Travel—whether to the next town
or across the globe—always provides unique opportunities
for descriptive writing. Trying to relate to the reader what
you have seen in the same vivid detail that you experienced
requires you to focus upon the
dominant impression with which you would like to leave the
reader. In the first essay below, the author’s hefty task is to help you understand
what it was like to be in what she calls the “rugged
and idiosyncratic” Big Sur. How does she build upon and
contribute to this impression by using metaphor, simile, and
analogy? The second essay tells us more about Branson, Missouri,
than it shows us. How does this author blend this
expository style with description? See if you can point to
places in the essay where description shades into exposition.
The following two travel essays combine the elements of a
descriptive essay to give the reader a sense of the authors’ travels:
one to Big Sur and the other to Branson,
Missouri.
4http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/09/wallraff_travel.htm 4http://www.monkeyplanet.com/articles/branson.htm In “The
Romance of Big Sur” the author writes that on this
trip she strove to experience her “senses fully” and
live “in the moment.” What evidence does she
provide to show that she had these sensory experiences? What
particular words or phrases seem to capture her experience
in a way that appeals to your senses?
1. In “American Tourist in Branson, Missouri” the
author conveys feelings for Branson that are far from
neutral. Does he dislike the city? What is he trying to
convey in
his description?
2. What is the dominant impression you
receive from both essays? What elements of writing (metaphor,
simile,
analogy) and what rhetorical styles (narrative, exposition)
can you identify that help contribute to that dominant
impression?
3. On the MonkeyPlanet.com homepage,
you’ll find links
to photo tours. Choose one, look through the images a few
times, and write a description of what you see. Focus on
creating a dominant impression through the use of both
concrete and specific details. Try to write one essay that
emphasizes
narrative and one that emphasizes exposition.
4http://www.monkeyplanet.com/index.html
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