Eng 131: Short assignment 1.1: Description and Reflective Memo

W-462-C, those are the words imprinted on the door outside my dorm room where I

currently reside in for my freshman year of college. The door is made of very sturdy wood causing it to be heavy. At waist level of the door there is a keyhole in the doorknob and as I slide my key in I notice the several scratches on it caused by the countless of times when I accidentally miss the keyhole.

As I slowly open the door, one first notices the barren cement walls that have been painted white. The carpeted floor has a grey checked design that fills the floor around the entire room. To the right there is a full length mirror carefully stucked to the wall with 3M tape. With that being the main reason why every time I look at it, the uncertainty of it falling to the floor overcomes over me. Below lies a shoe rack containing shoes made for every casual to formal occasion, from orange rubber slippers to the shiniest gold glittered ballet flats that blind you with one look.

I turn to my left and I see a spectrum of rainbow colored clothes hanging from uniform black hangers bursting out of the closet. They are arranged so neatly that suffice to say any mum would be proud. Below them are two white and black laundry baskets for the easy sorting of light and dark colored clothes.

As I approach the bed across the room, the smell of freshly laundered clothes hits me. I easily identify the source as the two white crisp shirts hanging by the side of the bed. Looking down I notice the mattress covered fully in a theme of white consisting of a pillow, bolster and a comforter. On top of the bed sits a closed laptop with bright blue case and numerous stickers

plastered all over, an anomaly to the white theme. Next to the bed lies a bedside drawer that stands at thigh high level with a clock illuminating 10:33 in neon green rested on top of it.

Turning around, I find myself facing the study table which has been fully covered with papers and piles of books. However there is one empty corner where a fish tank sits. Inside the fish tank there is a beautiful blue Betta proudly showing off its majestic turquoise body under the glowing light of the study lamp. It was as though my presence was noted and it was trying to impress me.

In this essay, I wrote it in first person to enable the reader to actively engage with my description of the dorm room. By using words such as “I” it provides personal and emotional connection between the author and the reader. By provoking the reader’s thoughts, the reader would be able to experience and grasp a better understanding the portrayal of the dorm room through their imagination. It also allows the audience to see the dorm room from only my perspective thus emphasizing my view point.

I started off by describing the door of my dorm room by using the words “heavy”, “large” and “sturdy wood”. These words give a firm and heavy type of connotation portraying to the reader a very overpowering image and presence of the door thus emphasizing the size and structure of it. I then turn the attention to the mirror on the wall. By saying that I have an “uncertainty of it falling” portrays a very fragile and unsteady image of the mirror allowing the reader to empathize and understand the fear emoted. I then go on to describe the ballet flats by using alliteration in the words “gold glittered”. It provides emphasis on how shiny the shoes are and the alliteration aids imprinting the image of the shoes on the readers mind memory as it creates a melodic effect, keeping the reader more energized and interested.

I then continue and use olfactory imagery in “smell of fresh laundered clothes” providing the reader with a sense of what the dorm room smells like evoking a more meaningful all rounded visual experience for the reader. By describing the sense of smell it allows me to add more depth and understanding to this descriptive essay. The bed is then portrayed in a “theme of white” and “On top of the bed sits a closed laptop with bright blue case .... an anomaly to the white theme” Not only do these sentences act as description of the bed it can also be used as a metaphor to describe the entire room. The “theme of white” gives a very pure, holy and clean image as though the room is spotless however the laptop acts as an anomaly contradicting the clean image given by the white theme. It adds to the fact that even though the room is clean. it is still somewhat messy. Next, I

describe the clock with very specific detail like “illuminating 10:33 in neon green” By using such specific numbers and descriptive details, it really portrays a more powerful visual image of the room and the reader can use his or her imagination better as though he or she was really there.

In conclusion, I used many literary devices and techniques in the essay such as metaphors, alliteration and different types of imagery. With all this it allows the reader to visualize the dorm room better and to be more emotionally involved. By allowing the reader to “participate” in the literary work, it stimulates the reader’s mind and imagination and gets him or her more involved in the essay overall.