Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach in South Carolina is my favourite place in the whole world to vacation – it is my idea of paradise. I love its beach and the sound of the waves lapping against the shore; I love the shops and the restaurants; I love its humid heat too. Unlike other places, it is incredibly easy to get to as it has its own airport which is great because I hate being in a car for a long time to get anywhere. It has a large population of young people which means that there are lots of fun things to do too.
My favourite aspect of Myrtle Beach is the beach itself though. Although the city is often very humid (its average high in July being around 91 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Weather Channel), its position next to the Atlantic Ocean helps to cool it down slightly with a sea breeze - making it the perfect place to relax. I can happily spend hours laid out on the beach: sunbathing, listening to music, chatting to friends or even just enjoying the atmosphere. I also love strolling along the city’s boardwalk – named the country’s third best by National Geographic magazine – enjoying the live music that is played there most weeks. If the beach isn’t enough water, I like to go to Myrtle Beach’s very own water park – Myrtle Waves: I love riding the flumes – the feel of the water as you hit it at the bottom is unparalleled in my opinion.
These are just to name a few of my favourite things to do here: Myrtle Beach is my idea of paradise because it’s relaxing, exciting, interesting and fun all rolled up into one location – complete with heat and lots of young people to hang out with too.
The Narrative and Descriptive Elements
Whilst writing about Myrtle Park, I felt myself slipping into a particular mode – as if I was trying to sell it to the reader. Therefore, I fear that the descriptive elements out-number the narrative ones, although I have tried to include some so as to avoid it reading like a travel brochure. Throughout the paper, I used phrases which describe the area, such as: “It has a large population of young people which means that there are lots of fun things to do too” which is designed to give an idea of the sort of people there – it describes the population of Myrtle Beach. Whereas other sentences such as “I love riding the flumes – the feel of the water as you hit it at the bottom is unparalleled in my opinion” is a narrative element because it features my opinion and it helps to ‘flesh out’ the description of the area with a first person account.
Frequently, where I have written a descriptive phrase, I have followed it with a narrative one which helps to make the text less formal and more personal. Therefore, the narrative relates to the descriptive in order to give the reader a more ‘three-dimensional’ presentation of what I am talking about. This is patterned throughout the paper – I address a descriptive element about the area (e.g. the beach) and provide the reader with a narrative element about it (e.g. the waves lapping against the shore). This helps to enhance the reader’s mental image of what I am discussing and encourages them to consider whether they would also like that too. The descriptive and narrative sentences are designed to work in conjunction with one another like this, where they will provide the most rounded representation of Myrtle Beach possible.
References
National Geographic. (n.d.). Top 10 US Boardwalks. Retrieved from http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/us-boardwalks/#page=1
The Weather Channel. (n.d.) Monthly Averages for Myrtle Beach. Retrieved from http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/fitness/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USSC0239
