Saturday, March 12, 2011

Description: The Art of Showing

Everyone has heard that showing is better than telling. Haven't we been told repeatedly that "a picture is worth a thousand words"? I think the allure about showing as a writing technique is that the reader gets to put the pieces together and draw their own conclusions about the information given. It's a puzzle to be solved and though we may get stumped, we really enjoy the challenge of figuring things out. Hopefully, this perspective will give some depth to your attitude about description.

Your task: Describe someone’s hands so we know what he or she does for a living (without you telling us).

My response: Her hands were broad and sturdy. Her squat fingers were gently bent like young saplings that had seen too much of an eastern wind. They were rough and calloused, the nails cropped short for her everyday work. Those dull and unadorned nails, naked to the elements, hid hints of cinnabar and turquoise in the cuticles and surrounding ridges of her knuckles. She looked at them in despair, knowing that no one-time application of Shea butter would make those worn hands presentable for the night's exhibition.

I know this is a late blog posting. Please forgive me as I was consumed with activities from my daytime job. So, because it is late, you have until 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, to post your response. Have fun with this assignment!

10 comments:

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  4. Her hands were soft and slender. Her knuckles on the right hand were darker then her left hand from the fraction of the table. The inside tip of the right hand have calloused from holding brushes. Her nails for the most part look good, but her hands are always dry from exfoliating others. Her hands work wonders for other, but are in desperate need of the same attention.

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  5. The palms of his hands were rough like sand paper and his fingers were gnarled like a piece of drift wood. His knuckles inflamed and looked blue and purple. The finger tips looked strong and big like he could break someones hand with a hand shake, yet his wrist looked puffing and swollen and this man could only give a weak hand shake. Staring at this mans hands made me feel the agony his hands have endured.

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  6. This persons hands are perfect they are never nervous or dirty they perform miracles. They have been through a lot of paper touching from the last ten years, lots of paper cuts and lots of test. These hands if right can be a blessing to someone and there family. Who's hands are these

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  7. His hands were firm,dirty,and felt like sand paper.Not a day in his life had he ever used cocoa butter. His long fat fingers were dry like the Sahara desert and deep cuts like the bottom of ocean due to being electrocuted by the wires and cut from cutting wires and climbing trees. Going down to the bottom of his fingers were thick calluses from grasping the shovel and the tree branches tightly. His nails were short like a moths life and under them was silicon from connecting wires and dirt from digging. His knuckles were rough from being dry. If it was not for his hands no yard would have bright lights for showing of you beautiful home in the mists of the night.

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  8. She has short,very clean nails. She may have occasional cuts on her fingers. She has to constantly wash her hands,so that her hands are completely sanitary. Her hands are covered with gloves while she creates nourishment for her clients.Her hands are always moving rapidly.She is a.....

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  9. He is muscle build, with real ruff hands he always have wood chippings on his hands skin always peeling


    shakita dickerson

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  10. His finger tips were layered of callous. He strung the strings daily until he perfected the sound of music.

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