UNIT 1 'UNDERSTANDING PROSE' :AN

INTRODUCTION
Structure

1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Prose and Poetry
1.2.1 Difference between Prose and Poetry
1.2.2 Denotation and Connotation
1.3 Varieties of Prose
1.3.1 Descriptive Prose
1.3.2 Narrative Prose
1.3.3 Expository Prose
1.4 Forms of Prose
1.4.1 Short Story
1.4.2 Novel
1.4.3 Essay, Letter, Travelogue
1.4.4 Biography, Autobiography, Diary and Speeches
1.5 Figures of Speech
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 Answers to Exercises

1.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit, we shall give you a general introduction to varieties of prose as

well as to different prose forms. If you read this unit carefully, you.should be
able to:

distinguish between prose and poetry;

define descriptive, narrative and expository prose;
describe fictional prose forms such as the short story and novel and
non-fictional prose such as the essay, letter, travelogue, biography ahd
autobiography, diary and speeches.
recognise various figures of speech.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

As you know, the present course is divided into two .The fitst-deals with ,
varieties of prose while the second concentrates on different prose forms. -
This unit aims to provide a general introduction to the varieties and forms of
prose. We shall discuss descriptive prose at some length in tde next three units '
in this block. A detailed study of each variety 'and form of prose will be '

provided in subsequent blocks. In short, the first unit of this block gives a
general introduction to the whole course. Units 2-4 deal specifically with
descriptive prose. *
I
,
In this unit, we shall first examine the difference between prose and poetry.
Descriptive Prose This will be followed by a discussion of three varieties of prose. We shall then
give you a brief introduction to the forms of prose that you will read in greater
detail later in the course.

Figurative language is used extensively by most writers. We have defined

some figures of speech so that you will be able to identify these in your
critical appreciation of literary prose.

You may like to skim through the unit first and then tackle each section in "
detail. We would advise you to read each section carefully before attempting
the exercises. These are fairly simple and you should complete them before
looking at the answers given at the end.

PROSE

VARIETIES OF PROSE FORMS OF PROSE

4
LETTER & TRAVELOGUE

BIOGRAPHY1
1\
EXPOSITORY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

DIARY & SPEECH

1.2 PROSE AND POETRY

The word"prose' is taken from the Latin 'prose' which means 'direct' or
'straight'. Broadly speaking, prose is direct or straightforward writing. In '
poetry, which is generally written in verse, a lot of things may be left to the
imagination of the reader.

In ordinary prose, the aim is to communicate one's thoughts and feelings.

What is important then is (a)pwhat one wants to say, and (b) how one chooses
to say it. What is said is the topic or subject of the composition. How it is
said is the style or manner in which the topic is expressed. The style, of
course, greatly depends upon who we are writing for and what sort of
personality we have. There are different topics and different styles. Whatever
the number of topics, they all come under one or another variety of prose and *

each variety may have a distinct style of its own.

What then are the different varieties of prose? For purposes of analysis we
have categorised them as (a) descriptive, (b) narrative and (c) expository. But
these three are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes you find more than one
variety in a piece of work. It d'epends on the skill and intention of the writer.
For example, in a novel or short story, we are likely to find all these varieties
of prose worked together in interesting and innovative combinations.

1.2.1 Difference between prose and Poetry

A French poet and critic, Paul Valeiy, compared prose to walking and poetry
to dancing. We walk in order to go from one place to another. We do it for a
particular purpose. When we walk for exercise, we do it for the improvement
of our health. In other words, walking is utilitarian, that is, it is something that I

we do with a purpose in view. We are talking about ordinary prose and not
literary prose. Ordinary prose is like walking. We use words to give
information, to get something done, to make someone do what we want
himher to do, and so on. In ordinary prose, what is important is the message.
But this is not the primary consideration in literary prose. What is important
also is how language is used, how ideas and emotions are communicated and
how the style suits the content.

When y ~ go u to see a dance, you are not interested in seeking information.

When you see a good dance, you enjoy it. In other words, the objective is
enjoyment and not mere information or instruction. When you like a particular
dance, you go and see that dance over and over again because every time you
see it, you get a new aesthetic experience. In the case of poetry and literary
prose, you have what you call your favourite poem or passage. You read it
several times and are not tired of it. If it is an ordinary prose passage, the
moment you understand the meaning, you don't want to read it again. In
literary prose as well as in poetry, it is not just the meaning that is important,
but also the medium. It is often difficult to say what is more important, the
form or the content. There is, however, an inseparability between the two, a
togetherness. This is exactly the meaning of the Hindi term 'Sahitya'.
'Sahitya' literally means 'togetherness'. It is the togetherness of the sound and
the sense, it is the togetherness of form and content. This is what is unique to
great literature.

In dancing, every gesture is important for the position that it occupies in that
particular dance. No one posture is more important or less important than
another. Each gesture contributes to the total effect of the dance. In the same
way, in a good poem or a piece of literary prose, every word is important for
the position it occupies in it, and contributes to its total effect. Again, in a
good dance, when the dance is on, you cannot distinguish the dancer from the
dance. In any great poem or passage of literary prose, it will be difficult to
separate the effect of the medium from the effect of the message. We do
paraphrase a poem, but the paraphrase of a poem is not the poem. A prose
piece can be paraphrased, summarised but not a poem. The meaning of the
poem is the meaning that you experience every time you read the poem and
you cannot say of any poem that you've exhausted it. .The 'literariness' of a
particular poem or prose piece lies partly in this quality. A literary piece
usually has layers of meaning, for the writer works through suggestion,
allusion, imagery and other such devices. The use of literary devices alone
does not make a piece "literary". What is important,is the way in whibh they .
contribute to the unity and thereby the final effect of the piece. Every time you
Descriptive Prose go to it, you get a new meaning, a new aesthetic delight. This is mainly
because of the connotation of the words in poetry.

1.2.2 Denotation and Connotation

Words have a denotative and also a connotative meaning. Denotation is the

literal meaning of a word. For example, when you say 'This is a stone', you
are referring to an object which is a stone. It is a clear statement. There is no
other meaning of this sentence. On the other hand, if we say 'she has a heart
of stone' the meaning changes. What does it mean? It simply means that she is
cruel or hard-hearted. In fact, it refers to all the qualities you associate with
the stqne. This is what we mean when we say that a word has several
connotations. The word 'home' means a place where one lives with one's
family. This is its primary meaning. But it suggests waimth, intimacy, family
security, comfort, affection. A house is also a place where one lives. Does it
have the same connotations of the word 'home'? No. Poetry is full of
connotations and our appreciation of poetry stems a great deal from the
connotations of words used in it. Now that we have discussed the difference
between denotation and connotation let us discuss the different varieties of
prose. But before doing so, it would be a good idea to work out a few
exercises.

Check Your Progress I

i) In about 3-4 sentences, enumerate some differences between prose and

poetry in the space provided below.
....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
....................................................................................
ii) What do you understand by the denotation and connotation of words?
, Can you think of some examples?
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1.3 VARIETIES OF PROSE

Now that you have seen the general difference between poetry and prose, let
us turn to the varieties of prose. Let us examine the nature and characteristics
of descriptive, narrative and expository prose briefly. These varieties will be
discussed in detail in subsequent units. Here we only aim to give you a
general introduction.

1.3.1 Descriptive Prose

Descrip'tive writing describes things as they are or as they appear to be. It can
be the description of a person or a landscape or an event. In descriptive
 writing, we are able to see things as they are or were seen or heard or 'Understanding Prose':
imagined by the describer. A good description translates the writer's An Introduction
observation into vivid details and creates an atmosphere of its own. Through
hisher description, the author tries to recreate what she has seen or imagined.
A fine description is a painting in words. Here is a description of Mr. Squeers
in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39):

Mr. Squeers' appearance was not prepossessing. He had but

one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two. The
eye he had was unquestionably useful, but decidedly not
ornamental: being of a greenish grey, and in shape resembling
the fan-light of a street door. The blank side of his face was
much wrinkled and puckered up, which gave him a very
sinister appearance, especially when he smiled, at which times
I

I his expression bordered closely on the villainous. His hair was

very flat and shiny, save at the ends, where it was brushed
stiffly up from a low protruding forehead, which assorted
well with his harsh voice and coarse manner. He was about
two or three and fifty, and a trifle below the middle size; he
wore a white neckerchief with long ends, and a suit of
scholastic black; but his coat sleeves being a great deal too
long, and his trousers a great deal too short, he appeared ill at
ease in his clothes, and as if he were in a perpetual state of
astonishment at finding himself so respectable.

Glossary

prepossessing: inspiring
puckered up: full of folds and wrinkles
sinister: wicked, evil
protruding: jutting out, projecting
scholastic: formall academic

This is a graphic description of the appearance of Mr. Squeers. The details are
so sharp that we can easily visualize the person. We are told about his height,
his eye, his face, hair, forehead and dress. A successful description, it enables
us to picture the person vividly. It is also a very enjoyable passage. Did you
notice the irony in 'He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in
favour of two'? The irony and subtle humour continue throughout the
passage so that the reader cannot help smiling to her1 himself. The eye is
further likened to 'the fan-light of a street door'- a very interesting and
unusual analogy. You. must also have noticed how carefully Dickens chooses
his words so that we can 'see' the hair that was 'very flat and shiny', 'hear'
his 'harsh voice' and so on. These then are some of the devices that you will
find used effectively in literary prose.

Here is another descriptive passage:

Ishtiaq Ali is a thin man of medium height. He looks older
than his age -- he is about S O . . ..Even after a long service, his
salary remains meagre. An unlettered man, his family
expanded in a big way -- he has nine children. (Pushp K. Jain,
'On the Ofttrodden Tracks', The Times of India, April 27,
1989).
Descriptive Prose Does this delight us in the same way that the previous passage did? Perhaps
not. Although it certainly does give us some information about Ishtiaq Ali.
Where is the difference? It is in the use of language. Here the language is
purely functional with bald statements aimed at providing information rather
than delight. In the earlier passage, it is a pleasure to read the sentences again
and again savouring their suggestiveness.

As we have seen, successful description makes you visualize the scene or. the
person. Generally, description is not an independent form of writing, that is, a
whole book will not consist of descriptions alone. It is often used as an aid to
narrative or expository writing. Its main purpose is to describe a sense
impression or a mo.od. We will discuss this in greater detail in the next three
units of this block.

1.3.2 Narrative Prose

A narrative tells us what happens or happened. It deals mainly with events.

In other words a narrative is a description of events. It may deal with external
or internal events. By internal events, we mean the thoughts, feelings andl
emotions of individuals. Narrative writing tries to recreate an actual
expqience or an imaginary one in a way that we are able to experience it
mentally. We lose ourselves in the characters and events of the narrative
temporarily. Narratives can deal with the facts or fiction. Autobiographies,
biographies, letters, travelogues, diaries and speeches are narratives of fact.
The short story and novel come under the category of narrative fiction.

