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Description is used in every kind of writing imaginable. Successful descriptive
writing depends on the writer's ability to
(1) clearly "see" an object, scene, person, or event -
What is looked at closely may be described with accuracy and feeling.
(2) use concrete and specific words -
Beautiful, for instance, is not an effective descriptive word; it is neither
concrete nor specific; instances of beauty vary too much; what gives rise to the
reaction, "That is beautiful," must be revealed concretely and specifically.
(3) use sensory details as needed -
Sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste - appeals to readers' senses - are mainstays
of descriptive writing.
(4) make apt comparisons (using like or as) -
The making of similes is a natural way of helping readers visualize the objects
of description.
(5) employ figures of speech (figurative language) to clarify or enhance the word
picture provided through the specifying words, details and sensory images -
Figurative language "makes comparisons or connections that draw on one idea
or image to explain another." [Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers,
4th ed., Lynn Quitman Troyka, 1996, p 402]
(6) consider "atmosphere" and dominant impression -
The details and images of description should present an overriding impression.
(7) order details effectively -
Good description fosters readers' understanding and appreciation.
(8) choose the appropriate manner of presentation - subjective, objective, or
a combination -
Topics and purposes dictate the choice.
An analysis of "Moonrise Over Monument Valley,"
by John V. Young, illustrates each of these elements of successful description. (You
may access this essay in the Resource Area.)
(1) Young's entire essay makes us "see" what he saw. And our seeing involves
all the senses. Consider the visualizing power of the following sentence:
[The moon's] blazing light made inky shadows all around us, split by the brilliant
wedge of the moon's path between the spires. (para 8)
The light from the moon is very bright, bright enough to make the shadows very
black (inky), and then, in the second half of the sentence, with our mind's eye focused
on the black shadows at the men's feet, we read that the shadows are broken ("split")
by the very bright ("brilliant") light that the moon projects through the
spires.
(2) specific and concrete words
Arizona-Utah border, 25 miles north of Kayenta; three men in a truck; Navajo dwellings
face east; The Mittens; Navajo girl; woolly dog
(3) sensory detail
some are: cool; tawny; dark, velvet dress; tinkled; soft rustle of the night wind
(4) comparisons (using like or as)
like a giant's chess pieces; like pretty small change; like miniature ocean waves;
like the wizards of Stonehenge; as if it were pinioned
(5) other figurative language
the evening afterglow brush-tipped all the spires and cliffs (metaphor);
a pale saffron glow told us the moon was about to rise (personification)
Brush-tipped is a metaphor because we are to "bring over" into
this context (of multi-colored light projected onto the spires and cliffs) the image
of a painter brushing varied colors onto a canvas. Everything about such a scene
(of a painter painting) and of such an action (carefully brushing various colors
onto the canvas) we are invited to transfer (bring over) into the scene the writer
is describing for us now. Furthermore, since a metaphor exists in our mind in such
a way as to wholly identify the viewed thing with the compared thing, the
projection of the colors is to be seen as the action of a painter.
Told creates personification in that the "glow" from the moon
is given the attribute of speech.
(6) atmosphere and dominant impression
the words, the arrangement of the details and descriptions, and the unfolding
of the entire event create a sense of anticipation, uneasiness, wonder, and relief
(7) arrangement of details
the organization of this essay is clear: the who, what, where, when, and why are
established; the time before the main event is presented; the main event unfolds;
and the aftermath of the event is stated
(8) manner of presentation
a combination of subjective and objective approaches
Descriptive writing presents "word pictures." The English language is
a rich, powerful and varied language. It borrows from other languages, and it remains
flexible and adaptive. There are hundreds of thousands of words available to us to
paint precise and evocative images in our readers' minds. Close observation, thoughtful
recollection, and an expanding vocabulary can combine to render accurate and vivid
descriptions.
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