Sensory Detail Examples
Published on May 09, 2022
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Sensory Detail Examples
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Sensory details appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell , touch, taste. When writing a personal narrative, your objective is to get the reader to feel like they are there with you. Adding sensory details will help you achieve this goal.
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Sight or Visual Writing
- Dark green of rolling pastures
- the streets glistened like shiny ornaments after the rain
- the slivered moon sat in the sky like an old fingernail clipping
- the flashing blue lights from the police cruiser lit up our dark house
Authors use a variety of techniques to bring images from their brain to the page so the audience can see exactly what they write.
1. The use of colors: "Dark green"
2. Visual words: "Glistened" and "Shiny".
3. Using a simile to give a visual example: "Like an old fingernail clipping"
1. The use of colors: "Dark green"
2. Visual words: "Glistened" and "Shiny".
3. Using a simile to give a visual example: "Like an old fingernail clipping"
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Sound
- The walls shook and vibrated like the tail of a rattle snake
- Ice crackled and pinged against the family room window like a baseball striking a bat
- Wind swirled around our beach house whistling loudly to a terrible tune
- The television buzzed as it shut off, and the furnace sighed one last time before the house fell silent.
- The cracking of wood splitting punctuated each burst of fire like an exclamation point.
- The sounds of emergency sirens awakened the still roads wailing like a newborn baby
Authors use sound to set the mood and tone for a writing piece.
1. a well used simile: "shook and vibrated like the tail of a rattle snake"
2. Authors chose the best onomatopoeias to represent the exact noice they want the reader to hear: "cracked and pinged"
3. Describe the volume of the noice: "whistling loudly to a terrible tune"
4. Personification: "the furnace sighed one last time"
1. a well used simile: "shook and vibrated like the tail of a rattle snake"
2. Authors chose the best onomatopoeias to represent the exact noice they want the reader to hear: "cracked and pinged"
3. Describe the volume of the noice: "whistling loudly to a terrible tune"
4. Personification: "the furnace sighed one last time"
Photo by Jason Rosewell
Smell
- the baking cake filled the kitchen with aroma of vanilla
- cinnamon-scented candle reminded of the Big Red gum my father chewed
- the beach air smelled of seaweed and salt
- the warm summer air smelled of freshly cut grass
The sense of smell is powerful and allows the audience to make a connection to the text.
Authors use the smell of familiar foods: "vanilla" and "cinnamon-scented"
Smells take the readers to places and draw on memories: "seaweed and salt" and "freshly cut grass"
Authors use the smell of familiar foods: "vanilla" and "cinnamon-scented"
Smells take the readers to places and draw on memories: "seaweed and salt" and "freshly cut grass"
Photo by Elly Johnson
Touch
- The heavy quilt felt like an x-ray vest draped across our legs
- The prickly feathers of the boa stuck my neck
- The puppy’s nose was dry like sandpaper
- The sand was hot and grainy like my morning grits.
An author can use a simile to help the reader develop a connection to what the character is feeling.
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Taste
- Sweet, juicy strawberries
- Sour lemonade
- salty chips
- juicy tartness of orange
- rancid butter
Whenever food is involved selecting the exact adjective helps the reader experience what the characters are are eating.
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