In a narrative, we are carried alpng the stream of action. When we narrate ra

story, we concentrate on the sequence of events. It is the action that grips the
attention of the reader. The Rarnayana and the Mahabharata are examples o f
narrative writing. Narration is concerned with action and actors, it may make
use of description but description is secondary. Action, characters and setting
are the elements that are woven into a pattern to make the narrative
interesting. Rudyard Kipling mentioned the ingredients of a narrative in the
following verse:

I keep six honest-serving men

They taught me all I know:
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who

What happens? Why does it happen? When does it happen? How does it
happen? Where does it happen and to whom does it happen? All these
questions are answered satisfactorily in a narrative. What makes a narrative
interesting is not just what is said but the way it is said. Look at this passage
from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1837). Here we shall read about
the trial of the Artful Dodger when he is produced in court on charges of pick-
pocketing.
It was indeed Mr Dawkins, who, shuffling into the office with
the big coat sleeves tucked up as usual, his left hand in his
pocket, and his hat in his right hand, preceded the jailer, with a
rolling gait altogether indescribable, and, taking his place in
the dock, requested in an audible voice to know what he was
placed in that El ere disgraceful sitivation for.
 'Hold your tongue, will you?' said the jailer. 'Understanding Prose':
'I'm an Englishman, ain't I?' rejoined the Dodger; 'where are An Introduction
my privileges?'
'You'll get your privileges soon enough,' retorted the jailer,
1 'and pepper with O em.'

1 'We'll see wot the Secretary of State for the Home Affairs has
got to say to the beaks, if I don't', replied Mr Dawkins. 'Now
then! Wot is this here business? I shall thank the madg'strates
to dispose of this here little affair, and not to keep me while
they read the paper for I've got an appointment with a
genelman in the city, and as I'm a man of my word and very
punctual in business matters, he'll go away if I ain't there to
my time, and then pr'aps there won't be an action, for damage
against as kept me away. Oh, no, certainly not!'
At this point the Dodger, with a show of being very particular
with a view to proceedings to be had thereafter, desired the
jailer to communicate 'the names of them two files as was on
the bench', which so tickled the spectators, that they laughed
almost as heartily as Master Bates could have done if he had
heard the request.
'Silence there!' cried the jailer.
'What is this?' inquired one of the magistrates.
'A pick-pocketing case, your worship.'
'Has the boy ever been here before?'
'He ought to have been, a many times,' replied the jailer. 'He
has been pretty well everywhere else. 1 know him well, your
worship.'
'Oh! You know me, do you?' cried the Artful, making a note
of the statement. 'Wery good. That's a case of deformation of
character anyway.'
Here there was another laugh, and another cry of silence.
'Now then, where are the witnesses?' said the clerk.
'Ah! That's right,' added the Dodger. 'Where are they? 1
should like to see Oem.' This wish was immediately gratified,
for a policeman stepped forward who had seen the prisoner
. attempt the pocket of an unknown gentleman in a crowd, and
indeed take a handkerchief therefrom, which, being a very old
one, he deliberately put back again, after trying it on his own
countenance. For this reason, he took the Dodger into custody
as soon as he could get near him, and the said Dodger being
searched, had upon his person a silver snuff-box, with the
owner's name engraved upon the lid. This gentleman had been
discovered on reference to the Court Guide, and being then
and there present, swore that the snuff-box was his, and that
he had missed it on the previous day, the moment he had
disengaged himself from the crowd before referred to. He had
also remarked a young gentleman in the throng particularly
active in making his way about, and that young gentleman was
the prisoner before him.
'Have you anything to ask this witness, boy?' said the
magistrate.
'I wouldn't abase myself by descending to hold no
con ,?~rsationwith him,' replied the Dodger.
'Have you anything to say at all?'
Descriptive Prose 'Do you hear his worship ask if you have anything to say?'
inquired the jailer, nudging the silent Dodger with his elbow.
'Ibeg your pardon,' said the Dodger, looking up with an air of
abstraction. 'Did you redress yourself to me, my man?'
'I never see such an out-and-out young wagabond, your
worship,' observed the officer with a grin. 'Do you mean to
say anything, you young shaver?'
'No,' replied the Dodger, 'not here, for this ain't the shop for
justice; besides which, my attorney is a-breakfasting this
morning with the Wice-President of the House of Commons;
but I shall have something to say elsewhere, and so will he,
and so will a very numerous and Uspectable circle of
acquaintance as'll make them beaks wish they'd never been
born, or that they'd got their footmen to hang Uem up to their
own hat-pegs afore they let Oem come out this morning to try
it on upon me. I'll -'
'There! He's fully committed!' interposed the clerk. 'Take him
away.'
'Come on,' said the jailer.
'Oh, ah! 1'11 come on,' replied the Dodger, brushing his hat
with the palm of his hand. 'Ah! (to the Bench), it's no use your
looking frightened; I won't show you no mercy, not a ha'porth
of it. You'll pay for this, my fine fellers. I wouldn't be you for
something! I wouldn't go free, now, if you was to fall down on
your knees and ask me. Here, carry me off to prison! Take me
away!'
This is a hilarious passage that tells us about the Artful Dodger's defiant
conduct at his trial ('I'm an Englishman: ain't I? ...where are my
priweleges?'). We respond at one level to the hilarious situation but at another
we also wonder: what should the poor do against such oppressive judicial
systems? ('This aint the shop of justice'). We also get a clear picture of the
Artful Dodger: his 'coat-sleeves tucked up', his 'hand in his pocket' and his
'rollingr gait' are described vividly at the outset. What then follows is a
dialogue full of ironical, witty and quick rejoinders by this habitual offender.
This is alternated with third person narration: "At this point the Dodger, with
a show of being very particular with a view to proceedings to be had
thereafter, desired the jailer to communicate 'the names of them two files as
was on the bench'; which so tickled the spectators, that they laughed almost as
heartily as Master Bates could have done if he had heard the request". In
short, what we wish to point out is that narrative writing makes use of
narration as well as description. In order to dramatize the situation, dialogues
and conversations are introduced so that the writer is able to recreate the
situation and communicate the experience.
1.3.3 Expository Prose
~x~osito& writing deals in definition, explanation or interpretation. It
includes writing on science, law, philosophy, technology, political science,
history and literary criticism. Exposition is a form of logical presentation. Its
primary object is to explain and clarify. It presents details concretely and
exactly. Expository writing is writing that explains. But we are not interested
in writing that merely explains. We are interested in expository writing that
can be read as literahre. The following is a piece of expository prose:
 In the leg there are two bones, the tibia andfibula. The tibia or 'Understanding Prow':
shin-bone is long and strong and bears the weight of the body, An Introduction
The fibula or splint bone is an equally long but much slenderer
bone, and is attached to the tibia as a pin is to a brooch.
(Leonard Hill, Manual of Human Physiology)
I
This piece clearly defines the two bones, the tibia and the fibula. But can this
be read as literature? Now let us look at another piece of expository prose.
I
i Now mark another big difference between the natural slavery
of man to Nature and the unnatural slavery of man to man.
I
I Nature is kind to her slaves. If she forces you to eat and drink,
I she makes eating and drinking so pleasant that when we can
11 afford it we eat and drink too much. We must sleep or go mad:
but then sleep is so pleasant that we have great difficulty in
getting up in the morning. And firesides and families seem so
pleasant to the young that they get married and join building
societies to realize their dreams. Thus, instead of resenting our
natural wants as slavery, we take the greatest pleasure in their
satisfaction. We write sentimental songs in praise of them. A
I tramp can earn his supper by singing Home, Sweet Home.
f
The slavery of man to man is the very opposite of this. It is
hateful to the body and to the spirit. Our poets do not praise it;
they proclaim that no man is good enough to be another man's
master. The latest of the great Jewish prophets, a gentleman
named M m , spent his life in proving that there is no
extremity of selfish cruelty at which the slavefy of man to man
will stop if it be not stopped 'by law. You can see for yourself
,that it produces a state of continual civil war- called the class
war-between the slaves and their masters, organized as Trade
Unions on one side and Employers' Federations on the other.
(G.B.Shaw, 'Freedom'--one of% series of BBC Radio Tdks-
18 June, 1935 in Modern Prose, Michael Thorpe, pp 147-48)
There is a clear difference between the .two passages. Shaw puts across his
I argument logically and convincingly. He first talks about the natural slavery
of man to Nature by giving a series of examples. He 'then contrasts this with
the unnatural slavery of man to man. By use of contrast, this argument is
fuaher strengthened. The result is that difficult concepts like freedom and
slavery are readily ,understood. What is, however, remarkable is that his use of
simple language, tongue-in-cheek manner and conversational style
immediately strikes a sympathetic and receptive Chord in the reader. These
two .passages must have given you some idea about the difference between
literary and non-literary expository writing. The diffkrent varieties of
expository wqting will be discussed in greater detail in Block 3.

I Check Ysur Progress I1

Read the following passages and name the dominant variety of prosp
that you find in each, descriptive, expasitory and narrative:
(a) Sambo of the bandy legs slanimed the carriage-door on his
young weeping mistress. He sprang up behind €he carriage.
'Stop!' cried Miss Jemima, rushing to the gate w i a a parcel.
'It's some sandwiches, my dear', said she to Amelia.
Descriptive Prose 'You may be hungry, you know; and Becky, Becky Sharp,
here's a book for you that my sister - that is, I - Johnson's
Dictionary, you know; you must not !cave us without that.
Good-bye. Drive on, coachman God bless you.'
And the kind creature retreated into the garden, overcome with
emotions. But, lo! and just as the coach drove off, Miss Sharp
put her pale face out of the window, and actually flung the
book back into the garden.
W.M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1847-48)

(b) Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown
into relief by poor dress. Her hand and wrist were so finely
formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than
those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters;
and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to
gain the more dignity from her plain garments, which by the
side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine
quotation from the Bible, -- or from one of our elder poets, -- in
a paragraph of today's newspaper.
George Eliot, Middlemarch ( 1 87 1-72)
...........................................................................

(c) The general mistake among us in Educating our Children is

that in our Daughters we take care of their persons and neglect
their minds, in our Sons, we are so intent upon adorning their
minds, that we wholly neglect their bodies. It is from this that
you shall see a young body celebrated and admired in all the
Assemblies about Town; when her elder Brother is afraid to
come into a Room. From this ill Management it arises that we
frequently observe a Man's life is half spent before he is taken
notice of, and a Woman in the prime of her years is out of
fashion and neglected.
(You must have noticed that certain words are written in
capitals. Steele often followed this convention for emphasising
those particular words).
Richard Steele 'The Education of Girls'
The Spectaror No. 66. R. Steele and J. Addison.
Selections from'the Tatler and the Spectator (Penguin 1982.)

1.4 FORMS OF PROSE

The division of prose into three kinds - descriptive, narrative and expository,
is a rough one. You may find good description in narrative writing. When you
explain, you may also describe and narrate to make your explanation
effective. The three divisions are not rigid. A good writer may use a little 'Understanding Prose':
description here, a little narration there, and a bit of exposition in another An Introduction
place. A knowledge of the three varieties is useful in that you can appreciate
how the writer makes use of one or more of them effectively. You would
realize that they are very often used in combination and they rarely exist
alone.

Having discussed the different kinds of writing, let us discuss briefly the
different literary forms in prose. Some of the prose forms are the novel, short
story, essay, letter, travelogue, biography and autobiography, diary and
speeches. Let us look at each of these f o h s briefly now. They will be
discussed in detail in subsequent blocks.

