7. Explain what effect the author aimed to produce.

8. Compare with the paragraph in study III in this respect. What is the picture here?

9. Study the two paragraphs for the use of descriptive adjectives. Which uses more? Why?

10. What is the difference in the kinds of descriptive words used in the two selections?

II. Write a theme in which you compare the two paragraphs as examples of description.

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371. Impressionistic Description. In the form of description known as impressionistic, the primary purpose of the writer is not to present a picture of the whole, but to create a vivid impression by emphasizing the most striking characteristic, or characteristics, of the object described. This may be done in two ways: by laying stress upon a quality which is most prominent in the general effect, or by dealing exclusively with a single feature that is so extraordinary that all the rest is forgotten. For example, all the visible parts of an old house - the crumbling chimney, the decayed roof, the weatherbeaten clapboards, the sagging porch - might impress one only with the idea of dilapidation or desolation, and in describing it he would seek to reproduce simply that impression, which would represent a characteristic quality of the whole. On the other hand, a single feature of a face may be so prominent that all others are obliterated in the impression made upon one's mind, and to reproduce that impression would necessarily involve the suppression of less striking features.

372. Study V: Impressionistic Description. -Examine carefully the following paragraph from David

Copperfield and compare it with the two preceding paragraphs for study:

At length we stopped before a very old house bulging out over the road; a house with long, low, latticed windows bulging out still farther, and beams with carved heads on the ends bulging out too, so that I fancied the whole house was leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below. It was quite spotless in its cleanliness. The old-fashioned brass knocker on the low-arched door, ornamented with carved garlands of fruits and flowers, twinkled like a star; the two stone steps descending to the door were as white as if they had been covered with fair linen; and all the angles and corners, and carvings and moldings, and quaint little panes of glass, and quainter little windows, though as old as the hills, were as pure as any snow that ever fell upon the hills.

Questions.

1. How many strong impressions does the author seek to reproduce here? What are they?

2. What details contribute in each case to the general effect? 3. How much of an idea do we have of the general size, color, and structure of the house?

4. Enumerate important features of a house not mentioned here.

5. What words are most important in producing the first impression? In producing the second?

6. Compare the conception we have of this house with that of the old family mansion in the selection from Irving.

7. Which is more effective? Why?

8. Explain the chief difference between impressionistic description and enumerative description.

9. Write a short theme in which you explain the purpose and method of the writer in the above description.

EXERCISE

373. Write themes of a single paragraph in accordance with the following suggestions:

1. An enumerative description of the front of the house in which you live.

2. A suggestive description of a ravine or a canyon viewed from the upper part of it. Suggest length, stream, steepness of sides, verdure, rocks, light, shade, etc.

3. An impressionistic description of an old castle characterized by "a mass of towers upon a mass of rocks."

4. An enumerative description of Lancelot's shield. Give material, size, and shape; number, size, and location of scars, etc. 5. A suggestive description of the covering that Elaine made for it, following the hints given in the poem.

6. An impressionistic description of the shield. Let the dominant impression be produced by the dents and scars on the shield.

374. The Point of View. In most descriptions it is necessary that the reader be acquainted with the point of view from which the writer is describing. A landscape, a building, or a person looks very different when viewed from a distance and when viewed at close range. Again, an imposing object, like a high precipice or a towering building, when viewed from below makes an entirely different impression from that which it makes when viewed from something of its own height. The point of view determines not only what features of the object can be described by the writer, but also explains to the reader the part of the object to be described, and, largely, the reason for its appearing as it does. Sometimes, in order to give a complete picture,

the author has to change his point of view. In doing so he must keep the reader informed, else confusion will result. The moving point of view has the advantage of determining to a large extent the order of treatment. In certain kinds of description, especially in fiction, there seems to be no particular point of view; the writer knows all and views the objects from all sides. He has, nevertheless, a point of view. If we understand that the author is describing a person or a scene from his perfect knowledge of the subject, we expect a life-sized picture-each detail natural as it would appear if we were in its immediate presence. The method of indicating the point of view varies greatly; sometimes it is stated directly, sometimes indirectly, and sometimes it is suggested by the general plan of procedure.

EXERCISE A

375. The following are the first sentences of descriptive passages; tell the point of view in each case where it is stated, and explain the advantages offered by it:

I. Towards the close of the day, the road wound into a deep valley.

we

2. Between the two tall gateposts of hewn stone beheld the gray front of an old parsonage terminating the vista of an avenue of black ash trees.

3. From a low perch above the mountains behind Becos the sun is delivering the opposite European shore of the Bosphorus from the lingering shades of night. Out on the bosom of the classic channel vessels are swinging largely at their anchorage.

4. The sun was setting upon one of those rich grassy glades which we have mentioned in the beginning of this chapter.

5. The mason Abraham Knupfer sings, with trowel in hand, scaffolded in air, so high that he levels under his feet the church with its thirty buttresses and the town with its thirty churches.

6. As I sit in my window this summer afternoon, hawks are circling about my clearing.

7. Please leave the little chapel for a moment and walk down the nave, till you come to two sepulchral slabs near the west end and then look about and see what sort of a church Santa Croce is.

8. At length I found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

EXERCISE B

376. (1) Tell from what different points of view the subjects given below might be described; (2) determine what would be the best point of view for describing them; (3) explain the advantages possessed by the point of view you suggest; (4) write short introductory paragraphs in which the point of view is made clear in some way to the reader.

1. A Picturesque Glen.
2. A Burning Hay Barn at

Night.

3. A Fire in the City.
4. A Dangerous Dog.
5. Your Pet Dog.
6. A Waving Cornfield.

7. A Cottage on a Hillside. 8. Your Room.

9. An Avenue in the City. 10. A Country Fair.

II. A House in a Broad
Valley.

12. An Audience at the Theater.

377. The Central Idea. In our study of the whole composition, we saw that every theme should have a definite purpose that should determine in a large measure the selection of material. In literary description that purpose may be to present the reader with the