at least possible, details. Of course you must not be so afraid of exceeding the probable that you will never get beyond the commonplace. On the other hand, there is danger in letting the imagination run riot. The result may not only be a poor description, but may even indicate an unnatural mental condition. 5. Whenever it is appropriate, let the imaginary details be attractive. The person who has cultivated the habit of imagining pleasant details will be likely to see much beauty that he would miss if he had the habit of dwelling. on unpleasant ideas. EXERCISE Select from your own reading and bring to class three descriptions that owe their effectiveness, at least in part, to the use of simile. What details are emphasized in this way? II Write a brief description from these suggestions: Italian fruit-vender-pushing handcart-speaking broken English. III Write a description from the following outline : NOTE. - You will see that the outline has not only four main topics, but also a few sub-topics to indicate the kind of details which you are expected to supply. I. Location. 1. Tarker, N. H. AN OLD HOUSE 2. Hill, above village. II. Surroundings. 1. Lawn in front. 2. Barn and pastures behind. 3. Apple orchard on one side. 4. Vegetable and flower gardens on the other side. III. External Appearance. 1. Two and a half stories high. 2. Square colonial house. 3. One L on each side. 4. Weather-beaten and old. IV. Some Interesting Rooms. 1. Kitchen. 2. Parlor. 3. Attic. IV Describe in two or more paragraphs Oliver Cromwell, pictured on the preceding page. Infer his character, if possible, from his attitude, his dress, and his expression. V Describe these characters found in literature, avoiding the language of the book, and supplying any interesting details: 1. The Barefoot Boy. (Whittier's "The Barefoot Boy.") 2. John Alden. (Longfellow's "The Courtship of Miles Standish.") 3. Aladdin. ("The Arabian Nights.") 4. Hawkeye. (Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans.") 5. Some character just studied in your literature class. VI Write descriptions of the following subjects, and bring in with each description an outline subdivided in the manner of Exercise III: 1. A Store Window at Christmas Time. 2. A Railway Passenger Car. 3. The Ragman. 4. An Indian Chief. 5. Some Local Character. 117. Describing for impressions. It is also valuable practice to write short descriptions, the primary object of which is not to record actual observations, but to emphasize the impressions the persons or things make on the beholder. Study carefully the following descriptions to see what words and expressions are used to produce the required impressions. Ex. 1. To give the impression of GOOD CHeer. 221 There he stood working at his anvil, his face radiant with exercise and gladness, his sleeves turned up, his wig pushed off his shining forehead the easiest, freest, happiest man in all the world. DICKENS' " The Cheerful Locksmith." Ex. 2. To give the impression of THE GLADNESS OF SPRINGTIME. The breeze comes whispering in our ear, That dandelions are blossoming near, That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, That the river is bluer than the sky, That the robin is plastering his house hard by; For other couriers we should not lack; We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing. Warmed with the new wine of the year, Tells all in his lusty crowing! LOWELL'S Prelude to Part I of "The Vision of Sir Launfal." Ex. 3. To give the impression of SUBLIMITY and awe. By and by the moon came up. And as the three tall white figures sped, with soundless tread, through the opalescent light, they appeared like spectres, flying from hateful shadows. Suddenly in the air before them, not farther up than a low hilltop, flared a lambent flame. As they looked at it, the apparition contracted into a focus of dazzling lustre. Their hearts beat fast; their souls thrilled; and they shouted as with one voice, "The star! the star!" LEW WALLACE'S "Ben-Hur." Ex. 4. To give the impression of SILENT grief. Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by the native part of the audience. His look never changed throughout the whole of the scene, nor did a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at the wildest or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold and senseless remains of his son were all to him, and every other sense but that of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their final gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved and which were now about to be closed forever from his view. COOPER'S "The Last of the Mohicans." Ex. 5. To give the impression of MYSTERY and Horror. He The judge has not shifted his position for a long while now. has not stirred hand or foot, nor withdrawn his eyes so much as a hair's breadth from their fixed gaze toward the corner of the room, since the footsteps of Hepzibah and Clifford creaked along the passage, and the outer door was closed cautiously behind their exit. He holds his watch in his left hand, but clutched in such a manner that you cannot see the dial-plate. How profound a fit of meditation! Or, supposing him asleep, how infantile a quietude of conscience, and what wholesome order in the gastric region, are betokened by slumber so entirely undisturbed with starts, cramp, twitches, muttered dream-talk, trumpet blasts through the nasal organ, or any the slightest irregularity of breath! You must hold your own breath, to satisfy yourself whether he breathes at all. It is quite inaudible. You hear the ticking of the watch; his breath m |