1.4.1 Short Story

A short story is not a novel in an abridged form. A short story is complete in

itself. Therefore a short story writer must have great skill to achieve an
impression of completeness in a few pages. The characters and incidents are
sketched in a few effective strokes. A short story thus has intensity and a
singleness of purpose. There is no single acceptable definition of a short story.
All that we can say is that it is short, has a plot and character(s) and has a
beginning, a middle and an end. According to one definition, a short story is
'a relatively short'narrative which is designed to produce a single dominant
effect and which contains the elements of drama'. The aim of a good short
story is to make the reader feel, to make h i d her enter into the experience of
the characters. You must have read short stories in magazines as well as in
anthologies. For a more detailed discussion of the short story as a literary
form, please turn to Block IV, Unit 12.
1.4.2 Novel
Like the short stocy, it is difficult to define a novel. When we talk about a
.novel, we usually mean a piece of fiction, written in prose and of a c e r t h
length. A novel is an individual vision of the novelist. It is a picture of life as
viewed by the writer. It has a story which.tells us what happened and a plqt
which tells us how it happened:E.M. Forster, an English novelist, said this of
the difference between a story and a plot: 'The King died and the Queen died'
is a stary. 'The King died and then the Queen died of grief is a plot. The
differen& is quite clear from this example, in the sense that there is a cause',
and effect situation.
The plot and characters in a good novel leave a lasting. impression on the
reader. A good novel gives us an ins'ight into the world and ourselves; it is full
of vitality'and-humdnity and appealstto human sensibilities. The stfle varieh
from oie novelist to another. Each novel bears the dgnature'of thk novelist. A
good short story.is like a small garden. A fine novel is like a forest. We will
discuss.the characteristics and types of novels in Block 5 , Unit 17.
.,
1.4.3 ;; ~ 6 6t & , ~. i. t t k rTravelogue
* '
. .
An essay i's' a piece ,of prose composition usually of moderate length:-The
word 'kssay' derives from theFrench word essai or attempt. It "attempts" to
1

thrqw sonie light on the subject.Qnder discussion.

t

There arc,'twd kinds of essays. One is informal or personal and the other
.. is
' .
forrqal. You can saylanything you like in an informal essay so long as it i s
Descriptive Prose interesting and pleasing to the reader. It is written in a light style. Its purpose
is to delight and entertain the reader. The style of the essay is generally
familiar and conversational. The subjects can often be light such as in
'Apology for Idlers', 'On Tremendous Trifles', 'On Bores' and so on.

A formal essay is a serious one and it weighs, evaluates and judges. It

discusses the merits and the demerits of the topic in question. The style is
objective and serious. A good essay however, is balanced, thoughtful and not
biased. The judgement is based on facts. .
You will read three different essays in Block 6.

-
Letter

Another form of non-fictional prose is the letter. On a personal level, a letter

is a spontaneous expression of one's self and on a social level, letters hold up
a mirror to the age in which they are written. Letter writing came to be
recognized as a literary form in England during the Renascence when critics
came in touch with the works of Seneca, Cicero and Guevara. A good public
lettar is a literary pikce of work that explores an issue, idea, impression or
interpretation. It has a focused point and has both informative value and
a e h t i c appeal.

Travelogue

What is a travelogue? It is a piece of writing about travel. It is written in a

style that is both interesting and informative. The passion for knowledge and
about other countries has always driven men to embark upon land travels and
sea-voyages to distant lands, the accounts of which have been left by them for
posterity. Hence the history of travelogues is as old as the history of man's
travels. These accounts serve as important documents about the life, culture
and history of the places they are written about.

1.4.4 Biography, ~ u t o b i o ~ r a bDiary

h ~ , and Speeches

A biography is the story of the life of an individual. Our concern here is with
biography as a piece of literature. A good biography usually tries to project an
objective picture of the life of a particular person. It avoids the temptation
either to praise too much or to be too severe and critical. In this kind of
writing, the writer selects the salient features of a particular life and gives
them a shape. It tries to make the reader share the hopes, the fears, the
interests and aspirations of that person.

In an autobiography, the writer attempts to reveal selected experiences of

hisher own life in retrospect. Here the picture presented is necessarily
subj~ective.It presents the events and impressions of the past as recollected by
the writer at the time s h e is writing the autobiography. It cannot be a
complete account of one's life, as the future has still to be lived.

The autobiographies of Gandhiji and Nehru are good exam~lesof this form of
writing. In Block 7, you will read excerpts from famous biographies and
autobiographies.
Diary 'Understanding Prose':
An Introduction
A diary belongs to the autobiographical genre of writing. It is a literary form
in which the writer maintains a regularly kept record of his or her own life and
thoughts. As a genre it has been practiced for over five hundred years. The
diary is also a valuable historical document of an individual life and gives us
written evidence of the historical, social and political circumstances of a
particular period.

Speeches

A speech is a spoken communication or expression of thought in prose

addressed to an audience. It presents the personal viewpoint of the speaker in
a convincing manner, on a subject that is of universal importance. A good
speech is not delivered with the aim to excite or rouse the audience. Rather it
is made to inspire and persuade the hearers to think along the lines the speaker
wishes them to. A power-packed speech is one that is charged with the sturdy
conviction the speaker has in hisher beliefs.

Check Your Progress I11

Fill in the blanks:

Our teacher told us that there are ...................varieties of prose.

Broadly, they can be categorised as .............................
............................. and ....................... We are also told that
there are various.. .......................of prose. In school, I remember
reading from an anthology of short................ The one I liked best,
was the one about the diamond necklace. Recently, I have started
reading.. .............. This is another prose.. .................. that I enjoy
thoroughly even though some.. .............are rather long. I have also
read.. .......... though I must admit that I've written quite a few as part
of composition at school and prefer reading short stories and novels.
Reading about the lives of others is very interesting and I make it a
point to borrow ..............from the library. Some day I will write
my ............................. Some other forms are ...........................
.........................., ..................... and ...........................

1.5 FIGURES OF SPEECH

Let us now discuss some of the more commonly used figures of speech. This
will help you identify them when you are analysing a particular passage. Is it
enough to identify figures of speech? No. We must also be able to say why the
writer has used them and to what effect.

Figures of Speech

Let us consider this scenario. Deeply in love, a young man tells his friend:
'My girlfriend is very beautiful'. Without going into the question of whether
tk~ young lady in question was indeed beautiful or not, let us consider the
sentence. It is clearly a straightforward statement. On the other hand, Robert
Bums (1759-96), a Scottish poet, says the same thing but in more poetic
Descriptive Prose words: 'My love is like a red red rose'. This is what we would call figurative
use of language. In other words, the poet is making use of a figure of speech, a
simile in this case, which we shall discuss a little later. First, let us be clear
a b u t what figurative language is. By comparing the above sentences, you
must have got an idea about what a figure of speech is. The first statement
gives us the literal meaning whereas in the second, words are used in a way
that is different from their literal meaning.

Why do writers use figurative language? In order to draw attention to the

language and to communicate the experience more effectively. For example,
when we read 'My love is like a red red rose', the sentence evokes images of a
beaut2ful red rose and a very young rosy-cheeked girl who is as beautiful as
'.
this exquisite flower. Do poets alone use figures of speech? No. Figures of
speecb are used in all types of writing: prose, poetry, drama. In fact, we too
use figurative language in our daily conversation. When we say, 'He drinks
like a fish' or 'It's raining cats and dogs', we are using figurative language.

We shall now briefly discuss some of the more common figures of speech:
simile, metaphor; image; symbol; personification; metonymy; synecdoche;
apostrophe; hyperbole; understatement; irony.
I
Simile

A simile is a comparison between different terms belonging to different

classes for the purpose of describing one of them. The comparison is usually
made by the use of connectives such as 'like' or 'as'. For example, when we
say 'Bs sweet as honey' or 'white like snow', we are using similes. But if we
say 'Ram is like Shyam', is this a simile? No. Because Ram and Shyam
belorig to the same class, i.e., male human beings.
Metaphor
Broadly speaking, a metaphor is also a comparison. But here there is no direct
comparison as in a simile. Nor are any connectives such as 'like' and 'as'
used. The writer uses an' expression which describes one thing by stating
another. For example, we can say 'The road snaked its way up the mountain'.
Here the word 'snaked' is used metaphorically. The word snaked suggests a
winding path. You must have noticed that there is no direct comparison
between the snake and the course of the road. The comparison with the snake
is indirect and implied.

Image
An image is a visual picture evoked by the use of either a word or phrase.
Writers use imagery to make descriptive writing more effective; Does an
image only refer to the visual? No, an image can also refer to the sense of
taste, smell, touch and hearing. An image is usually written in the form of a
simile or metaphor. For example:
There is a garden in her face,
Where roses and white lilies grow.
What a beautiful and vivid word-picture is evoked by these .
lines! Do you
think this is a simile or metaphor? It is a metaphor, isn't it? .
Symbol 'Understanding Prose':
An Introduction
An image is a description that enhances the significance of a literary work. A
symbol is something that stands for something else. A dove is a symbol of
peace. It is a concrete expression of an abstract concept such as peace. A
literary symbol is not simply descriptive like an image. It usually has a range
of meanings. In Bleak House, a novel by Charles Dickens, we have 'Fog
everywhere. Fog up the river, fog down the river. ....' Fog here is the symbol
of confusion, obscurity and the endless delays caused by outdated legal
practices.

Personification

This involves giving human characteristics, powers or feelings to objects or to

abstract qualities. As in a metaphor, a comparison is implied. The purpose is
to make the description more vivid and concrete. The writer speaks of
something which is non-human as it were human. For example, 'The sun
traced his footsteps across the sky' is a more poetic way of expressing the
passing of a day. Joseph Conard has personified the West Wind in The Mirror
of the Sea, 'The West Wind reigns over the seas surrounding the coasts of
these kingdoms.. ..' Conrad then goes on to conceive of the West Wind as a
despotic ruler with the capacity for doing good as well as evil.

Metonymy
Let us look at this sentence; 'I enjoy listening to Ravi Shankar'. What does
this mean? Ravi Shankar is the name of a great musician &d when we say 'I
enjoy listening to Ravi Shankar', we mean that we enjoy listening to his
music. Here the person's name is substituted for that of his music. In short,
metonymy means 'change of name'.

Syneedoche
You may have heard the expressing 'Doctor on wheels'. What does this
mean? Wheels here stand for transport and the doctor in question certainly
has this facility. Syneedoche then is a figure of speech in which we use a
word referring only to a part of something instead of the whole ('wheels'
instead of a vehicle).

Apostrophe
This is an address to a person or thing that is absent and not listening. As
Charles Lamb says; 'Waters of Sir Hugh Middleton - what a spark you were
like to have extinguished for ever!'

Hyperbole
A deliberate exaggeration for the sake of effect. For example, we often say 'I
nearly died of laughing'. We often use hyperbolic expressions .without
realizing it. Here is another example from Thoreau: 'The blue bird carries the
sky on his back'.

Understatement or Litotes
This is the opposite of hyperbole. Instead of exaggeration, the author
expresses himherself with restraint. The British are known for their habit of
Descriptive Prow understatement. If someone is looking extremely ill, the Englishman may just
say 'You do look a bit under the weather!' Or for a person who died of a
bullet shot 'He stopped a bullet last night, poor chap'.

Irony

This is one of the most important figures of speech in English. Irony is saying
one thing while meaning another. In short irony occurs when a word or phrase
has one surface meaning and another different meaning beneath this surface.
The reader must Be able to understand the hidden meaning. Charles Dickens
describes.Mr. Squeers in his novel Nicholas Nickleby: 'He had but one eye,
and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two. The eye he had was
unquestionably' useful, but decidedly not ornamental.. ..' Irony usually gives
pleasure or relief and must not be confused with sarcasm which deliberately
inflicts pain.

This list is by no means exhaustive. However, we hope it will be useful not

only in analysing the prose passages in this course but will also help you with
your reading of poetry and drama. . .

