Crafting an Essay: Describing a Family Member

Assignment: Outline for Describing a Family Member

Exploring 5 Exemplary Outlines: Describing a Family Member

1. Outline for Describing a Family Member (Standard)

a. Introduction: 

Introduce the family member to be described (could be a grandparent, parent, sibling)

b. Body of the Essay: 

* Describing Physical Appearance
- Body posture, walking style, physique
- Depicting hair, skin complexion
- Detailing facial features, gaze, smile
- Dressing style: neat, clean, simple...

* Portraying Personality Traits
- Showing care and love for family members
- Cheerful, sociable, considerate
- Always striving and proactive

* Describing Daily Activities
- Examples: mom goes to the market, cooks, goes to work...
- Examples: elder sister helps with household chores, goes to school, takes care of siblings...

c. Concluding Thoughts: 

Expressing my thoughts and feelings towards the family member 

2. Outline for Describing a Family Member (Standard)

a. Introduction

Introducing a Family Member (Father, Mother, Grandparents, Siblings)

b. Body of the Essay

- Providing an overview of the family member:
+ Someone I deeply cherish and feel close to
+ Age (Example: My grandfather is currently 76 years old)
+ Someone who always cares and shows concern for me
+ Occupation (Example: My grandfather is a retired officer; My mother is an elementary school teacher…)

- Describing appearance and physical features:
+ Body stature (Tall, slender, petite, robust…)
+ Facial features: Eyes, nose, mouth, hair, voice…
+ Attire (Simple, elegant,…)

- Describing Personality:
+ Meticulous, attentive
+ Affable, cheerful
+ Abundantly affectionate, always caring for others

c. Conclusion

My feelings
 

3. Outline for Describing a Family Member: Describing Elder Sister

a. Introduction:

Introducing the person to be described

b. Body of the Essay

* Comprehensive Description
- How old is the sibling?
- Where does the sibling study?
- Which school does the sibling attend?
- How does the sibling feel about the affection from me?

* Detailed Description

- Describing Appearance
+ Tall and slender, standing at 1.6m
+ Well-defined facial features, high nose, beautiful heart-shaped lips
+ Silky long black hair, usually tied neatly behind when doing household chores
+ Dresses very modestly; wears a shirt to school and comfortable home attire for chores
+ Beautiful sparkling black eyes, exceptionally gentle and friendly when advising me

- Describing Personality
+ Meticulous and organized in her work
+ Excelling academically, always loved by parents and teachers
+ Possesses a gentle and graceful demeanor
+ Always caring for family members and those around her
+ A person who consistently strives and excels in life

c. Conclusion:

Expressing thoughts about my sister: My sister is an incredibly special person. She always cares for and takes care of me; I love her dearly.

4. Outline for Describing a Family Member: Describing Younger Brother

a. Introduction:

Introducing the child to be described: What's their name? Boy or girl? What's their relationship with me?
- Cu Tí is my younger brother.
- Today marks his first attempt at walking, and our entire family is overjoyed to see him take those first few steps.

b. Body of the Essay:

* Describing the Appearance of the Baby
- How many months old is the baby, and what distinctive features does the baby have? (The baby is nine months old, with a delightful toothy smile).
- Physical characteristics: body, skin, facial features, rosy cheeks, hair, lips, mouth, teeth, limbs...
+ The baby has a chubby face, turning rosy like a ripe apple when smiling.
+ Round, sparkling eyes.
+ Short, curly hair, usually adorned with a white headscarf.
+ Lips always moist and red, resembling lipstick.
+ A chin that constantly juts out, expressing the baby's plumpness.
+ Active little hands that quickly put anything into the mouth to chew. Cute tiny fingers.

- Baby's typical clothing for hot, cold, and at-home days.
+ Prefers wearing white clothes, white socks
+ Enjoys wearing fabric shoes.

