CHAPTER VIII DESCRIPTION Description is commonly defined as the picture-giving, image-making form of discourse, and is often likened to painting and sculpture. A little thought, however, will serve to show that the writer Definition of description has a wider range than either painter or sculptor, for he may record impressions made by all five of the senses. Of the four forms of discourse, description is perhaps the least independent; commonly it is but the handmaiden of other forms. That it is of great assistance in narration is attested by the fact that we speak, quite properly, of describing a ball game or a yacht race, so necessary are word-pictures to any satisfactory account. In later chapters we shall see that it is of value in exposition and argument. Why descrip tion is difficult Description is an exceedingly difficult form of discourse to write. In the first place, careful observers are rare; the senses are not trained to do accurate work. Because the five sense-messengers bring to us but vague, inaccurate impressions, it is impossible for us to impart clear-cut information to others. Even those who are skilled observers experience difficulty in finding terms to express their impressions. What words, for example, can be found to describe the taste of a strawberry, or the perfume of a rose, or the roar of breakers, or the disposition of our next door neighbor? Moreover, it requires rare judgment to determine, oftentimes, what a description should include and in what order the various items should be presented. But more profitable than a long enumeration of attending difficulties will be a few practical suggestions such as common experience shows are of service to young writers. First suggestion: Remember that you have not one, nor two, but five senses. Train them-all of them. Train the memory to retain sense-impressions of all kinds. When you write, do not tell merely what the eye has seen. Employing all five senses Second suggestion: Exercise economy. Readers are inclined to slight descriptive passages, frequently omitting them altogether. Be brief, then. What can I omit is as pertinent a question as How much have I to tell. Of all the ways of economizing, Exercising economy two stand out conspicuously. First, determine with great care what is distinctive in that which is to be described, the few points which make Picking out it different from others of its kind. what is This matter once decided, all else may be with distinctive safety excluded from consideration and energy directed toward bringing out clearly the salient characteristics. In picturing a building, for example, one need not tell everything about it; a few items may suffice to distinguish it from other buildings. Second, choose words that convey, quickly, vivid impressions-picture-words. Wee, sleekit, cowr'in, tim'rous beastie, runs the first line of Burns's To a Mouse-five words only, yet how satisfactory the picture. Macaulay describes Choosing descriptive words Mrs. Thrale as "one of those clever, kindhearted, engaging, vain, pert young women, who are perpetually doing or saying what is not exactly right, but who, do or say what they may, are always agreeable." This characterization is clear and brief, and the brevity is due in large measure to Macaulay's skill in selecting words. Adjectives and adverbs are, by reputation, particularly useful in description; yet such words as toddle, whimper, and drawl suggest that verbs too may be graphic, certainly more effective than lovely, nice, fine, and grand, adjectives so broad that they convey no very definite meaning. Third suggestion: Follow some plan. Description is so varied in kind that an attempt to enumerate all the plans by following which unity, coherence, and A plan proper emphasis may be sought would be vain. Here, however, are a few hints: A definite purpose First, unity is often to be gained—and brevity tooby keeping in mind a definite purpose and making each item contribute to it. Thus the items become centered like the spokes in a wheel. Dickens follows this method in describing St. Antoine, a section of Paris near the old Bastille. As we read paragraph after paragraph, we realize that desperate poverty is the hub to the descriptive wheel; nothing is introduced save that which points to this one thing. One point of view Second, confusion is avoided and order gained, oftentimes, through relating all to one point of view-a plan suggesting not a wheel so much as an opened fan. A valley gives one set of impressions to the observer who stands on the bank of a stream winding through it, a very different set of impressions to the observer who looks down from the brow of a hill. Mix these two sets of impressions and the result is a confused picture. This the inexperienced writer sometimes forgets, especially when describing from memory. But if, in picturing a landscape, for example, the writer adopts a single point of view and makes it known, the picture becomes unified. At times, it is true, the nature of the task is such as to call for a succession of viewpoints; but in such case clearness may still be maintained through notifying the reader of each change in the position of the observer. Third, it is well to begin a description with a general outline sketch, or a brief picture of the whole, following this with details; just as in drawing a Outline first map we begin with boundary lines and afterwards put in mountains, rivers, and lakes. In describing a room, for example, it is well to begin with a sentence or two giving a general idea of its appearance, or that which one notices at first glance as the door opens, and then proceed with details. What order to follow in presenting details is not a matter for hard and fast rules, yet order of some kind is in every case desirable. Sometimes the chronological order seems best, the items being recorded in the order in which they have been noted. Sometimes it is best to proceed from left to right, or from that which is low to that which is higher, or from that which is near to that which is more remote. Not infrequently it is well to begin with the most prominent feature and relate all else to it. Whatever the plan adopted, the skilled writer marks his transitions with care, guiding the reader by means of such index expressions as close at hand, a little beyond this, and turning now to the right. He is careful, moreover, to give prominence to that which deserves emphasis, subordinating less important features, and omitting altogether whatever is irrelevant to his purpose. Fourth suggestion: Unless scientific accuracy is called for, let personality color your descriptions; make them better than mere photographs. A post-card picture of the ruins of Melrose Abbey may be less satisfying than a letter from friend who has recently visited the ruins and tries to tell you how they impressed him. Stevenson's eyes were no better than many another person's; yet Giving we read his descriptive passages with great sway to pleasure because there is so much of Steven- personality son in them. It is personality, individuality, that furnishes charm to most discourse save such as is employed for purely practical ends. Do not, then, when writing description, hold the emotions in check. Give the picture, and with it give something of yourself. Studying models Fifth suggestion: Stop skipping descriptive passages when reading. Study them with great care. Try to discriminate between the good and the bad. Try to discover for yourself why it is that Ruskin succeeds so well in all his descriptions, whether his subject be a bird's feather or a great cathedral. A little independent investigation of this sort will bring greater returns than memorizing the pages of a textbook. And having studied, practice. EXERCISES It would not be a difficult matter to invent hundreds of tasks in description, each differing from the others in some slight respect. The following, selected mainly because they have been tried in classroom, are not grouped strictly in the order of their difficulty; it has seemed best to let the individual instructor determine what shall be experimented with first. 1 Examine closely some article now in your possession to see what are its distinguishing marks; then write such an advertisement as you would publish were the article lost. 2 Write a brief description of some person whom you know very well, imagining that he is a fugitive from justice. |