1.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have discussed:

the general difference between poetry and prose;

how words have denotations as well as connotations;
how descriptive prose describes things as they are seen or imagined;
narrative prose recreates an actual dr imaginary experience or
sequence of events;
expository writing deals in definition, explanation or interpretation;
the novel, short story, essay, letter, travelogue, biography,
autobiography, diary and speeches as forms of prose;
the different figures of speech used by writers to convey their feelings
and thoughts more effectively.

1.7 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

Check Your Progress I

i> If you haven't been able to answer this, you should read sub-section
1.2.1 once again and then it will be easy to attempt the question.
Prose is direct or straightforward writing. Here the writer
communicates his/ her thoughts or feelings as clearly and precisely as
possible. On the other hand, poetry which is generally written in verse
leaves a lot of things unsaid and to the imagination of the reader. Prose
is like walking - that is, it is functional and provides information.
Poetry on the other hand, is like dancing, and aims to delight. A prose
piece can be paraphrased or summarized but not a poem. We can and
do paraphrase a poem, but the paraphrase of a poem is not the poem. .
In prose, what is important is the message but in a poem what is
 important is the experience conveyed rather than any meaning or 'Understanding Prase':
information. An Introduction
(ii) Words, as we know, have a denotative as well as a connotative
meaning. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word whereas the
connotation is the meaning it has gained by association:For example a
snake as we know is a reptile - but it is also very dangerous. So, if we
call a human beinb a snake we mean that that person is dangerous.
Similarly the word rose denotes a flower but because it is such a
beautiful flower, if we call anyone a rose, we are referring to that
person's beauty.

Check Your Progress I1

i) a) narrative prose
b) descriptive prose
c) expository prose
1
Check Your Progress I11

three; descriptive; expository; narrative; forms; stories; novels; form; novels;

essays; biographies; autobiography; letters; travelogues; diary; speeches.
UNIT 2 DESCRIPTIVE PROSE-1
Structure

2.G Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Passage from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds
2.2.1 Text
2.2.2 Glossary
2.2.3 Discussion
2.3 Passage from Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa
2.3.1 Text
2.3.2 Glossary
2.3 3 Discussion
2.4 Let Us Sum Up
2.5 Answers to Exercises

In this unit, we shall introduce you to different varieties of descriptive prose.

We shall do this by outlining the characteristics of descriptive prose and then
giving you two passages to read.

If you read this unit carefully and complete the given exercises, you will be
able to:

summarise the passages;

analyse and appreciate their stylistics features;
become more perceptive readers of other descriptive passages.
I .

2.1 INTRODUCTION

It is not always easy to distinguish between descriptive and narrative prose.

One way of making a distinction (as Herbert Read, for example, does) is to
group them both together and to say that descriptive prose is "passive" and
nakative "active". This means that descriptive prose is concerned mainly with
seeing things as they are, recording the impressions received by our senses:
what we see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Narrative deals with what actually
happens, that is, with events. This may not be true in every case, and may very
well be an over-simplification,as we shall see in the course of the lessons that
follow.

But, all the same, this distinction can be useful up to a point. Essentially,
describing people and places and objects and narrating what happened to them
are two related and complementary activities; indeed very often writers do
both in the course of the same sentence. However, description and narration.
need to be examined separately for the sake of training ourselves in looking at
and recognising the different functions of language. Various kinds of methods
 and techniques are employed by writers for describing and narrating. The real Descriptive Prose-1
distinction between the two is one of focus; and focus can keep shifting from
one to the other, according to the writer's purpose and design. If the writer's
purpose is to introduce us to an important character in a story, the author can
attempt this introduction in any one of these ways or by using a extract in
combination of several techniques. Take, for example, the case of the Martian
in our very first extract in this unit. H.G. Wells does not directly present the
Martian to us. He does this through another character in the novel, who
narrates the story as well as describes what the Martian looks like.

2.2 PASSAGE FROM H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE

WORLDS

Descriptive writing, as you will see, may be either purely fictional asjn H.G.
Wells' The War of the Worlds or it may present factual details as in the
passage from Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa. You will notice that the
presentation techniques -will differ in both cases. In your first passage, the
Martian is not like any human being that anyone has seen before. The author,
therefore, goes about this difficult task using many subtle tricks of the writer's
craft. Describing and narrating might very well be considered two sides.of the
same coin. Both descriptive and narrative elements are found throughout this
passage. In describing the Martian in The War of the Worlds, Wells has to
make his description convincing, giving it the illusion of reality. The Martian
who exists only in the writer's imagination must be presented to the reader in
such a way as to make him/ her believe that the Martian is real. Let's see how
the writer accomplishes this task.

H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is a book of science fiction published in
1898 long before man had landed on the moon. The passage describes what
happened after the Martians arrived inside a cylinder which landed on the
earth with such great force that it made a large crater in the ground. The
person who describes it returns to the site after a brief interval. In the mean
time, a big crowd had collected around the crater. This extract has a few
narrative elements but the main focus is on the writer's description of the
Martian. Let us now take up this passage for discussion. The first thing to do
is to read it carefully two or three times if necessary. Words and phrases that
are unfamiliar or difficult should be looked up in a good dictionary. In the
case of this passage, some of the words and phrases that are likely to be
unfamiliar have been given in the glossary at the end of the passage.

There are several myths or stories about the Gorgon sisters <andwe can find a
number of references and allusions to them in literature. They had live
writhing snakes on their heads instead of hair and anyone who saw their faces
directly, was instantly turned to stone. If you look up a classical dictionary,
you will get to know all about the Gorgon sisters.

After you have made sense of all the strange and not so familiar words whose
meanings you are not sure of, you should look up the references and allusions
in the passage. In this case the references to the Gorgons is of crucial
' importance to the understanding of the passage, because it is intended to
suggest something equally terrifying and deadly.
Descriptive Prose 2.2.1 Text

I saw a young man, a shop assistant in Working I believe he was, standing on

the cylinder and trying to scramble out of the hole again. The crowd had
pushed him in.

The end of the cylinder was being screwed out from within. Nearly two feet of
, shining screw projected. Somebody blundered against me, and I narrowly
missed being pitched on to the top of the screw. I turned, and as I did so the
screw must have come out, and the lid of the cylinder fell upon the gravel with
a ringing concussion. I stuck my elbow into the person behind me, and turned
my head towards the thing again. For a moment that circular cavity seemed
perfectly black. I had the sunset in my eyes.

I think everyone expected to see a man emerge - possibly something a little

unlike us terrestrial men but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But,
looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow-greyish
billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous discs like
eyes, Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a
wallSing stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air
towards me - and then another.
A sudden chill came over me. There was a loud shriek from a woman behind:
I half turned, keeping my eyes fixed upon the cylinder still, from which other
tentacles were now projecting, and began pushing my way back from the
edge of the pit. I saw astonishment giving place to horror on the faces of the
people about me. I heard inarticulate exclamations on all sides. There was a
general movement backward. I saw the shopman struggling still on the edge
of the pit. I found myself alone, and saw the people on the other side of the pit
running off, Stent among them. I looked again at the cylinder, and
ungovernable terror gripped me. I stood petrified and staring.
A big greyish, rounded bulk, the size perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and
painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened
like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly.
It was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the
eyes, the brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The body
heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped
the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.

Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange
horror of their appearance. The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed
upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the
wedge-like lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon
groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange
atmosphere, the evident heaviness and ljainfulness of mdvement, due to the
greater gravitational energy of the earth - above all, the extraordinary
intensity of the immense eyes - culminated in an effect akin to nausea. There
was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy
deliberation of their tedious movements unspeakably terrible. Even at this first
encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread.

Suddenly the monster vanished. It had toppled over the brim of the cylinder
and fallen into the pit, with a thud like the fall of a great mass of leather. I:
heard it give a peculiar thick cry, and forthwith another of these creatures Descriptive Prose-1
appeared darkly in the deep shadow of the aperture.

At that my rigour of terror passed away. I turned and, running madly, made
for the first group of trees, perhaps a hundred yards away; but I ran slantingly
and stumbling, for I could not avert my face from these things.

There, among some young pine-trees and furze-bushes, I stopped, panting,

and awaited further developments. The common round the sand-pits was
dotted with people, standing, like myself, in a half-fascinated terror, staring at
these creatures, or, rather, at the heaped gravel at the edge of the pit in which
they lay. And then, with a renewed horror, I saw a round, black object
bobbing up and down on the edge of the pit. It was the head of the shopman
who had fallen in, but showing as a little black object against the hot western
sky. Now he got his shoulder and knee up, and again he seemed to slip back
until only his head was visible. Suddenly he vanished, and I could have
fancied a faint shriek had reached me. I had a momentary impulse to go back
and help him that my fears overruled.

2.2.2 Glossary

concussion: violent blow, shock; sound caused by it.

Terrestrial: of or related to the earth (rather than some other planet)
billowy movements: swelling out like sails
writhing: twisting the body (like a snake)
wriggled: twisted from side to side
tentacles: long snake-like boneless limbs without joints
petrified: in a state of shock or fear, losing all power of thought
or action; to become like a stone
bulged up: swelled out (came out)
heaved: rose and fell regularly
pulsated: shook rhythmically
convulsively: unnaturally and violently
lank: hanging loosely and without strength
tentacular: like tentacles (explained above)
appendage: a thing hanging from something larger
brow ridges: eyebrows that project (the Martian had no eyebrows)
wedge-like: V-shaped
incessant: never stopping
fungoid: like fungus, a fast growing variety of plant growth
generally considered a disease
nausea: a feeling of sickness and desire to vomit
furze-bushes: wild bushy plants with prickles and yellow flowers.
common: area of grassy land.

2.2.3 Discussion

When we read the passage carefully we notice that the author employs several
devices (or artifices, if you like) to avoid a direct description because the
subject is so unfamiliar that the reader's credibility has to be built up step by
step. So Wells does not describe the Martian directly, the way perhaps an
ordinary man or woman or an event could have been described. The person
b3o describes the Martian in the book keeps reminding us that he is part of
the crowd, and comes back again and again to the reactions of the others with
him. His own reactions, of course, are also recorded. If we pay particular
Descriptive Prase attention to the words, phrases and sentences in the passage we can see that
the man takes his own time in coming to the actual description of the Martian.
This delayed description heightens suspense and arouses our expectations.

At the end,of the first paragraph, he reveals his inability to see things clearly:
"For a moment that circular cavity seemed perfectly black. I had the sunset in
my eyes." In the second he gradually arouses the reader's
curiosity, without really, satisfying it. "I think everyone expected to see a man
emerge ..... I know I did ....." In the third paragraph, he describes his own
reactions and those of the crowd. "A sudden chill came over me. There was a
loud shriek from a woman behind.. .. I saw astonishment giving place to
horror on the faces of the people about me.. .. and saw the people on the other
side of the pit running off.. .. and ungovernable terror gripped me. I stood
petrified and staring." It is only after all this that he attempts to say what the
Martian looks like. In the fourth paragraph, the point of view shifts again. It is
now assumed that all those present have become familiar with the sight of the
Martian and their reactions are now commented upon.
Note the clever repeated use of the definite article. "The peculiar V-shaped
mouth. ....the absence of a chin, the incessant quivering of the mouth.. ..." In
fact all these have not been described before, only mentioned; but the reader is
made to believe that these features are already familiar to the people who have
by now become acquainted with the sight of the strange creature. @Itis
necessary for a discerning reader to get behind the mass of words and
sentences and paragraphs with which the literary artist constructs his elaborate
verbal edifice, the product of his imagination. '

From the discussion so far, we realise how important it is for us to consider 1

the point of view of the describer and what he does or does not describe and to
what extent we are to take what he says literally as 'the truth', or 'the actual
reality'. Because, after all, the fictional world is the product of the writer's
own creative imagination.

