showing vs telling and descriptive writing strategies

DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING

SHOWING VS TELLING

AND

DESCRIPTIVE STRATEGIES

DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING

This presentation is about…

* Showing vs. Telling—using details

* Using point of view, intended effect, connotation, figurative language, and selective details to influence your reader.

DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING

Let’s help this poor confused little one with some specific descriptors!

I CONCEPTS FOR DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

• DESCRIBING ** MEANS

• “TO COPY IN WRITING”...TO RECREATE THE REAL WORLD WITH WORDS

• 1—NAMING THE OBSERVABLE FEATURES AND EXACT ACTIONS

• WITH PRECISE NOUNS

• AND SPECIFIC ACTION VERBS

• 2—DETAILING THE SPECIFICS OF NAMING

• (ADJECTIVE, ADVERBS)

• SIZE, QUANTITY, LOCATION, MATERIAL COMPOSITION, CONDITION, VALUE

C SHOWING VS TELLING

Telling ShowingThe book smells nice.  

The ceramic bread bowl that has been in my family for five generations has a nice, reassuring feel to it that I realize my ancestors must have felt as well. 

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TELLING AND SHOWING?

TELLING PROVIDES INFORMATION, OPINIONS, AND SOME FACTS.

C SHOWING VS TELLING

Telling ShowingThe book smells nice.  

The first-edition copy of Longfellow's collected poems smelled of old leather, and a hundred years of dusty thoughts.

The ceramic bread bowl that has been in my family for five generations has a nice, reassuring feel to it that I realize my ancestors must have felt as well. 

As the bowl’s smooth, solid, ceramic interior guides my hands, I imagine my great grandmother’s hands brushing against the same sides of this bowl as she spent hours kneading dough that would be made into flaky croissants and buttermilk biscuits.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TELLING AND SHOWING?

TELLING PROVIDES INFORMATION, OPINIONS, AND SOME FACTS.

SHOWING GIVES SENSORY DETAILS AND PROVIDES DESCRIPTION THAT WILL HELP THE READER IMAGINE THE THINGS BEING DESCRIBED.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

Tuxedo kitten Specific naming with categorical adjective

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

Tuxedo kitten Specific naming with categorical adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

Tuxedo kitten Specific naming with categorical adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective with reference to personality designation of noun

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

Tuxedo kitten Specific naming with categorical adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective with reference to personality designation of noun

My 4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

Plus pronoun to indicate ownership/attachment (connotation and personal connection to reader/writer)

The animal is stuck in a tree.

D LADDER OF ABSTRACTION

animal A vague noun

pet Naming with a vague definitional noun

feline Naming with a vague categorical noun

Kitten Naming with Specific categorical/definitional noun

Tuxedo kitten Specific naming with categorical adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective

4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

Detailed naming with categorical and condition adjective with reference to personality designation of noun

My 4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

Plus pronoun to indicate ownership/attachment (connotation and personal connection to reader/writer)

My 4-month old Tuxedo kitten named “Darth Vader”

is stuck in a tree

Fully detailed subject...now we need to work on the predicate (what kind of tree? Where is it tree? How and why did the cat get stuck?)

The animal is stuck in a tree.

B USING SENSORY DETAILS

• VISUAL/SIGHT =EYES

• MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, VERBS, PREPOSITIONS

• (PREDICTING FUTURE OF EVENTS,

ANALYZING PAST CONCERNS, ALTERNATE EVENTS)

B USING SENSORY DETAILS

• VISUAL/SIGHT =EYES

• MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, VERBS, PREPOSITIONS

• (PREDICTING FUTURE OF EVENTS,

ANALYZING PAST CONCERNS, ALTERNATE EVENTS)

• HEAR/SOUND =EARS

• ALSO DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS (NAMES OF SOUNDS)

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS (DETAILS)

• (GOOD OR BAD EVENT

ATMOSPHERE…QUALITATIVE/RELATIVE)

B USING SENSORY DETAILS

• VISUAL/SIGHT =EYES

• MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, VERBS, PREPOSITIONS

• (PREDICTING FUTURE OF EVENTS,

ANALYZING PAST CONCERNS, ALTERNATE EVENTS)

• HEAR/SOUND =EARS

• ALSO DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS (NAMES OF SOUNDS)

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS (DETAILS)

• (GOOD OR BAD EVENT

ATMOSPHERE…QUALITATIVE/RELATIVE)

Feel/Touch =skin texture, temperature, pressure (weight and moisture)

(also emotional indicator of comfort level or anticipation)

B USING SENSORY DETAILS

• VISUAL/SIGHT =EYES

• MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, VERBS, PREPOSITIONS

• (PREDICTING FUTURE OF EVENTS,

ANALYZING PAST CONCERNS, ALTERNATE EVENTS)

• HEAR/SOUND =EARS

• ALSO DIRECTLY RELATED TO ENGLISH

• NOUNS (NAMES OF SOUNDS)

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS (DETAILS)

• (GOOD OR BAD EVENT

ATMOSPHERE…QUALITATIVE/RELATIVE)

Feel/Touch =skin texture, temperature, pressure (weight and moisture)

(also emotional indicator of comfort level or anticipation)Smell = nose (also anticipation of good/bad event, malicious intent)Taste = mouth (also music, art, literature, men, women, fashion==comparison)

** Smell and Taste are not as directly related to English. Use connotation (Harry Potter books) (The Hunger

Games books)

DECRIPTIVE WRITING STRATEGIES

Details: use the five senses to describe the environs. When composing sentences for description

use “Camera Movement”: top to bottom, inside out, left to right, front to back

You don’t need to try and cram every detail into one sentence. The best method is to focus on two or three things AT MOST in each sentence.

