Welcome to your next lesson on writing critical reviews. Last time, we focused on the crucial balance between plot summary and analysis, establishing that your value as a critic comes from interpreting a work, not just recounting it. We touched on the idea that good summary often transforms into good description—painting a picture of the experience rather than just listing events.
Today, we will dive deep into that skill. Your goal for this lesson is to use descriptive language to convey the experiential quality of a performance, film, or album. You'll learn how to move beyond simple adjectives and engage your reader's senses, making them feel as if they were right there with you, experiencing the art firsthand. This is how you transform a competent review into a memorable and persuasive one.
1. Describing the Experience, Not Just the Plot
In our previous lesson, we heard from New York Times film critic A.O. Scott about the difference between summarizing and describing. Let's revisit his advice as he elaborates on what kind of description truly serves the reader.
How to Write Movie Reviews with A.O. Scott
Watch this short clip from "How to Write Movie Reviews with A.O. Scott." It serves as a perfect bridge from our last topic to this one.
Focus on the section from description versus summary. Notice the specific questions he asks: What does it look like? What does the music sound like? What do the sets look like? These questions push you to describe the texture and atmosphere of a film.
Scott's point is that your job is to help the reader "form a picture in their mind" of the experience. This picture isn't just visual; it's multisensory. You're not just a reporter of facts; you are a translator of experience.
2. Engaging the Five Senses
The most direct way to translate an experience is by appealing to the senses. Professional writers do this intentionally to make their scenes immersive and their arguments tangible. A film isn't just "sad"; it might have a "rain-streaked, blue-hued color palette" and a "soundtrack of mournful, weeping cellos." An album isn't just "energetic"; it might have "bass lines that thrum in your chest" and "synths that glitter like broken glass."
The following article provides an excellent breakdown of how to use all five senses in your writing.
Writing with Sensory Detail: Engaging All Five Senses - Spines
This piece from Spines.com clearly defines sensory writing and provides concrete examples for incorporating sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
Read the first two main sections: "What is Sensory Detail?" and "Exploring the Five Senses in Writing." As you read, think about how you could apply these techniques to your own field: Sight: The cinematography of a film, the lighting on a stage. Sound: The mix of an album, the sound design of a movie. Touch: The texture of a sound (e.g., rough, smooth, sharp), the feeling of a vibrating concert hall. Smell/Taste: While less common, these can be powerful metaphors (e.g., "a sickly-sweet pop song," "a film with the bitter aftertaste of propaganda").
3. Making Your Descriptions Meaningful
Simply listing sensory details isn't enough. Just like plot summary, descriptive language must serve a purpose. Every detail you choose should reinforce your central argument. The key is to constantly ask yourself: Why does this detail matter? What does it tell the reader about the work's theme, quality, or intent?
This is where you connect vivid language back to critical analysis. This video from the Pulitzer Center, while about describing a physical place, perfectly illustrates how a writer chooses specific sensory language to evoke a particular feeling—in this case, wonder.
Descriptive Writing | Journalism Skillbuilder
This clip from "Descriptive Writing | Journalism Skillbuilder" shows a journalist refining his description to better serve his story's emotional goal.
Watch the section from evoking wonder. Pay close attention to the writer's thought process as he moves from a flat description ("red and white, a bit blotchy") to evocative, figurative language ("glows silver in the shade and burns auburn in the sun"). He chose those words to create a "mystical and otherworldly" feeling that supported his point about the tree's beauty.
This is your task as a critic. If you argue a film is claustrophobic, you might describe the "cramped sets that seem to squeeze the actors" and the "buzzing, inescapable sound of fluorescent lights." If you argue an album is joyful, you might describe "sun-drenched guitar chords" and "vocals that soar with airy lightness."
This article from The Write Practice reinforces this vital connection between description and meaning.
How to Unlock All 5 Senses in Your Writing
This short section summarizes the core principle of effective sensory writing.
Read the section titled "The Key to Unlocking the Five Senses." The main takeaway is that the power of sensory writing lies in asking why a detail is important for the character, setting, or tone of the story.
4. Your Turn: Describing a Soundscape
Let's put this into practice. Imagine you are reviewing a new album.
- Artist: The Crimson Fables
- Album: Glasshouse
- Description: An indie rock album known for its unique production. The singer's voice is often processed with a heavy, echoing reverb, making it sound distant. This is contrasted with a very dry, sharp, and close-sounding drum machine.
Your task is to write a 3-4 sentence paragraph that describes the experiential quality of this sound. Don't just say what it sounds like; convey what it feels like to listen to. Try to use at least two different senses (e.g., sound and touch, or sound and a sense of space/sight).
To give your vocabulary a small boost, here are some useful adjectives for reviews.
Click here to see a sample paragraph.
Here is one possible approach:
On Glasshouse, The Crimson Fables build a world that is both cavernous and claustrophobic. The vocals are washed in a ghostly reverb, echoing as if from the far end of an empty cathedral. This creates a compelling sense of distance, but the feeling is immediately shattered by the bone-dry, clinical clicks of the drum machine, which feel unnervingly close, like a tapping on your own skull. The result is a captivating, intentionally jarring experience that leaves the listener feeling beautifully, thrillingly unsettled.
Notice how this description:
- Uses spatial metaphors ("cavernous," "far end of an empty cathedral").
- Engages a sense of touch/feeling ("tapping on your own skull," "unsettled").
- Connects the description to an analytical conclusion (the experience is "intentionally jarring").
- Uses strong evaluative adjectives ("compelling," "captivating").
Conclusion
Today, you've learned to infuse your critical writing with life by appealing to the reader's senses. By moving beyond simple statements of opinion and instead describing the tangible experience of a work, you make your arguments more vivid, more persuasive, and ultimately more memorable.
Key Takeaways:
- Your goal is to convey the experiential quality of art—what it looks, sounds, and feels like.
- Engage the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to create immersive descriptions.
- Every sensory detail must be purposeful. Always ask yourself why it matters to your overall critique.
- Use specific, evocative language, including figurative language, to translate your experience for the reader.
In our next lesson, we will focus on building more nuanced arguments. You'll learn how to revise a one-sided review to incorporate a balanced perspective, acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses. Your newfound descriptive skills will be essential as you learn to paint a complete picture of a work, warts and all.