Check Your Progress I

The following questions relatirfg to the passage will enable you to examine it
more closely and to grasp the full significance of the description of the
Martians. Give your answers in about 4-6 sentences.

i)' Which words in the passage indicate the attitude of the describer
towards the Martian? Do you think the Martian had human feelings?

ii) Do you think the describer was terrified? Is there any evidence in the
passage to justify it?
 Descriptive Prose-1

iii) What tells us that the Martlans were not very comfortable on the earth?
List the words and phrases that convey this impression.

iv) Did anyone among the spectators feel sympathetic towards the .:
Martians? Why were they reacting as they did?

m................................. ...................................................

2.3 PASSAGE FROM ISAK DINESEN'S OUT OF AFRICA

We shall now look at a passage containing a description of African birds by

Isak Dinesen, who lived in Africa for a long time. Her book Out of Africa has
recently been made into an outstanding film.

Descriptive P t i n g , whether it is imaginative or factual, faces the problem of

selection as4well' as of presentation. Too much detail can be confusing or
bewildering just as inadequate or haphazard choice of detail will result in
disorganised and blbrred presentation.

The passage is an excellent model for study and analysis from this point of
view: it depends on objective facts (in the sense thatawe can see them and
recognise them in reality). Although other writers might write very different
descriptions about the same things, they cannot often distort reality beyond
the bounds of credibility. Degrees of objectivity are of course bound to differ
from writer to writer, depending on his1 her perceptions and purpose. Writing
about African birds, the author makes deliberate choices, relating both to
inclusion and exclusion, since exhaustiveness is neither possible nor
necessary. In presenting them, the writer also decides conscicsusly the order in
which they are to be introduced, their distinguishing individual characteristics, .
and the nature of the emotions or attitudes that the writer wishes to project.
Let us see what happens in this passage.
..
The passage is to be read t ~ oro three times slowly and deliberately. Difficult
words and phrases should be underlined. The next thing is to bring out the
Descriptive Prose significance of the words and phrases in the context in which they occur in
this passage with the help of a good dictionary/encyclopedia. You will find
the glossary useful.

2.3.1 Text
Just at the beginning of the long rains, in the last week of March, or the first
week of April, I have heard the nightingale in the woods of Africa. Not the fulll
song: a few notes only -- the opening bars of the concerto, a rehearsal,,
suddenly stopped and again begun. It was as if, in the solitude of the dripping
woods, someone was, in a tree, tuning a small 'cello. It was, however, the:
same melody, and the same abundance and sweetness, as were soon to fill the
forests of Europe, from Sicily to Elsinore.
We had the black and white storks in Africa, the birds that build their nests
upon the thatched village roofs of Northern Europe. They look less imposing
in Africa than they do there, for here they had such tall and ponderous birds
as the Marabout and the Secretary Bird to be compared to. The storks have
got other habits in Africa than in Europe, where they live as in married
couples and are symbols of domestic happiness. Here they are seen together in
big flights, as in clubs. They are called locust-birds in Africa, and folloai
along when the locusts come upon the land, living on them. They fly over the
plains, too, where there is a grass-fire on, circling just in front of the
advancing line of small leaping flames, high up in the scintillating rainbow-
coloured air, and the grey smoke, on watch for the mice and snakes that run
from the fire. The storks have a gay time in Africa. But their real life is nolt
here, and when the winds of spring bring back thoughts of mating and nesting;,
their hearts are turned towards the North, they remember old times and places
and fly off, two and two, and are shortly after wading in the cold bogs of their
birth-places.
Out on the plains, in the beginning of the rains, where the vast stretches of
burnt grass begin to show fresh green sprouting, there are many hundred
plovers. The plains always have a maritime air, the open horizon recalls the
sea and the long sea-sands, the wandering wind is the same, the charred grass
has a saline smell, and when the grass is long it runs in waves all over the
land. When the white carnation flowers on the plains you remember the
chopping white-specked waves all round you as you are tacking up the Suncl.
Out on the plains the plovers likewise take on the appearance of Sea-birds, and
behave like Sea-birds on a beach, legging it, on the close grass, as fast as they
can for a short time, and then rising before your horse with high shrill shrieks,
so that the light sky is all alive with wings and birds' voices.
The Crested Cranes, which come on to the newly rolled and planted maize-
land, to steal the maize out of the ground, make up for the robbery by being
birds of good omen, announcing the rain; and also by dancing to us. When th~e
tall birds are together in large numbers, it is a fine sight to see them sprea~d
their wings and dahce. There is much style in the dance, and a littlle
affectation, for why, when they can fly, do they jump up and down as if the:y
were held on to the earth by magnetism? The whole ballet has a sacred loolk,
like some ritual dance; perhaps the cranes are making an attempt to joiin
Heaven and Earth like the winged angels walking up and down Jacob's -
4
Ladder. With their delicate pale grey colouring, the little black velvet skull-
cap and the fan-shaped crown, the cranes have all the air of light, spirited
28
 ---- --

frescoes. When, after the dance, they lift and go away, to keep up the scared Descriptive Prose-1
tone df the show they give out, by the wings or the voice, b clear ringing note,
as if a group of church bells had taken wing and were sailing off. You can
hear them a long way away, even after the birds themselves have become
invisible in the sky: a chime from the clouds.

Hornbiil

The Greater Hornbill was another visitor to the farm, and came there to eat the
fruits of the Cape-Chestnut tree. They are very strange birds. It is an adventure
or an experience to meet them, not altogether pleasant, for they look
exceedingly knowing. One morning before sunrise I was woken up by a loud
jabbering outside the house, and when I walked out an the terrace I saw
forty-one Hornbills sitting in the trees on the lawn. There they looked less like
birds than like some fantastic articles of finery set on the trees here and there
by a child. Black they all were, with the sweet, noble black of Africa, deep
darkness absorbed through an age, like old soot, that makes you feel that for
elegance, vigour and vivacity, no colour rivals black. All the Hornbills were
talking together in the merriest mood, but with choice deportment, like a
party of inheritors after a funeral. The morning air was as clear as crystal, the
sombre party was bathing in freshness and purity, and, behind the trees and
the birds, the sun came up, a dull red ball. You wonder what sort of a day you
are to get af~ersuch an early morning.
The Flamingoes are the most delicately coloured of all the African birds, pink
and red like a flying twig of an Oleander bush. They have incredibly long legs
and bizarre and recherche curves of their necks and bodies, as if from some
exquisite traditional prudery they were making all attitudes and inovements
in life as difficult as possible.
I once travelled from Port Said to Marseilles in a French boat that had on
board a consignment of a hundred and fifty Flamingoes, which were going to
Ihe Jardin d' Acclimatation in Marseilles. They were kept in large dirty cases
with canvas sides, ten it1 each, standing up close to one another. The keeper,
who was taking the birds over, told me that he was counting on losing twenty
per cent of them on a trip. They were not made for that sort of life, in rough
weather they lost their balance, their legs broke, and the other birds in the cage
trampled on them. At night when the wind was high in the Mediterranean and
the ship came down in the waves with a thump, at each wave I heard, in the
dart the Elaminonpc chript RXIP~\Im n r n i n m T PSI~I the teener t ~ t i n mn i i t nnp
Descriptive Prose or two dead birds, and throwing them overboard. The noble wader of the Nile,
the sister of the lotus, which floats over the landscape like a stray cloud of
sunset, had become a slack cluster of pink and red feathers with a pair of long,
thin sticks attached to it. The dead birds floated on the water for a short time,
knocking up and down in the wake of the ship before they sank.

Flamingoes : The noble wader of the Nile, the sister of the lotus .....
2.3,2 Glossary
a piece of music for one or more solo instruments anti
orchestra
(full form-violincello) a large violin-type musical
instrument
imposing: large in size, powerful looking
ponderous: large and heavy; hence slow and awkward; dull anti
solemn
Marabout: a large African stork
Secretary Bird: a large African bird, its crest resembles quill pens stuclc
over the ear, hence its name
fliglhts: group of birds flying together
scintillating: sending out quick flashes of light or sparks, sparkling,
hence brilliant
bog: soft wet marshy area
maritime: living or existing near the sea and therefore related to
the sea
tacking: changing the course of a sailing ship or boat
affectation: not natural behaviour, but what appears put on
Jacob's Ladder: (Biblical allusion): a ladder, seen by Jacob (son of
Isaac) in a dream connecting earth and heaven.
frescoes: painting on walls
jabbering: quick unclear speech or noise; here,
unpleasantly noisy
deportment: manner of standing or walking
recherche (French): too rare or strange
prudery: . over-sensitiveness, tendency to be easily
shocked; excessive modesty
wake: here a path or track of foam left by the moving
ship
 2.3.3 Discussion Descriptive Prose-1

.The passage is full of delightful descriptions of some birds. The first

paragraph is about the nightingale, the bird with rich and varied associations
in Western literature. The black and white storks again are Europ~anbirds.
From time immemorjal (until popular scientific knowledge destroyed the
myth) they were engaged in the safe delivery of new born infants to every
1,
household (according to children's story books) and lived like 'married
couples', and 'syinbols of domestic happiness'. In Africa they have a gay time
1 but 'their real life is not here' and they prefer 'the cold bogs of their birth-
* places' when summer comes. It is quite a change for them.

Next comes the plover, a land bird living near the sea in Europe and a sea-bird
on the wide plains of Africa, a paradoxical existence. With their presence, 'the
light sky is all alive with wings and birds' voices'.

1 The crested cranes described in the next paragraph are 'birds of good omen'
announcing rain. They are like winged angels walking up and down Jacob's
Ladder, attempting to join heaven and earth.

Note the sudden change in the author's attitude to the 'Greater Hornbill'; the
diction signals a more critical and less endearing tone. If you contrast the
words and metaphors used for them with those found in the previous
paragraph this change will appear dramatic: 'strange', 'jabbering',
'exceedingly knowing', 'a party of inheritors after a funeral', indicate the
author's attitude to them.

The last two paragraphs are devoted to the flamingoes. The passage ends on a
sad note, lamenting human cruelty and indifference to these delicate birds and
to nature in general. You will, no doubt agree that although only six birds out
of hundreds of varieties are described here, there is a certain artful rounding-
off of this topic; what is presented is beautiful and memorable, each bird has
I
its irldividuality, every paragraph a self-contained theme and tone, the well-
chosen figures of speech helping to bring out their unique features.
b
Some words have strong overtones or connotations in addition to what is often
I
described as their simplest meaning found in a small dictionary. While words
like 'table', 'chair', 'read', 'sit', 'stand', etc. have only their lexical meanings,
I
or what is usually called denotation, words like 'ponderous', 'shrieks',
'affectation', 'jabbering', 'trample', 'sombre' have suggestions that tend to be
unfavourable. Similarly words, like 'delicate', 'spirited', 'fantastic', 'noble'
have favourable connotations.

Some words may also take on special meanings from the context, particularly
when irony is intended, and so one has to watch out for such words. As
students of literature we have to be constantly alert and ready for surprises.
We have also to learn to use a good dictionary.

