description

Description of a person(II)

描写文(description)

描写旨在用语言文字为人物(people)、地点(places)、物体(objects)、景物(scenes)或事件(events)勾勒出一幅幅画面。

与记叙文(narration)不同的是，描写文不必遵循时间顺序(chronological sequence)，但逻辑顺序(consecution)仍然是必不可少的。描写有时单独出现，但在更多情况下，描写是与记叙和说明(exposition)交织使用的。事实上，这三

种写作类型在写作实践中很难被完全区分开来。

描写可以分为两类：客观描写和主观描写。前者主要是为了传达信息，而后者除了传达信息外，更多的是为了激发想象，让读者感同身受。这两者描写，在写作中经常交织使用。

成功的描写可以为读者勾勒出一幅完整的画面，并在读者心中激发某种情感或感想。以下是成功进行描写文写作的一些技巧。

措词恰当(careful word choice)：恰当的措词可以使描写更逼真。

1.尽量使用具体明确的名词而非普通名词，运用词语准确表示一定的事物、情

感、意思等。例如用―柳树‖、―枫树‖、―杨树‖等来代替―树‖。把只有柱子和顶盖的较小建筑物称为―亭子（pavilion）‖；把供家里睡觉的建筑物称为―房间(room)‖；把租借给旅客住宿的建筑物称为―旅馆(hotel)‖。这样表达，就要比把供人歇息的建筑物笼统地用―房子‖这一词语表示准确得多。

2.动词的使用要准确恰当。比如：

那个黑人便抢过灯笼，一把扯下纸罩，裹了馒头，塞与老栓；一手抓过那钱，转身去了。

The black people then grabbed the lantern, and a pull off the paper mask, wrapped the steamed bread, plug to Lao Shuang; grasped the

money and turned around.

猪呼噜声(oink)狗吠（bark/bowwow）鼠吱吱声（squeak）

牛哞哞声（moo）马嘶（neigh）羊咩咩叫(baa)

鸭子嘎嘎叫（quack）公鸡叫（doodle）猫喵喵叫（memo）

鸟唧唧叫声（chirp-chirp/tweedle）青蛙或乌鸦叫（croak）

枪声（bang）电话声（ring）

I love you & I loved you（我曾经爱过你）

I wandered lonely as a cloud我如行云独自游

I leave softly, gently,

Exactly as I came.

I wave to the western sky,

Telling it goodbye softly, gently.

Green grass on the bank

Dances on a watery floor

软泥上的青荇，油油的在水底招摇

I leave quietly

As I came quietly.

Gently I flick my sleeves

Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away–Goodbye Again, Cambridge

Being a cloud in the sky

On your heart lake I cast my figure.

You don’t have to wonder.

Nor should you cheer

In an instant I will disappear.–Fortuitousness

3.形容词的使用要生动清新。比如：

How plenteous! How spiritual! How resume! – Night on the Prairies 多么丰饶！多么崇高！多么简明哟！

表女生的词语：清纯，干净，纯洁，天然，芙蓉出水，沉鱼落雁, 倾国倾城gorgeous, pretty, beautiful, cute, elegant, attractive, vogue, consummate delicate and pretty 清秀

nation beauty and heavenly fragrance 国色天香

drop dead gorgeous沉鱼落雁

1，如果说一个女孩脸长的很漂亮，身材也是非常的好，可以用"hot"，也就是好的没话说了。

2，如果一个女孩脸长的不怎么好，但身材十分的出众，可以用"sexy"，就表示很性感。

3，如果是脸长的非常漂亮，而身材却很一般的话，可以用"adorable"，这个单词的意思是―可爱的‖。

4，如果脸和身材都张的很一般，那就用"lovely"，虽然和"adorable"一样都有―可爱‖的意思，但是感觉就差一个等级了。

5，那如果一个女孩太一般般了，挑不出什么优点，那我们就用"have something" 6，如果一个女孩长的很丑，在英语里面有一个很婉转的词组可以表达，那就是aesthetically challenging，翻译过来就是―在美学上具有挑战意义的‖

表男生的形容词：charming,agreeable, glamorous, smart, gentler, brilliant, humorous, pretty and charming俊俏

表示品格的一些词：friendly, careful,gentle, hard-working, independent, just, kind-hearted, confident,active, creative,aggressive,remarkable, honest, kind-hearted, trust worthy,objective, reliable, sensible明白事理的I take size seven shoes. 我穿七号鞋。

I have black hair, brown eyes, and a beak nose.

