PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
One of the techniques of support frequently used to describe the topic sentence is physical description. When the topic of the paragraph is an object, an animal, or a person, writers frequently use physical description to develop their topic sentences. The five senses of sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing make it possible for us to feel details of the objects in the world around us:
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By sight we feel: Shape (round, flat, square, etc.)
Color (red, green, blue, etc.) Light (bright, dark, gloomy, etc.)
By hearing we feel: Sound quality (soft, loud, clear, etc.) By smell we feel: Smell quality (sharp, sweet, clean, fresh, etc.)
Smell effect (suffocating, seducing, etc.) By taste we feel: Taste quality (bitter, flat, sweet, sour, etc.) By touch we feel: Texture (smooth, rough, sharp, dull, etc.)
Weight (heavy, light, etc.) Temperature (lukewarm, hot, cold, etc.)
The five sense modalities—touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight—also offer us a way for comparing people, objects, and animals. Take the following examples:
1. Sight: The fat lady looked exactly like a mountain of warm jelly.
2. Sound: The heavy rain sounded like a thousand ping-pong balls as it fell on the roof of the house.
3. Smell: The factory worker smelled like a rotten egg as if he had not taken a shower for centuries.
4. Taste: The strange food in the Chinese restaurant tasted like a sour cherry.
5. Touch: The black man's skin felt like sandpaper when we shook hands.
In fact, simile and metaphor are two types of figures of speech which are based on the five senses. A simile is a sentence that compares one thing with another (X is like Y). Take the following examples:
Jack is like a lion. John is similar to an ape. That dog is as powerful as a mule.
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In these examples, there are a number of words (i.e., like, as … as, similar to, as if, etc.) that establish the simile. If these words are deleted, the simile will change into a metaphor. Take the following examples:
Jack is a lion. John is an ape. That dog is a mule.
Remember that showing and telling paragraphs differ. Showing paragraphs are more interesting to the reader. One way in which you can make your paragraphs interesting is through the use of similes and metaphors.
Notice that using physical description to support your topic sentence requires that you be precise and exact in your choice of words. Using precisely the right word or phrase to describe a point to your readers is often difficult. Your word choice will not only affect your readers' responses but also their understanding of the paragraph. Therefore, word choice is a skill that you should develop for purposes of becoming a good writer. There are two strategies that can help you in this connection:
1) Use a dictionary (such as Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary) to
check the exact meaning of the word you want to use (its denotation).
2) Use a thesaurus (a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms such as Roget's Thesaurus of Synonyms and Antonyms ) that not only gives
the synonyms and antonyms of words, but also gives information about the different shades and tints of meaning. Synonyms can have slightly different meanings or connotations. Notice that a connotation is an associative meaning. For example, the word owl, in Persian, is the name of a bird (denotation or denotative meaning) and is also the sign of bad luck (connotation or connotative meaning). Also, notice that a word can have different connotations in different languages and cultures. The word owl for example, is a sign of good luck for some English speakers.
The topic sentence in the following sample paragraph has been developed by physical description. Read the paragraph closely.
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Once I went hiking with a group from my school to the mountains near Raamsar. Before we started the hike, the sunlight was shining brightly. When we went into the woods it was quite dark as if the sun was no longer in the sky. We felt that we were walking in hallways because the trees were so big and tall that they prevented sunlight from coming through. I t was absolutely quiet and silent like a sad and grim night. I n the distance we heard some birds cackling and some turkeys gobbling as if they did not want us to be in this place. Also small brooks were bubbling here and there. Although the weather was hot, the water of the brooks was almost too cold to touch. We feel that we had accomplished a great journey.
Now, read the following analysis. You will notice the instances of physical description listed here:
Topic: description of a hiking experience
I nstance 1: sunlight shining brightly I nstance 2: no sun in the sky I nstance 3: walking in hallways I nstance 4: sad grim night I nstance 5: birds cackling I nstance 6: turkeys gobbling I nstance 7: brooks bubbling I nstance 8: hot whether I nstance 9: cold water
EXERCI SE
1) Suppose that you have witnessed a criminal killing someone in the park near your house. The police asked you to tell them who the criminal was. Use physical description to describe the criminal for the police. The police should be able to draw a picture of the criminal based on the description you give.
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2) Use physical description to compare two of your friends; one of your friends is tall, the other one is short. Your description should be so exact that the reader will be able to imagine what they look like.