Check Your Progress I1

Now read the passage carefully once more (in fact as many times as you think
necessary) and do the following exercises:
Descriptive Prosc 1) What is the point of view of the author? Are the birds described from
the point of view of an African or an outsider? Give your reasons.

ii) What is the significance of the phrase 'from Sicily to Elsinore'?

iii) What kind sf bird is the plover? Where is it normally found in Europe?
Why does the autlldr think that plovers feel at home on the African
plains? Bring out the points cf comparison between the sea and the
African plains.

iv) "The wader of the Nile, the sister of the Lotus", what do these phrases
refer to? Do the phrases refer to the same object or to different
objects? Justify your view. If they refer to the same object, the two
phrases are said to be in apposition to each other.

V) Coltlrnelit on the tone of the last paragraph. Do you tl~inkthe writer is

critical of the way the flamingoes are transported to Frmce? Pick out
words and phrases that indicate her attitude and determine the tone of
the whole paragraph.
....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
 vi) Besides telling us about the appearance of African birds, what does the Descriptive Prose-1
passage do? Pick out some of the metaphors and similes from the
passage that you find striking. Justify your choice.
.....................................................................................
......................................................................................
.....................................................................................
......................................................................................

2.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have:

introduced you to different kinds of descriptive writing;

shown you how words acquire different connotations in different
contexts
highlighted the writer's use of myths, legends, imagery and allusions
to enrich descriptions;
pointed out how the choice of point of view determines the overall
artistic effect of the writing.

2.5 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

Check Your Progress I

i) Ungovernable terror gripped me; I stood petrified and staring; the

strange horror of their appearance; the Gorgon; groups of tentacles; an
effect akin to nausea; something fungoid in the oily brown skin;
F clumsy deliberation of their tedious movements unspeakably terrible;
overcome with disgust and dread; the monster.
P
Read the last paragraph carefully. You will note that the shopman has
disappeared; he was pulled into the pit and the faint shriek that was
heard caused terror and a strange feeling of dread. That the Martian
had hardly any human characteristics or feelings can be easily seen
from the extract.

i Yes. Note the reactions of the onlookers.

- ~ - , besides
-
- -- - his
- - own.. Re-read
- -- -- -- the
- - -- -.- -- - .. -- - -.
-. . -

last paragraph, if you are not sure, and find out what happened to the
shopman. The Martian is compared to a bear; the reference to the
Gorgon (see 1.1.4) is also significant. There is nothing even remotely
human about the Martians.

iii) Look at the paragraph beginning 'Those who have never seen a living
Martian .....' Carefully note expressions like 'the tumultuous
breathing', 'evidence heaviness and painfulness of movement',
'clumsy deliberation of their tedious movements', which indicate that
they were out of their element.
Descriptive Prose iv) The answer is clearly No. Go back and read the passage again, if you
are in doubt. You will see that the reactions of the crowd are described
and these were not at all sympathetic. No one is inclined to go and
help the Martians. Instead they are terrified by their very sight.

Check Your Progress I1

i) The very first paragraph makes this clear. The point of view is that of a
European. There are several more clues in the passage. The birds are,
in the eyes of the author, visitors in Africa, more or less like herself,
except that visits are seasonal migrations.
ii) Sicily is practically the southernmost 'point of Europe and Elsinore is
one of the northernmost. In fact the whole of Europe is thus indicated.
iii) The plover is a migratory bird found on European beaches.The
comparison between the sea and the plains of Africa is suggested; the
open horizon; the wandering wind; the salty smell of the burnt grass;
the wavy movement of the long grass; the white carnation flowers.
Also go back to 2.2.2.
iv) They refer to the flamingoes. To the same object: the flamingoes; both
the birds and the lotus are found in the Nile.
v) There are two groups of words with strong favourable and
unfavourah!~ connotations contrasted. The author's disapproval is
E Z ~ Cvery clear. XG:Zthe two sentences in the final paragraph.
vi) The passage describes the kicd of life that they live in Africa, what
they do, what they eat, etc. Re-read the passage if necessary and pick
out the comparisons relati~lgto the song of the nightingale; the sea and
the African plains; Jacob's ladder, the sound of church bells: inheritors
after a funeral; etc.
 UNIT 3 DESCRIPTIVE PROSE-2
Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Passage from Sean 0' Casey's Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well
3.2.1 Text
I 3.2.2 Glossary
3.2.3 Discussion
3.3 Passage from D.H. Lawrence's Mornings in Mexico
3.3.1 Text
3.3.2 Glossary
3.3.3 Discussion
3.4 Let Us Sum Up
3.5 Answers to Exercises

3.0 OBJECTIVES

In the previous unit, you read two prose passage which are examples of
descriptive writing. In this unit, you will further examine the nature of
descriptive writing by reading two more passages. In these passages you will
study the different devices used by the writers so that at the end of this unit
you will be able to :

analyse the stylistic features of descriptive writing;

describe the effective use of simile and metaphor.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Descriptive writing on the whole, as we have been observing, tends to 'freeze'

objects, places and p e ~ p l ein space and time. Description is thus essentially
frozen time held in suspense before it merges into the current of the narrative,
the irreversible momentum of present time flowing into past time. 'Here is the
moment, grasp it, hold it, concentrate on it, perceive its essence, make it part
of your memory, before it vanishes for ever', the writer seems to be urging us.
Descriptive writing which lacks this sense of immediacy, its sudden flash of
illumination of intense revelation, whether it is of the nature of things or
events, insight into the character of individuals, or whatever it is holding up
for our examination, fails to capture our attention if it does not justify the
'freezing' of the moment.

3.2 PASSAGE FROM SEAN O'CASEY'S

ZNZSHFALLEN, FARE THEE WELL

Let us look at the following brief passage by Sean O'Casey, taken from his
book Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well (1949). Here he is describing a street full of
decaying houses, an area in Dublin which had once known respectability,
 Descriptive Prose happiness and prosperity, but had been reduced to squalor, abject poverty and
utter misery. Now read the passage carefully a few times. Wherever
necessary, use your dictionary, to find out the exact meanings of the words
and phrases in the context in which they are used by the writer. The glossary
at the end of the passage will be useful.

3.2.1 Text

There were the houses, too - a long, lurching row of discontented incurables,
smirched with the age-long marks of ague, fevers, cancer, and consumption,
the soured tears of little children, and the sighs of disappointed newly-married
girls. The doors were scarred with time's spit and anger's hasty knocking; the
pillars by their sides were shaky, their stuccoed bloom long since peeled
away, and they looked like crutches keeping the trembling doors standing on
their palsied feet. The gummy-eyed windows blinked dimly out, lacquered
by a year's tired dust from the troubled street below. Dirt and disease were
the big sacraments here - outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual
disgrace. The people bought the cheapest things in food they could find in
order to live, to work, to worship: the cheapest spuds, the cheapest tea, the
cheapest meat, the cheapest fat; and waited for unsold bread to grow stale that
they might buy that cheaper, too. Here they gathered up the fragments so that
nothing would be lost. The streets were long haggard corridors of rottenness
and ruia. What wonderful mind or memory could link this shrinking
wretchedness with the flaunting gorgeousness of silk and satin; with bloom
of rose and scent of lavender? A thousand years must have passed since the
last lavender lady was carried out feet first from the last surviving one of
them. Even the sun shudders now when she touches a roof, for she feels some
evil has chilled the glow of her garment. The flower that here once bloomed is
dead forever. No wallflower here has crept into a favoured cranny; sight and
sign of the primrose were far away; no room here for a dance of daffodils; no
swallow twittering under a shady'eave; and it was sad to see an add sparrow
seeking n yellow grain from the mocking dust; not even a spiky-headed thistle,
purple mitred, could find a corner here for a sturdy life. No Wordsworth here
wandered about as lonely as a cloud.

I 3.2.2 Glossary

i lurching: sudden movement forward or sideways, as though

without control like a drunken person
smirched: blotted; disfigured by marks
ague: fever that causes uncontrollable trembling, like malaria,
for example
stuccoed: plastered, ornamented with plaster designs
palsied: affected by paralysis, or disease causing trembling of
the limbs
lacquered: covered as though with lacquer or polish
sacraments: Chrisitian ceremonies performed in the church
' spuds: potatoes
haggard: tired, worn out, having lines and hollows around the
eyes and cheeks
flaunting: to exhibit or show off something in a proud and haughty
way.
gorgeousness: extremely beautiful appearance
lavender: pale purple flowers with strong smell used to give Descriptive Prose-2
stored clothes a pleasant smell
mitred: tall pointed hat worn by bishops and archbishops on
ceremonial occasions; having that appearance.
3.2.3 Discussion
As we have seen Sean O'Casey succeeds in humanizing the scene.
Ostensibly, he describes the houses and the street, but they become the
outward and visible forms of the human beings who inhabit them. The houses
take on human attributes. There is a description of their appearance, the
tragedies that befall them, of the disappointments, illnesses and disabilities of
those they shelter. The adjectives used for the houses are in effect applicable
to humans: children, newly-married girls, old men and women, indeed to
everyone. The epithets are charged with powerful connotations; association
with human disease, sufferings both mental and physical, the disabilities of
old age, poverty and want. The street is always 'troubled', the doors have
witnessed frustration, anger, death, disgrace of all kinds. Words like 'cheap'
are repeated, emphasizing the conditions of extreme need and helplessness,
accumulated over generations. Suffering and want have become a way of life
rather than occasional unfortunate episodes, which can fall to everyone's lot.
There is, of course, exaggeration in &e claim (rhetorical term 'hyperbole')
that the 'last lavender lady' died a thousand year ago, marking the passing of
prosperity and graciousness from the street. Nature too seems to suffer the
fate of the people and the house; flowers, birds, not even weeds thrive in the
neighbourhood. The climax of this long catalogue of deprivations comes with
the mention of Wordsworth, the poet of nature, with a direct reference to his
well-known poem 'The Daffodils' (you will find the poem in 3.5). The
daffodils and the wandering cloud are in sharp contrast to this dustbin of an
urban culture. The use of alliteration and assonance and consonance
underscores the emotional force of these words which have strong and
extensive connotations.
This passage seems to illustrate fully what we were discussing earlier. In our
first acquaintance with this part of Dublin, we see simultaneously its past
prosperity, present poverty and disgrace, and its even more depressing future.
On its spatial dimension is superimposed the time dimension; in a moment of
illumination we see it liberated from the normal limitations of space and time.
This is what good descriptive writing seems to accomplish.
Check Your progress I
Now answer the following questions, which are intended to suggest the lines
on which you should try to understand and appreciate this passage:

i> Why does the author refer to 'the dance of daffodils', 'lonely as a
cloud' and Wordsworth? Explain the literary allusion, and its
significance in this context.
Descriptive Prose
ii) Pick out words and phrases from the passage that can be equally
applicable to human beings as well as the house described. What does
the author accomplish by choosing these expressions?
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
......a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
iii) To what extent do you thing the rhetorical device of personification is
justified and effective in this passage?

....................................................................................
i

iv) Which of these expressions in the passage do you thing are powerfully
charged with emotion? Give reasons for your choice.

3.3 PASSAGE FROM D.H. LAWRENCE'S MORNINGS IN

MEXICO

The neqt descriptive passage we shall take up for study is by D,H.hwrence.

It is about market day on the last Saturday before Christmas when countless
Mexican Indians riding dotikeys, travelling in ox carts and on foot 'converge
on the covered market, bringing their supplies: wood and charcoal, farm
produce, flowers to sell, barter or exchange.