我长着黑头发，棕色的眼睛和鹰勾鼻。

I started to lose a bit of hair since I turned forty.

我过了四十岁之后，就开始掉头发了。

I was already more than one meter and seventy centimeter tall when I was aged twelve. 我十二岁时身高就超过170厘米了。

4.传递感觉的细节：在有效的描写文中，许多特定的细节都是感官方面的。作

者经常不止于从视觉方面进行描写，还从听觉、嗅觉、味觉或触觉等多方面进行描写。这些具体的感官细节有助于在读者心中建立起生动的形象。对细节的选择由作者写作的主题、目的和对象来决定。合理的情节组织是非常重要的。在描写文中，细节可以按照空间的、时间的或是累进的顺序加以组织。

5.比喻：比喻可以使所塑造的形象更为生动，还可以传递出作者的感情。最常

用的比喻是明喻（simile）、暗喻(metaphor)和拟人(personification)。

明喻是一种以like或as开头的直接或显而易见的比喻。

如：He was as poor as a church mouse.他一贫如洗。

She danced and sang happily like a lark.

她快乐地又唱又跳，就像一只百灵鸟。

隐喻是一种比较间接的、微妙的比喻。它用某个单词或短语的意思代替另一个意思以代替两者之间强烈的相似之处。

如：She is the eyeball of her parents. 她是父母的掌上明珠。

Our eyes are the windows of our soul.眼睛是心灵的窗户。

They lived near the mouth of the river.他们就住在河口边上。

泥人：拟人就是把一种事物或一个想法看作是人或是更具有人的特征来对待。如：The tall tree on top of the hill seemed to be fondling the white clouds with its fingers of long boughs.

山顶上高高的树像是在用手指般的树枝抚弄着白云。

The flowers breathed out their sweet perfume.花儿吐出了芬芳。

Fate won’t smile to you unless you smile to fate.

命运不会向你微笑，除非你向她微笑。

The wind whistled in the yard, and the rain pounded on the window.

风在院中呼啸，雨敲打着窗户。

Sample 1

Kittredge of Harvard

The sight of him as he came to the ten-o’clock class was in itself something that had to be recognized as dramatic. In the pleasant autumn or spring, men stood high on the steps or out on the turf in front and watched the direction of Christ Church to see who could catch the first glimpse of him.

― There he comes!‖ somebody called, and then everybody who was in a position to see watched him as he hurried breezily along-a graceful, tallish man in very light gray suit and grey fedora hat, with a full square bearded at least as white as his suit, who moved with energy, and smoked passionately at a big cigar. Students used to say that he smoked an entire cigar while he walked the short distance along the iron fence of the old-burying ground and across the street to Johnston GateBut he came through the gate he tossed the remnant of his cigar into the shrubbery with a bit of flourish, and the students still outside hurried in and scrambled up the long stairway in order to be in their places-as he liked-before he himself entered. If any of them were still on the stairway when he came in at the outer door like a gust, (hey gave way) and he pushed up past them, and into the good-sized room and down the aisle to the front, threw his hat on the table in the corner, mounted the two steps to the

platform, looked about with a commanding eye, and (there was sudden silence and unrestrained expectancy).

文中描述的那位老师给我们留下了深刻的印象：

1.全文仅仅围绕这位与众不同的老师，文中的每句话都是为描写这位老师服务

的：整洁的仪表，独特的习惯，突出的个性以及对学生的影响。

2.作者选取了一个很好的角度来描写。尽管全文没有出现一句主人公说的话，

但是从他和学生的行动中却可以对他有很大的了解。他把自己展现在读者面前，同时读者也以一面很大的镜子—他的学生—中看见他。

3.细节选得恰到好处。老师一边走路一边抽烟的特征，与他花白胡子相称的灰

色浅顶软呢帽和浅灰色西服直接显示了老师的性格特点。

4.作者很好地利用了视觉，通过精心节选得措辞，把这个―走路像一阵风‖的老

师的性格特征像一幅生动的画面一样印在读者脑海之中。他―迈着轻快地步伐走来‖―起劲地抽着‖，把―剩下的烟蒂扔到‖灌木丛中，并―挤过‖那些正在―争先恐后地爬上长长的楼梯‖

Practice 1

The following essay presents an incomplete picture of Maria. What is missing? Add one more paragraph in the right place to make the description complete.

