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Junior Cycle English: Descriptive writing

How often Descriptive writing comes up on the English papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 2 of the last 8 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2024.

OL Asked on 2 of the last 8 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024.

Descriptive writing, Higher Level(7 marks)

Quick ones on Descriptive writing.

(a)'The kitchen smelt of burnt toast and her mother's perfume.' This sentence appeals mainly to which sense?
  1. Touch
  2. Smell
  3. Hearing
(b)Which of these sentences is the best example of descriptive writing?
  1. 'The road was very, very cold.'
  2. 'It was a really, really nice day out.'
  3. 'Frost silvered the empty road.'
(c)In descriptive writing, what is the main focus?
  1. Building a vivid scene and mood
  2. Arguing one side of a debate
  3. Telling a story with a twist ending
Show the answers

(a) Smell

(b) 'Frost silvered the empty road.'

(c) Building a vivid scene and mood

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Descriptive writing.

Higher Level

Asked on 2 of the last 8 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2024.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Not asked
2025Not asked
2024Q6
2023Not asked
2022Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Q6
2017Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 2 of the last 8 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Not asked
2025Not asked
2024Q9, Q10
2023Not asked
2022Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Q10
2017Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Descriptive writing questions

Descriptive writing, 2 marks

Descriptive writing mainly aims to...

  1. Argue for one side of a debate
  2. Give step-by-step instructions
  3. Paint a vivid picture in words
Show the answer

Paint a vivid picture in words

Descriptive writing helps the reader see, hear, smell, touch and taste a place, person or moment. Little may happen; the detail matters.

Descriptive writing, 3 marks

Which is the most descriptive sentence?

  1. The sea was very nice and quite big too.
  2. Waves hurled white spray against the black rocks.
  3. We went to the beach on a Sunday in June.
Show the answer

Waves hurled white spray against the black rocks.

Strong verbs like hurled, plus precise colours and details, help the reader picture the scene. Words like nice and big are vague.

Descriptive writing, 3 marks

Which verb best replaces 'walked' for a tired old man?

  1. Shuffled
  2. Sprinted
  3. Skipped
Show the answer

Shuffled

Shuffled suggests slow, dragging steps, which fits a tired old man. Precise verbs do the describing for you.

Other English topics

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