With his eye for detail, Lawrence describes the flowers and trees, the
landscape, the hills, the different tribes of Indians, their dress and styles of
walking, the all-enveloping dust, and the merchandise.
3.3.1 Text Descriptive Prose,

This is the last Saturday before Christmas. The next year will be momentous,
one feels. This year is nearly gone. Dawn was windy, shaking the leaves, and
the rising sun shone under a gap of yellow cloud. But at once it touched the
yellow flowers that rise above the patio wall, and the swaying, growing
magenta of the bougainvillea, and the fierce red outbursts of the poinsettia.
The poinsettia is very splendid, the flowers very big, and of a sure stainless
red. They call them Noche Buenas, flowers of Christmas Eve. These tufts
throw out their scarlet sharply, like red birds ruffling in the wind of dawn as if
going to bathe, all their feathers alert. This for Christmas, instead of holly-
berries. Christmas seems to need a red herald.

The yucca is tall, higher than the house. It is, too, in flower, hanging an arm's
length of soft creamy bells, like a yard-long grape-cluster of foam. And the
waxy bells break on their stems in the wind, fall noiselessly from the long
creamy bunch, that hardly sways.

The coffee-berries are turning red. The hibiscus flowers, rose coloured, sway
at the tips of the thin branches, in rosettes of soft red. In the second patio,
there is a tall tree of the flimsy acacia sort. Above itself it puts up whitish
fingers of flowers, naked in the blue sky. And in the wind these fingers of
flowers in the blue sky, sway, sway with the reeling, roundward motion of
tree-tips in a wind.

A restless morning, with clouds lower down, moving also with a larger
roundward motion. Everything moving. Best to go out in motion too, the
slow roundward motion like the hawks.

Everything seems slowly to circle and hover towards a central point, the
clouds, the mountains round the valley, the dust that rises, the big, beautiful,
white-barred hawks, gabilnnes, and even the snow-white flakes of flowers
upon the dim palo blmco tree. Even the organ cactus, rising in stock-
straight clumps, and the candelabrum cactus, seems to be slowly wheeling
and pivoting upon a centre, close upon it.

Strange that we should think in straight lines, when there are none, and talk of
straight courses, when every course, sooner or later, is seen to be making the
sweep round, swooping upon the centre. When space is curved, and the
cosmos is sphere within sphere, and the way from any one point to any other
point is round the bend of the inevitable, that turns as the tips of the broad
wings of the hawk turn upwards, leaning upon the air like invisible half of the
ellipse. If I have a way to go, it will be round the swoop of a bend impinging
centripetal towards the centre. The straight course is hacked out in rounds,
against the will of the world.

Yet the dust advances like a ghost along the road, down the valley plain. The
dry turn of the valley-bed gleams like soft skin, sunlit and pinkish ochre
'spreading wide between the mountains that seem to emit their own darkness, a
dark-blue vapor translucent, sombering them from the humped crests
downwards. The many-pleated, noiseless mountains of Mexico.
Descriptive Prose

-.

The Yucca is tall.. ...

The Candelabrum cactus

And away from the footslope lie the white specks of Huayapa, among its lake Descriptive Prose-2
of trees. It is Saturday, and the white dots of men are threading down the trail
over the bare humps to the plain, following the dark twinkle-movement of
asses, the dark nodding of the woman's head as she rides between the baskets.
Saturday and market-day, and morning, so the white specks of men, like
seagulls on plough-land, come ebbing like sparks from the palo blanco, over
the fawn undulating of the valley slope.

They are dressed in snow-white cotton, and they lift their knees in the Indian
trot, following the ass where the woman sits perched between the huge
baskets, her child tight in the rebozo, at the brown breast. And girls in long,
full, soiled cotton skirts running, trotting,'ebbing along after the twinkle-
movement of the ass. Down they come in families, in clusters, in solitary
ones, threading with ebbing, running, barefoot movement noiseless towards
the town, that blows the bubbles of its church-domes above the stagnant green
of trees, away under the opposite fawn-skin hills.

But down the valley middle comes the big road, almost straight. You will
know it by the tall walking of the dust, that hastens also towards the town,
overtaking, overpassing everybody. Overpassing all the dark little figures and
the white specks that thread tinily, in a sort of underworld, to the town.

From the valley villagers and from the mountains the peasants and the Indians
are coming in with supplies, the road is like a pilgrimage, with the dust in
greatest haste, dashing for town. Dark-eared asses and running men, running
women, running girls, running lads, twinkling donkeys ambling on fine little
feet, under twin great baskets with tomatoes and gourds, twin great nets of
'bubble-shaped jars, twin bundles of neat-cut faggots of wood, neat as bunches
of cigarettes, and twin net-sacks of charcoal. Donkeys, mules, on they cbme,
great pannier baskets making a rhythm under the perched woman, great
bundles bouncing against the sides of the slim-footed animals. A baby donkey
trotting naked after its piled-up dam, a white, sandal-footed man following
with the silent Indian haste, and a girl running again on light feet.

Onwards, on a strange current of haste, and slowly rowing among the foot-
travel, the ox-wagons rolling solid wheels below the high net of the body.
Slow oxen, with heads pressed down nosing to the earth, swaying, swaying
their great horns as a snake sways itself, the shovel-shaped collar of solid
wood pressing down on their necks like a scoop. On, on between the burnt-up
turn and the solid, monumental green of the organ cactus. Past the rocks and
the floating palo blanco flowers, past the tousled dust of the mesquite bushes.

While the dust once more, in a greater haste than anyone, comes tall and rapid
down the road, overpowering and obscuring all the little people, as in a
cataclysm.

They are mostly small people, of the Zapotech race: small men with lifted
chests and quick, lifted knees, advancing with heavy energy in the midst of
dust. And quiet, small round-headed women running barefoot, tightening
their blue rebozos round their shoulders, so often with a baby in the fold. The
white cotton clothes of the men so white that their faces are invisible places of
darkness under their big hats. Clothed darkness, faces of night, quickly,
silently, with inexhaustible energy advancing to the town.
Descriptive Prose

great pannier baskets making a rhythm....

And many of the Serranos, the Indians from the hills, wearing their little
conical black felt hats, seem capped with night, above the straight white
shoulders. Some have come far, walking all yesterday in their little black hats
and black-sheathed sandals. Tomorrow they will walk back. And their eyes
will be just the same, black and bright and wild, in the dark faces. They have
no goal, any more than the hawks in the air, and no course to run, any inore
than the clouds.

The market is a huge roofed-in place. Most extraordinary is the noise that
comes out, as you pass along the adjacent street. It is a huge noise, yet you
may never notice it. It sounds as if all the ghosts in the world were talking to
one another, in ghost-voices, within the darkness of the market structure. It is
a noise something like rain, or banana leaves in a wind. The market, full of
Indians, dark-faced, silent-footed, hush-spoken, but pressing in countless
numbers. The queer hissing murmurs of the Zapotech idiomn, among the
sound of Spanish, the quiet aside-voices of the Mixtecas.

3.3.2 Glossary

momentous: of great importance

patio: an inner roofless courtyard of a Spanish house
magenta: dark purplish red colour
poinsettia: a tropical plant with flower-like groups of large red
leaves
bougainvillea: a tropical climbing plant with bright flowers
ruffling: making uneven movements like birds moving their
feathers when bathing or preening
holly-berries: red coloured berries of a short green tree with shiny
green prickly leaves found in cold countries
herald: a messenger or sign of something to come
yucca: the state flower of Mexico, having pointed leaves and
clusters of white waxy flowers
hibiscus,: tropical plant with large bright flowers
rosettes; shaped like roses
acacia: group of tropical trees which give gum
 organ cactus: a tree-like cactus found in Mexico Descriptive Prose-2
stock-straight: straight stem or trunk
clump: cluster of trees or plants growing close together
candelabrum: an ornamental holder for several candles or lamps;
resembling it
impinging: having an effect upon
centripetal: tending to move towards the centre
ochre: yellow colour I
translucent: allowing light to pass through, without being
transparent
sombering: casting shadows
pleated: with flattened narrow folds, usually in cloth
rebozo: a long shawl or scarf of fine material worn by Mexican
women over the head and shoulders
faggots: a bunch of small sticks for burning
pannier: pairs of baskets carried by a horse or donkey
tousled: made untidy, disarranged
mesquite: a tree or. shrub bearing green bean-like pods, found in
Mexico
cataclysm: sudden and violent event like an earthquake or a flood.
,
I
i 3.3.3 Discussion

The first thing that strikes us about this passage is,the active nature of the
verbs found in it. Everything seems to be doing something, and not just
passively 'being'. The year is 'nearly gone', the dawn 'windy shaking the
leaves,' the 'rising sun.. . touched the yellow flowers that rose above the patio
wall'. The 'tufts throw out their scarlet sharply', the 'waxy bells break on
their stems in the wind, fall noiselessly', the hibiscus flowers 'sway', the tall
tree 'puts up whitish fingers of flowers'. Everything seems to be in motion,
caught in the act of doing something, not merely existing. The same active
feeling of participation is imparted to the clouds, the mountains, the dust, the
hawks, even the cactus, the vegetation 'slowly wheeling and pivoting upon a
centre, close upon it'. The mountains 'seem to emit their own darkness'.

Throughout the passage the dust is an active participant: 'it advances like a
ghost', 'down the valley middle comes the road ..... you will kndw it by the
tall walking of the dust, that hastens also towards the town, overtaking,
passing everybody'. Further in paragraph 11, 'the road is like a pilgrimage,
with the dust in greatest haste dashing for town'. In paragraph 13, 'the dust
once more in a greater haste than anyone, comes tall and rapid down the road,
overpowering and obscuring all the little people, as in a cataclysm.'

While the passage opens on a rather quiet and tranquil note, the suggestion of
considerable activity is gradually built up through the smaller paragraphs.
Then the idea of convergence of movement which is centripetal and circular
rather than in the form of straight lines, or perpendicular, is developed.
Following this, we have the description of the Mexicans hurrying to the
market place from the hills and plains of the surrounding country, involving
trekking for one or even two days. The picturesque effects are achieved
through the use of striking metaphors: 'while dots of men are threading down
the trail over the bare humps to the plain', 'twinkle-movement of asses',
'white specks of men, sea-gulls on plough-land, come ebbing like sparks'. ..
There are also pairs and triplets of words and phrases, repetition of sentence
structure with variation, minute concrete details building up the picture of
Descriptive Prose great crowds of people getting together, ostensibly to buy and sell but in
reality to meet one another, to co-mingle, to satisfy their urge for human
companionship.

Comparisons, as in similes and metaphors, which are usually discussed under

figures of speech, can be used both conventionally and with considerable
insight and originality. They are encountered extensively in descriptive
writing. While similes a* explicit and often sustained comparisons,
metaphors are concise and sharp, not always extended and sustained. Take the
following examples: 'the dust advances like a ghost along the road'; 'the white
specks of men, like sea-gulls on plough-land'; 'they have no goal any more
than clouds'. In all these the comparison of point of similarity is clearly and
deliberately stated, often elaborated, depending on the writer and his intention.
However, in the case of metaphors the points of similarity are often intuitively
seen in flashes, implied rather than explicitly stated. Consider the following
examples from 3.2.1; 'the gummy-eyed windows blinked dimly out'. Here the
comparison between the eyes of the very old and ill, loolung out through their
sticky eyelids and the dusty dirty windows of the old and decaying houses are
fused into a metaphor, a direct and simultaneous identification of two similar
objects or processes. In the same passage, 'haggard corridors of rottenness
and ruin', contains a fusion of tired worn-out people and the streets that were
rotten and lay in ruins. The description of the town 'that blows the bubbles of
its church-domes above the stagnant green of trees', is a compressed simile,
achieved with great economy of words. It is importani to develop sensitivity
to metaphor in the study of literature, particularly descriptive writing, whether
it is poetry or prose.