My girlfriend, Maria

Maria Herrera is a very nice person. She is a friend from school. She is also my girlfriend. I think that we are going to be friends for a long time.

Maria is 19 years old. She is about 5 feet, 3 inches tall. Her eyes are brown and her face is round. Her hair is brown and curly. She wears it short. She has a very pleasant smile and she always has a twinkle in her eyes. She doesn’t wear glasses. She thinks that she is fat, but she isn’t. She is always on diet. She always looks nice. She wears dresses and skirts to school because she goes to work in a department store after class. She can’t wear jeans to work.

Maria’s future plan s are a little uncertain. However, she thinks that she is going to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Then, perhaps she will go on to graduate school. I am sure that she will be successful. I also hope that she is going to include me in her future plans!

Practice 2

The following is a student essay on his father, which has one problem or another. Read it carefully and then answer the questions given at the end of the essay.

My Reasonable Father

I had a happy childhood because I have a happy family. My childhood pals all admire me because I have a kind father. His sense of responsibility, his great love for children, and, above all, his strong reasoning power impress everybody who knows him. One unforgettable incident which happened in my high school days proved the soundness of his judgment.

Both my elder sister and I thought our father was a careless person. Mother always complained that he left her behind whenever she went shopping. Also, he seemed not as careful as my mother with regard to our daily life.

How did I change my idea about my father?

At the end of my junior high school years, I was faced, for the first time, with a big decision-deciding on the senior high school that I would like to go. I realized how important as it could change the rest of my life. It was easy for most of my classmates to make the decision with the help of the teacher and their parents. However, as my father respected my own decision, I got into real trouble.

I was a top student in my school, naturally I should choose the best senior high school in the city-the Provincial Experimental High School. It happened to be where my father spent his high school years. When I was still very young, he often said to me, ―Son, I want you to have the best education. You know my old school that I often mention. I hope you can go

there.‖ Therefore, it had been rooted in my heart. Whenever we passed the school by bus, he would point to it and tell me something about it. How I longed to go to this school!

So I wrote down my wish in the informal application form with certainty. However, as soon as my teacher noticed it, she raised her brows. She asked me to find her after class. I knew that few students dared choose this school, because they couldn’t take the risk. If they failed to do an excellent job in the coming exams and were rejected by this school, they would lose the chance for another good school. The teacher said, ―I’m not sure about your choice. You should know there are so many students to compete for the limited opportunities. On the other hand, you can easily go to No.2 High School…‖ I understand the teacher meant to help me, but I didn’t want to give up a dream that had been fostered for so long. Then she talked with me for a few more times in the following days.

I was in a real dilemma. One day after school, as soon as I got home, I banged my door shut and threw my school bag and myself into bd. My mind was in a mess. My father stepped into my room quietly and patted me affectionately on the shoulder. He said, ―I noticed that you are ups et these days. You must be worried about your choice. You can’t make a satisfactory decision yet, right? Son, take it easy.‖ I raised my head slowly and said, ―Dad, I want to make a change of my choice. I will give up my dream of going to your school. Perhaps I can be accepted by No.2 High

School quite easily. I can’t bear the stress any longer.‖―Is it your own choice?‖ I hesitate for some time and then shook my head. ―No, no, absolutely not. I don’t know what to do after my teacher talked to me. I come to feel that she is right. I only want to make a wise decision. In fact, I have failed.‖ ―Son, you have grown up. I won’t force you to do anything that you are not willing to do. My responsibility is to guide you to do the right things in the right way. Try to be headstrong. Persist in what you believe to be right until the end. Self-confidence and strong mind are essential to your future success. Try to make the decision as soon as possible.‖ Suddenly, I was full of confidence and knew what I should do. At length, I kept my choice and hit the target.

My father isn’t a real careless man. He is always helpful in handlingbig affairs. The influence he has given me is great, and I’m very proud of having such a cool-headed father.

Question for study:

1)What is the thesis of this essay?

2)Is this a typical essay of description?

3)What part is conspicuously out of unity?

4)Does the author use any particular language devices to help specially

effect?

5)What is the conclusion of the essay?

Practice 3

Write a description of your own father. Please use what he says and does, besides other means, to reveal his character. Try to avoid the problems you find in the above exercise.

Practice 4

Write a description of somebody you do not know well: a shop assistant, a bus conductor, or just a stranger down the street. Please focus on one or two of his/her features that strike you most.