Description

PRESENTS – the DIMENSIONS of a person, place, circumstance, or idea; relies upon SENSORY APPEAL: SIGHT, SOUND, TOUCH, TASTE, SMELL

ORGANIZES – SPACE (or at least appeals to the concrete experience of space); relates: an IMPRESSION, an EMOTION, or a MEMORY

STRATEGIES – SPACIAL and LOGICAL

SPACIAL: top to bottom, left to right, back to front, inward to outward

LOGICAL: least to most – dominant feature, significant characteristic, important

consideration

Objective description –

Presents a subject with detachment or impartiality

goal: to supply information about a subject

language: impersonal, empirical words – scientific (measurement, space, construction)

Subjective description –

Presents a subject through personal reactions to or evaluations of it

goal: to supply a feeling for or express an attitude toward a subject

language: expressive, suggestive words – poetic (simile, metaphor, personification,

irony)

*Both types, however, rely on selective details to keep the reader’s attention focused.

Narration

PRESENTS – a SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

storytelling – long or short, factual or imagined

anecdote – a brief, entertaining account of a single incident

ORGANIZES – TIME

STRATEGIES – TIME and DETAIL

by TIME

Chronological – strict sequence of events from first to last [process description]

Flashback (“in the middle of things”) – seizes the reader’s attention [cause/effect]

Lead (journalistic) – places the main details of the story in the introduction then

explains further details in the remainder of the body; dramatically weaker than

the first two strategies, it allows the writer to quickly report what happened

by DETAIL

Scene – reports an event vividly and precisely over a short period of time – the

technique of the dramatist; often the strategy of fiction; the writer portrays

people with selective details; recalls dialogue or faithfully invents it

Summary – condenses the essential events over a long period of time – the

technique of the journalist or historian; relates events in condensed form;

strives to record the essentials smoothly and continuously

Style

- Detail by selective description – carefully chosen elements, not comprehensive elements

- Vary sentence length and pattern

- Conclude the sequence – could excite or thrill (climactic), could remain understated, or could close naturally; whatever the conclusion, it must bring closure to the narrative

- Transition the time movement

- Avoid shifts in tense

Point of View – vantage point from which the narrator tells the story

1^st person – “I” – subjective, personal tone

3^rd person – “he,” “she,” or “it” – detached, having the distance of an outsider

The Communication Problem

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

Subject – the part of your environment you select to disclose to your audience

Thesis – the controlling idea of your communication

Information – the knowledge, observations, opinions, or research you use to support

the thesis

WHO WILL YOU SAY IT TO?

Audience – the person or group you intend this communication to reach

Types: specialized or general

Expectations: format and length

WHY WILL YOU SAY IT?

To persuade

To inform

To entertain

HOW WILL YOU SAY IT?

Rhetorical pattern by:

narration – explains by using a story

description – explains by putting the concept into 3-D space, appealing to the

senses

exemplification – explains by giving examples

process – explains by setting forth the steps or stages it takes to complete it

comparison/contrast – explains by showing likenesses/differences between

concept and something audience knows; or by showing likenesses/differences

between concept and other items or elements in its class

cause/effect – explains by tracing its origin and development or predicting how it

might change in the future

division/classification – explains by subdividing the concept into its parts or

by distinguishing the concept in relationship to its class

Argumentation by:

deductive reasoning – general to specific

inductive reasoning – specific to general

authority citation – referencing thoughts from a recognized authority on

subject

statistic application – using statistical information to emphasize a point

HOW WILL YOU EXECUTE IT?

Style – write/speak to the purpose and audience

Plan – outline

Editing – expect to do it!

Logic – does this make sense?

Limits – think time and space