, it was as if my peripheral vision instantly glued to its intricate blinging and unusual design, and metallic nature. After strolling across the room, galloping over my sofa in sovereign excitement, it was bestowed unto me. In a split second, it was then fastened on my wrist where I could see every part of it. I was yet to discover its purpose.

As I pulled it up towards my face, the scent of metal smacked me vigorously. A shiver went down my back. The watch had a old smell. The old pungent metallic smell satisfied me, as I closed my eyes, and breathed the timepiece in. I then hugged my wrist to my chest.

The watch was smooth as silk and cool to the touch. It felt like my hands were colliding with a tiny iceberg in the sea. The heat of my chest made a barrier to the frigid surface of my new bestowal. The coolness of the watch only made me want to study it further, and so I first closed my eyes.

As I focused on the watch, I noticed that the tick tock echoing from the watch seemed to have made the presence of the watch speak even louder. The tick tock hushed the other noises in its path, and I opened all my other senses. I was more aware of seconds of my day sweeping away with the presence of my timepiece. I caved into the melody of the watch’s tick tock and it’s beating. With each ticking movement of the ticking hand, I was forced to become physically one with the watch on my wrist. I could taste the beat of the watch in my throat, I could almost reach out and touch the beat, as the beat was audibly harsh in my ears. Each tick tock moved with the boom boom of my heart beat. It’s cry got louder as I listened to it more, awaiting what more it had to bring.

When my eyes flicked opened I ran a scan of the watch from bottom to top. The silver straps on both side of it beared resemblance to the shape of alligator scales. The circular scale-like straps were binded with unbreakable strength.

As I zoomed closer to the watch, I could see that the scale-like straps on either sides of the watch were binded in the center to an unusual clock face. This clock face lacked a circular shape. It was rather a rectangle curved inwards. In the middle of the rectangular center was a relatively smaller rectangular clock dial shielded with thick crystal clear glass.

I watched as the numbers that depicted the seconds going by counted up to 60 seconds and started again. The number slot reserved for the minute hand then changed, and the number slot reserved for the hour hand changed as well when its time arrived. I saw how much access I had to the knowledge that a concept of hours, minutes, and seconds existed. I was motivated to get up on my feet and get all my goals in life accomplished. In my observation of my watch, I was reminded by the tick tick, rush of time yet slow movement of the ticking hand of the time I had, and the time I didn’t have as a human being.

As I pulled it closer to my eyes, I felt a sense of relief. I became more aware of the value of time. I started to count how many times the watch tick tocked. I began to lurch in the fact that even something as small as a millisecond counted. I started to realize how many seconds were ticking away, and how seconds were comparable to dust blowing away from a person’s hands. One moment it was there, and then another moment it was gone. Seconds which would never be won back, and which never stop for anyone.

Self Reflection

Writing the descriptive essay describing a watch my father gave me which opened my eyes about time was complicated. Finding a way to generate my ideas, and fully describe the watch was not easy. I made a writing choice to describe the watch from the time I saw it to the time I put it on my wrist. It was in other words the center of my attention. I wanted it to be at the center of my attention so I could describe it in every perspective possible. I personified the watch so I could describe its effect on my five senses in order to describe it to my full ability. I also wanted to teach my audience how important time was by describing the watch itself, and I did that by focusing on particularly the importance of passing seconds.

While trying to make my point about time, I did my best to incorporate the rhetorical situations effectively to my full honest potential. For the exigence part, I was motivated by the rectangular and unusual design of the watch, and how I could visibly see the seconds counting down. The unique design of watch made me want to observe the watch even more, and so I did, and this led to showing my audience why this watch mattered to me. I hope my audience got the point I was making about the importance of time. At first I was targeting a general audience, but as I kept writing, I wanted to target people who take time for granted. I was once like them. There was a time where it was easier to procrastinate rather than pick up my pen and pencil. When I started an assignment, I didn’t do it to my full advantage because I felt like I had all the time in the world. I wanted to show people that tomorrow isn’t promised to any one, and time can never stop, and can never be lengthened. Although my personal essay wasn’t a speech but a descriptive essay, I didn’t only want to describe to my readers a design of a watch. I wanted to wanted my words to influence my readers and reverberate with them. Because I wanted to effectively get my point across about the importance of time, I used certain words to help my audience visualize the watch. I used onomatopoeia when I referred to the beat of my heart. For example when I wrote “ Each tick tock moved with the boom boom of my heart beat”  I was aiming to make the reader feel the effect of the watch on me.

I read two pieces of literature during my writing process that had two authors who had a different effect on their readers. One was called “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and the other was “Ours Was a Dad” by Judy Davis. Both of these pieces gave me ideas and the essence of what a descriptive essay could include. Both authors had different ways of providing descriptions in their stories. Judy Davis wrote an eulogy and used memorable, and concrete descriptions although she wrote straightforwardly. Her choice of diction helped her audience imagine what was going on in the story. She also used sensory details directly and indirectly. Jamaica Kincaid didn’t necessarily use descriptive words or sensory details. Her story overall was a descriptive story illuminating how mothers restrain their daughters to follow societal norms. Rather than use descriptive words she achieved this by describing the acceptable way women are supposed to behave. While writing I went down the conventional route of using sensory details to develop my descriptive essay similar to the path Judy Davis embarked. While editing my essay, and incorporating my sensory detail, I wanted to do it as if  I was explaining something to my younger sibling. I tried to cover  the who, what, where, how, and why of what I was speaking about in my essay while working towards the larger gist of my descriptive essay. I was having a hard time getting the point I wanted to get across to the audience across. Both Professor Rodwell, and one of my classmates during peer reviewing time asked me what I wanted to get across. I had to tell and show how describing the watch shows the importance of time. Professor Rodwell gave me a suggestion that I have to describe the face of the watch, and this actually helped me show the importance of time through my description of the watch. When it came to recognizing rhetorical terms and strategies which also made my writing better, I tried to cover them effectively. I made sure to target a audience who feel like they have all the time in the world. When I targeted them, I tried to motivate them to take advantage of all the seconds, because once the seconds are gone they will never be won back. Although the genre of my writing wasn’t a speech but rather a descriptive essay, I tried to make sure that my words jumped out at my readers. For the design of my essay, I designed it in such a way that the words could create vivid pictures of the color, texture, smell, and feel of my watch.

I felt like I got my point across about the importance of time to the best of my ability. There is always room for improvement in everything, and I feel like I could’ve described the watch even more. When I get back my essay, I will take Professor Rodwell’s comments and improve my writing further in my future essays.

Supporting documents and what I learned

what I learned

• As a writer I had to overcome my struggle of addressing a certain rhetorical element. I struggled with engaging my audience. I found that my word choice was a huge factor.
• After peer reviewing, I further progressed as a writer. I kept in my mind that I have to primarily let my audience know what my claim is before I move on.