Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse ), along with exposition , argumentation , and narration .
7-436: Fiction-writing specifically has modes such as action , exposition, description, dialogue , summary, and transition. Author Peter Selgin refers to methods , including action, dialogue, thoughts, summary, scenes , and description. Currently, there is no consensus within the writing community regarding the number and composition of fiction-writing modes and their uses. Description is the fiction-writing mode for transmitting
14-475: A matter of ongoing discussion among writers and writing coaches. A purple patch is an over-written passage in which the writer has strained too hard to achieve an impressive effect, by elaborate figures or other means. The phrase ( Latin : "purpureus pannus") was first used by the Roman poet Horace in his Ars Poetica (c. 20 BC ) to denote an irrelevant and excessively ornate passage; the sense of irrelevance
21-549: A mental image of the particulars of a story. Together with dialogue, narration, exposition, and summarization, description is one of the most widely recognized of the fiction-writing modes. As stated in Writing from A to Z , edited by Kirk Polking, description is more than the amassing of details; it is bringing something to life by carefully choosing and arranging words and phrases to produce the desired effect. The most appropriate and effective techniques for presenting description are
28-417: A wide range of subgenres, such as spy novels , adventure stories, tales of terror, intrigue (" cloak and dagger "), and mysteries . These kinds of stories utilize suspense , the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or the solution to a mystery of a thriller . The intricacies of human relationships or
35-427: Is also related to non-literary media including comic books , graphic novels (such as manga ), anime , action film , action television series, and action games . It includes martial arts action, extreme sports action, car chases and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat , suspense action, and action comedy , with each focusing in more detail on its own type and flavor of action. It is usually possible to identify
42-469: Is normally absent in modern usage, although such passages are usually incongruous. By extension, purple prose is lavishly figurative, rhythmic, or otherwise overwrought. In philosophy, the nature of description has been an important question since Bertrand Russell 's classical texts. Action (fiction) Action fiction is a genre in literature that focuses on stories involving high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes
49-510: The nuances of philosophy and psychology are rarely explored in action fiction, typically being fast-paced mysteries that merely seek to provide the reader with an exhilarating experience. Action fiction can also be a plot element of non-literary works such as graphic novels and film. Action genre is a form of fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. The action genre
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