10.1 Showing, Not Telling中级英语写作.pdf

Unit 10 Techniques for literary style 10.1 Showing, Not Telling Tell vs. Show • Te ll: t o g iv e inf o rmat io n v ag ue ly a nd ge ne ra lly , w hich paints a very loose, formless pict ure in t he reader’s mind. • By show ing specif ic details, t he w rit ing becomes much more vivid and intense. Example 1 Vague: “The weather was nice that morning.” T he adj ect iv e “nice ” is inte nse ly v ague , f a milia r, a nd bo ring . It does n ’t g iv e t he reader anyt hing to see or t hink about . S pec if ic : “T hat mo rning , t he s un w as hig h in t he s ky , a nd t he a ir was clear.” It bui lds o n t he f irst by prov id ing tw o s pec if ic det a i ls — t he he ig ht of t he s un, and t he c larity of t he air. T hese tw o details make it obv ious , ev e n w it hout te lling us, t hat t he day is nice . Example 2 “T hat mo r n i ng , ray s of s u n l ig ht s h i m me re d i n t he a i r , t he o n ly blemish against the vast, pure rim of the sky .” It describes t he s unlight more ex press iv e ly , but conf ines itse lf t o a pure ly v is ua l descript ion. “T h at mo r n i ng , he o pe ne d t he d o o r t o a b la s t of s u n l ig ht . He b l i n ke d h is e y e s a g a i ns t t he b l i n d i n g f la s h , b ut o p e n e d t h e m moments later, w hen he felt the cool, gent le brush of the w ind.” It n e v e r s h ow s t he m o r n i n g it s e lf . I n s t e a d , t h e e f f e c t of t h e s u n l i g ht o n a character is described. T he w ind is