* Baby's Innocent Personality
- Learning to walk, learning to talk:
(Taking a few steps, both arms stretched out like a miniature tightrope walker. Smiling and giggling while walking. In the stage of learning to talk, so the baby babbles throughout the day. Enjoys making sounds: dad, mom, grandma)

- Baby's Activities: Healthy, rarely ill, cries infrequently, enjoys bathing, loves listening to mom sing, likes playing with toy cars and trains.

c. Conclusion:

My thoughts about the person described: I love the baby very much. Together with mom, we help the baby learn to walk, teach singing, and look forward to the baby growing up quickly.

5. Outline for Describing a Family Member: Describing Grandma

a. Introduction:

Introducing the person to be described: Grandma is the person I love the most and also the one who cares for and spoils me the most.

b. Body of the Essay:

* Describing Appearance:
- How old is grandma, healthy or frail, and any distinctive features?
(Grandma is over seventy years old but still agile. She often wears a simple white blouse with long black pants)

- Signs of old age evident in hair, wrinkles on the face, eyes, mouth, teeth, posture, skin, walking style...
- Petite and elegant figure.
+ Long hair turned silver, resembling fairy tale characters. The face has numerous wrinkles, especially visible when grandma laughs.
+ Her eyes are still bright.
+ Skin has turned to a brown shade with freckles.
+ Hands clearly show the green veins.

* Describing Personality:
- Grandma's habits and hobbies: Despite her age, she enjoys doing household chores (sweeping, cooking). She likes chewing betel nut, even though she only has a few teeth left. Grandma enjoys gardening and taking care of plants at home.
- Grandma's relationships with grandchildren, neighbors...
(She loves and cares for her grandchildren, taking care of us meticulously, teaching us good and valuable things. She often tells us fairy tales. Towards the neighbors, she behaves very kindly, and everyone loves her).

c. Conclusion:

My feelings towards grandma: I love and cherish grandma; I hope she lives a long and healthy life. I strive to excel in my studies to make grandma proud.

6. Outline for Describing a Family Member: Describing My Mother

a. Introduction:

In our family, my mother is the person I feel closest to.

b. Body of the Essay:

* Describing Appearance:

- Medium height, slender figure.
- Full face, long and smooth black hair. When doing household chores, my mom often ties her hair neatly behind her neck.
- Mom dresses very modestly. When going to work, she usually wears a shirt. At home, she wears a set of clothes for convenience in doing housework.
- Mom has sparkling black eyes. Every time she teaches her children, her gaze is gentle and friendly.

* Describing Personality and Activities:
- Mom is meticulous, careful, and keeps the house tidy.
- Mom has a very gentle and polite nature.
- Mom is devoted to her children. During the day, she works hard, and in the evening, she always cares about the children's studies.

c. Conclusion:

My mother is always close to me, taking care of me, teaching me to be a good person. I always strive to excel in my studies to bring joy to the family.

7. Outline for Describing a Family Member

a. Introduction:

- Introduce the family member I intend to describe.
- Express my general feelings about that person.

b. Body:

- Describe the appearance of the family member.
- Discuss their dressing style, special habits...
- Describe their personality, qualities.
- Illustrate with a combination of characteristic activities. For example: Cooking; studying; teaching; taking care of the garden;...

c. Conclusion:

- Express my feelings towards that person.

8. Sample Essay Describing a Family Member

Upon reading the essay prompt about describing a family member, my mother's image instantly appeared in my mind. In my family, my mother is the closest and dearest to me.

My father works far from home and returns only once every six months, leaving just me and my mother at home. Despite being only thirty-six years old, due to the hardships and care for me, people often mistake my mother for being over forty. Sometimes, I sit and gaze at my mother's face for a long time. On her cheek, there are freckles, wrinkles at the corners of her eyes when she smiles, and dark circles under her eyes. Yet, whenever my mother smiles brightly, she seems to revert to the age of a twenty-year-old girl...(Continued)

>> See the full essay detailing the description of a family member here.