dreaming, like those old watchdogs that bark while snoring. It creaked, it talked all by itself, lulled by the falls of the Morelle, whose sheet of water gave forth the sustained and musical note of an organ-pipe. Never had more widespread peace fallen over a happier corner of the earth."

- EMILE ZOLA, The Attack on the Mill.

ANALYSIS OF THE MODEL

1. Paragraph structure.

a. The first sentence states briefly and definitely the fundamental quality of the picture. Such a sentence is called a Topic Sentence. This fundamental quality gives unity to the paragraph, "The village was falling asleep." b. The other sentences enforce this quality. Note the words which express or suggest sleep.

c. The last sentence summarizes; that is, gives the general impression which the description is meant to convey: "Never had more widespread peace fallen over a happier world." Such a sentence is called a Summarizing Sentence.

2. The material used to develop the fundamental quality consists of:

Items of the landscape; of buildings, etc.

In the above model the wind and the water are the items emphasized and are, therefore, put in the main statements. The other items are subordinated by being mentioned in phrases and clauses. Prove this statement by a study of the description.

3. Devices used in the handling of the material.

By the term devices used in the handling of material we mean devices used for mentioning, with special vividness, certain details that enter into the picture. Many of these devices are what we call figures of speech, which are unusual modes of expression for the sake of greater emphasis, clearness, or beauty. In this description of the village we find two of these devices-personification and simile, both of which are explained in the next section.

CAUTION. It is important that the student remember the meaning of the term DEVICES USED IN THE HANDLING OF THE MATERIAL, for we shall use it again and again in our work in Description and Exposition.

100. Devices for the Vivifying of Details.-FIGURES OF SPEECH IN DESCRIPTION. We shall notice the various kinds of figures of speech incidentally as they occur in connection with particular models in our work on Description and Exposition. They are the most effective devices for mentioning the items of a picture, as they give strength and beauty as well as variety to a description. The special figures which need explanation here are the two found in the model just given-personification and simile.

I. Personification. When we speak of inanimate objects or abstract ideas as if they were living persons, we are using personification.

Examples:

"Ah, Fear! ah, frantic Fear!

I see I see thee near.

I know thy hurried step, thy haggard eye."

"For winter came: the wind was his whip.".

"Echo answered in her sleep

From hollow fields."

"Twilight gray

Had in her sober livery all things clad."

"Sport that wrinkled care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides."

"The stars, with deep amaze,
Stand fixed in steadfast gaze."

SUGGESTION.- Find examples of personification in the example of place-description quoted in section 99.

2. Simile. When we state that one object is like another in some one particular, we are using a simile. It should be remembered that two objects

thus compared must differ from each other in most of their characteristics. The pleasure derived from the use of this figure is due to the surprise we experience upon perceiving some point of likeness between things essentially dissimilar.

Examples:

"The women sang

Between the rougher voices of the men,
Like linnets in the pauses of the wind."

"And still I wore her picture by my heart,

And one dark tress; and all around them both Sweet thoughts would swarm as bees about their queen."

"I saw my father's face Grow long and troubled like a rising moon."

"But all was quiet: from the bastion'd walls
Like threaded spiders, one by one, we dropt."

"There sat along the forms, like morning doves
That sun their milky bosoms on the thatch,
A patient range of pupils."

SUGGESTION. Find two similes in the example of Motive I. (Description of place, § 99.)

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR DESCRIPTION

In writing a description upon Motive I., or any of the other motives that follow in this chapter, observe the rules given below:

I.

First determine the fundamental quality you intend to assign to your picture.

2.

Then consult the dictionary for a list of synonyms for the word which expresses the fundamental quality you have decided upon. Keep this list of words or expressions at hand as you write a paragraph and use them when needed in mentioning the items with which you intend to enforce the fundamental quality.