1. DESCRIPTIVE(TION) PROSE
As the name suggests, description has to do with describing, and by doing this, one has to make the best use of Adjectives i.e. words that describe a noun. There are two sorts of descriptive writing; the objective and the impressionistic (subjective). The writer of an objective prose tries to give an account of something. He sees what he is describing as something in its own right. He looks at it from the outside and therefore, his attitude or feeling towards it is not import. The writer is like a camera.
But impressionistic description concentrates on the feelings that the described object arouses in the observer. The writer is more interested in making the reader feel rather than see. To do this, they must be sure of what their own feelings are about the object, so that; they can try to arouse the same feelings in the reader. The impressionistic writer often writes as if they were inside the thing they are writing about.
The two types of description are dependent of each other. The objective writer has feeling which they may come across and the impressionistic writer must also have factual description if what they are describing must seem real to the reader.
Objective description often begins with a short general picture of the entire thing described; then, some details are given. It’s often written impersonally as if the writer was not interested. E.g. you may write about a large house by stating facts about its size, qualities and excellent materials without any emotions.
An impressionistic description may be communicated directly or indirectly. The direct way is easier where the author describes the feelings itself like telling the reader that his amused by something although this does not make the reader amused. The indirect way is not for the writer to describe his feelings but rather, describe the object in such a way that will arouse in a reader feeling similar to his own, like describing what has amused him in such a way that makes the reader smile or laugh. In such a way, he would have communicated his feeling (amusement in this case) to us.
Impressionistic descriptions are not concerned with factually accurate picture like the objective description that minds about objective accuracy. They are concerned with feelings, attitudes and points of view. The writer can exaggerate, omit or even add information if it helps them do what they want to do. His not trying to tell us what something is but instead, what it means to them or how they feels about it.
Task 3:
Write two essays to differentiate between objective and impressionistic descriptions.