TRUST THAT YOUR READER WILL BE ABLE TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER!

DECRIPTIVE WRITING STRATEGIES

• TAKE THIS SINGLE PANEL COMIC AS AN EXAMPLE

This is also true of sentences and paragraphs. Each sentence acts as a single panel and the paragraph acts like the whole thing in one.

I POINT OF VIEW

IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT!

I POINT OF VIEW

II CREATING THE INTENDED EFFECT

• JON KRAKAUER INTO THIN AIR

• CHAPTER1 BEGINS: “STRADDLING THE TOP OF THE WORLD, ONE FOOT IN CHINA AND THE OTHER IN NEPAL, I CLEARED THE ICE FROM MY OXYGEN MASK, HUNCHED A SHOULDER AGAINST THE WIND, AND STARED ABSENTLY DOWN AT THE VASTNESS OF TIBET.”

• CHAPTER 1 ENDS WITH:

• “NOBODY SUSPECTED THAT BY THE END OF THAT LONG DAY, EVERY MINUTE WOULD MATTER.”

**—creating a mood or atmosphere to reinforce the writer’s purpose

**—fill the reader’s imagination with details**—accumulated connotations, naming, detailing, comparing,

and sensory language

III USING CONNOTATIONS** Connotation—making use of what is associated with words and phrases * Think about what comes to mind (Colors, brands, ideology, cultural significance)• CONSIDER THE ASSOCIATIONS

OF SONGS AND WORDS AND IMAGES…

• WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE DO THESE THINGS HAVE?

III USING CONNOTATIONS** Connotation—making use of what is associated with words and phrases * Think about what comes to mind (Colors, brands, ideology, cultural significance)• STEREOTYPE

S ARE ONE WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE NEGATIVE INFLUENCE OF CONNOTATION…

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (TROPES)

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

These are two keys on a keyboard and when they are put together in this specific order the meaning of the image is that the person who typed the symbols is indicating that they are ‘happy.”

Are these the keys to happiness?Can you use them to open a door? Is Happiness a place?

No…

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (TROPES)

This picture shows a corner. There is a big red spring visible on the other side. There is, physically, an actual, real, spring around this corner.

We use the expression “spring is just around the corner” (usually mid- March) to indicate that the season of growth and life-renewal is about to begin.

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (METAPHORS)

Metaphor: the “thisness” of that; expressing one thing in terms of another (where there is some similarity or correlation between the two)

“Old age is the evening of life.” (1day = life span)

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (METAPHORS)

Metaphor: the “thisness” of that;

expressing one thing in terms of another

(where there is some similarity or correlation between the two)

People in sleeping bags = soft tacos.

(From the bear’s point of view)

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (SIMILES)

Simile: comparison between two things (having a specific property or quality in common); A simile is signaled by the word “like” or the word “as”

David and Sam, like two peas in a pod, are always together.

III FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (SIMILES)

Simile: comparison between two things (having a specific property or quality in common); A simile is signaled by the word “like” or the word “as”

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• ** SELECTION/OMISSION OF DETAILS—

• WRITER IS ACTING AS “FILTER” FOR THE AUDIENCE

• (DETERMINE WHAT IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE)

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU FIRST SAW THE WORDS ON THE SIGN?

• THESE WORDS IN THIS COMBINATION CAN ONLY REFER TO A SHORT LIST OF THINGS

• A RECREATION AREA COULD BE A PLACE FOR EXERCISE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• BUT WHAT DOES “BONG” MEAN?

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU FIRST SAW THE WORDS ON THE SIGN?

• THESE WORDS IN THIS COMBINATION CAN ONLY REFER TO A SHORT LIST OF THINGS

• A RECREATION AREA COULD BE A PLACE FOR EXERCISE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• BUT WHAT DOES “BONG” MEAN?

• IS THIS AN EXOTIC PET?

NOUN: THE DEEP RESONANT SOUND ESPECIALLY OF A BELL

VERB: IMITATIVE SOUND-WORD(1853 FIRST USE)

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU FIRST SAW THE WORDS ON THE SIGN?

• THESE WORDS IN THIS COMBINATION CAN ONLY REFER TO A SHORT LIST OF THINGS

• A RECREATION AREA COULD BE A PLACE FOR EXERCISE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• BUT WHAT DOES “BONG” MEAN?

• IS THIS AN EXOTIC PET?

NOUN: THE DEEP RESONANT SOUND ESPECIALLY OF A BELL

VERB: IMITATIVE SOUND-WORD(1853 FIRST USE)

NOUN: A SIMPLE WATER PIPE CONSISTING OF A BOTTLE OR VERTICAL TUBE PARTIALLY FILLED WITH A LIQUID AND A SMALLER OFFSET TUBE ENDING IN A BOWL

ORIGIN: {THAI} A HOLLOW PIECE OF WOOD OR BAMBOO(1971 FIRST USE)

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU FIRST SAW THE WORDS ON THE SIGN?

• THESE WORDS IN THIS COMBINATION CAN ONLY REFER TO A SHORT LIST OF THINGS

• A RECREATION AREA COULD BE A PLACE FOR EXERCISE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• BUT WHAT DOES “BONG” MEAN?

• IS THIS AN EXOTIC PET?

• OR IS THIS NAMED FOR SOME SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL FIGURE?

IV: SELECTING AND OMITTING DETAILS

• ** SELECTION/OMISSION OF DETAILS—

• WRITER IS ACTING AS “FILTER” FOR THE AUDIENCE

• (DETERMINE WHAT IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE)

FINIS

• IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION, POST TO THE DISCUSSION BOARD OR CONTACT THE INSTRUCTOR

DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING

SHOWING VS TELLING

AND

DESCRIPTIVE STRATEGIES

This presentation created by Paul BrownFebruary 2015