There are various schemes of repetition that are frequently and effectively
employed, particularly in descriptive writing to convey strong emotional
overtones. Sometimes it may just be repetition of the same word, for example,
'the chelapest spuds, the cheapest tea, the cheapest meat, the cheapest fat';
'sway, sway'; sometimes words with similar meanings or sounds are repeated
like 'running, trotting, ebbing along'; or 'running men, running' women,
running girls, running lads' (repetition with variation, emphasizing running).
Schemes of repetition can also include balance and parallelism or antithesis as
in 'shrinking wretchedness with the flaunting gorgeousness of silk and satin',
'the blaom of rose and scent of lavender'. With these balanced phrases go
alliteration (use of two or more words, near to each other, beginning with the
same letter 'alone, alone all, all alone') and assonance (words having similar
vowel sounds), and consonance (words having similar consonant sounds),
reinforcing sense with sound. There are numerous and intricate patterns of
repetition frames. Some of these we shall identify and analyse as we go along.

Check Your Progress I1

i) What is the first thing that struck you when you read the passage?
ii) Give some examples of similes and metaphors from the passage you Descriptive Prose3
have just read
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
iii) What is the function of repetition when effectively employed?
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
iv) Who are the Zapotecs and the Serranos? Describe them in 2-3
sentences.
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....................................................................................

3.4 LET US SUM UP

In the two passages that we examined in some detail, we found a number of
stylistic features:

a) personification which invests objects and events with human

significance;
b) metaphors and similes capture the essential similarity or relationship
between very dissimilar objects.
c) the use of schemes of repetition, and literary devices such as assonance
and alliteration are effective in creating emotional responses and
heightening certain stylistic effects.
I

3.5 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

Check Youl' Progress I

i) This is a direct reference to the well-known poem by Wordworth 'The

Daffodils'. It is a very popular poem and its likely you have studied it
some time. If not, it is worth a reading. It contrasts strikingly with'the
lack of freedom and beauty in the street described here. This
comparison is intended to drive home this point.
Descriptive Prose
THE DAFFODILS
I wandered lonely as a cloud .
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Besides the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle in the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they 9

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company;
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
W a f wealth the show to me had brought;

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mocd,
They flash upon the. inward eye .
Which is the bliss of solitude;
m And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

ii) If the answer is not clear to you, you should go back to 3.2.1 and the
re-read the whole passage, particularly the earlier part. This point has
been discussed in 3.2.3, Try and summarise it in your own words.
iii) See sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.3. The understanding of this point is central
to the whole discussion.
iv) The point is that everything in this street is doomed: not only the old
and the dying, but a190 the younB people and the children. Even birds
and plants are not exempted., This is what moves readers most
powerfully. The expressions are carefully selected to reinforce this
impression. Got back to 3.2.iif nFcessary.

Check Your Progress I1

a ..
., . .,
.. ,

i) The first thing one notices is that everything seems to be in motion, in

the act of doing something. This is achieved by the extensive use of
active verbs. For examp1es.turn to the text and the first p'aragraph of
3.3.3 Discussion.
ii) Similes and metaphors are used extensively in descriptive writing, as
we discussed in Unit 1, section 1.5. If you need help to pick out
examples of similes and metaphors, turn to paras 2 and 3 of 3.3.3
Discussion.
iii) Repetition is effectively employed to convey strong feelings and 'to
emphasis a particular point. Refer to the last para' of 3.3.3 Discussion.
iv) The Zapotecs and the Serranos are the Indians who came to the Descriptive Prose-%
markets. The Zapotec men are small and dark and wear big hats while
the women are usually barefoot and recognizable by their blue
rebozos. The Serranos, who came from the hills, wear little conical
black felt hats and black sandals.

47
UNIT 4 DESCRIPTIVE PROSE-3
Structure

4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Passage from Mulk Raj Anand's The Village
4.2.1 Text
4.2.2 Glossary
4.2.3 Discussion
4.3 Passage from Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
4.3.1 Text
4.3.2 Glossary
4.3.3 Discussion
4.4 Let Us Sum Up '

4,5 Answers to Exercises

4.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit, you will examillz two more passages of descriptive writing in
some detail. After reading this unit carefully and completing the exercise, you
will be able to :

recognize the literary characteristics and stylistic feature of a prose

piece;
explain the role of style in presenting the content effectively.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Descriptive writing, as we have seen, is one of the varieties of prose. We have:

also seen that even within descriptive writing we can find writings of different
kinds. In the earlier two units, you have seen the way that historians,
travellers and anthropologists use prose for descriptive writirg. While the
content is important, it is style and presentation which separates literary prose
from the non-literary and functional variety. It is for this reason that it is
important to look at the literary aspects a little more closely by analyzing the
stylistic features.

In this unit, you will read two passages of descriptive writing. The first
passage is a description taken from Mulk Raj Anand's The Village,

The second passage is from the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens. There
are marked contrasts in the two passages. Both the passages are dramatic in 1
nature. But while the first vividly describes a dramatic episode, the second I
dramatically builds up the atmosphere of the period.
 Descriptive Prose-3
4.2 PASSAGE FROM MULK RAJ ANAND'S THE
VILLAGE

This passage is an extract from Mulk Raj Anand's novel The Village. This is a
striking description of an unusual and bizarre event which takes place in a
village. Snake bites are frequent occurrences in villages but local customs vary
in their treatment. Often magic and exorcism are part of the treatment of
snake-bites, in addition to various kinds of medication. But it is generally
believed that the poison that has entered the body needs to be treated by other
means besides medication, and the process is aided by faith cures and spiritual
powers of a hallucinatory and dramatic kind. Some others perform these rites
secretly with meditation and prayer in strict solitude.

4.2.1 Text

'There is the palanquin, there is our boy,' the peasants chorused. A tense
silence prevailed during which the father of the lad, who had been brought,
rushed to see if there was still life in the boy's body.

Harnarn Singh was going to run out to fetch Chandi, but he had hardly risen
before she rushed in, fuming and frothing, her eyes glinting like burning coals,
her nostrils dilating wide like a breathless mare.

'They torture me and torment me, these eaters of their masters, Mahantji,' she
said. 'Look, they have bruised my legs and arms. Why are they after my life?
Why can't they tease their mothers, their sisters! May they die!'

'There is no talk!' There is no talk!' consoled the Mahant. 'They are rogues!
You should keep quiet and not take any notice of what they say. Now where
is Hafiz, the drummer? You wait and rest till he comes.'

Chandi sat wearily for the moment, and closed her eyes as if she were going to
sleep.

'He is in the hall, I think,' said Harnarn Singh, and he shouted, 'Ohe!, Hafizia,
come in, ohe!, come in.'

Hafiz, the bearded old hereditary musician, came, bearing his drum. He still
led concert-parties to peasants' homes on the occasion of marriages and births,
and, as a menial, he had waited to be called to Mahant's sacred presence. He
raised his hand to his head, saying, 'Salaam, Mahantji, father-mother.'

Lalu had heard that Chandi, the witch woman, was supposed to be possessed
by the spirit of the king of snakes. She could cure anyone who had been
bitten, with the help and blessing of the Mahant.

He had now finished grinding the liquid, and was draining the mixture into
cups for the company to drink. But just then Hafiz struck up the drum and
Chandi, who had sat still and intent, brooding heavily, began to shiver like
someone possessed of a fever.
Descriptive Prose That was how she began to go into her trance, and though he had often seen
her do it in his childhood, he left the pestle and mortar and watched,
fascinated.

Even as he turned, the shivering gave place to a hissing, hard-breathing,

shaking movement, at a faster tempo. And, as he contemplated the faces of
the congregation in the eerie tenseness of the monastery courtyard, and saw
the bitten body lie as dead in the stillness, the hissing, hard-breathing, shaking
movement became the wriggling of a snake when it gives chase. The music of
the drum had mounted to a rhythm which seemed to seep into Lalu's blood,
and he felt embarrassed even as he lent himself to it.

But Chandi was almost going mad as, with a majestic sweep of her loose
black hair, streaked with white, a smile on her lips that lit the haggard,
sunken-cheeked ugliness of her face into an ecstasy, she began to revolve her
head while she blew forth sharp whiffs of breath, like a cobra when it dances.
Round and round the head went, round and round, till, while Lalu felt tickled
to laugh, the blood of Chandi's face seemed to merge into an illusory circle of
fire. And while she moved her head thus furiously she began to crawl on all
fours, still revolving her head, still blowing and puffing short gasps of breath,
spitting the profuse froth that was gathering on the corners of her mouth, and
describing circles round the palanquin.

From shivering she passed to shaking, from shalung to wriggling and crawling
in circles. Then she began to jump and caper, with short steps more like a
monkey than a snake, and her head revolved with the violence of a whirlwind
as she blew her breath in spurts of anger, and cast her spittle about the air as if
she were spreading her venom against the world with a malevolent wrath. Her
face struck the earth sometimes, and she seemed to lose control of her head
complktely, so that it struck against the edge of the palanquin and bled. But
on and on she went, in a ceaseless, dangerous movement, the curves of a
snake dance that was as fascinating in its mixture of human and reptile
gestures as it was frighteningly terrible to behold. And time and space seemed
to swirl in this mad dance to which the continuous thunder of the drum added
a mighty abandon. Life seemed to lose its meaning and its reality on the
shimmering waves of the steady stares that waited, half full of doubt, half full
of hope, for the miracle to be performed.

The tension grew to a strange and uncanny height as Chandi, wrapt in the
ecstasy of her movement, tired and violent, lifted by the swirling tides of her
furious activity, became completely involved in her own warmth and seemed
to forget the purpose for which she had summoned the spirit of the king of
snakes. She drifted almost to the edge of the kitchen, which, to her as an
outcast from society, was forbidden territory.

But then she changed her direction suddenly as if, even in her trance, she
remembered her birth. And she danced to the foot of a banyan tree which
stood overshadowing the courtyard in a comer, and blew into the holes at its
roots to propitiate the snake gods who were supposed to live there. Then,
absorbed in the shaking splendour of her dance, she whirled across to the
palanquin where the bitten body of the peasant boy lay. And she began to
blow at the various parts of it, drifting away after a brief spell as if to intensify
her movement. And the father of the boy whispered: 'Wah Guru, Hey, Wah
 Guru!' as if each movement of suspense, while his son still lay dormant, was Descriptive Prose-3
I like the load of centuries on his tight-stretched heart.

At this stage, the Mahant got up and, going towards Chandi, made as if to
breathe a divine secret into the snake spirit's ear And B e musician shouted
short little cries of encouragement as he hastened the tempo of his thumps on
the drum.
1I
Chandi followed the Mahant, spitting and snarling as a snake to its charmer,
and moved towards the body. She circled round, while the holy man explored
the pale olive skin of the boy for the spot where it had been bitten. But he
couldn't find it.

The father of the boy, unable to bear the suspense any longer, rose eagerly and
'came forward and laid his fingers on his son's left ankle.

Upon this the Mahant led the snake spirit up to the ankle of the boy and
breathed again into Chandi's ears.

The possessed woman sat, her head revolving, sweeping the dust with her
hair, with a playful movement which rapidly assumed the utmost ferocity.
Then, falling upon the boy's ankle, she blew upon the wound again and again
spitting and spattering, and rubbed the sweep of her hair on it.

The Mahant bent down when she had repeated this for several seconds, and
breathed something else into her ear.

Then he motioned to the palanquin bearers to take the body and lay it on the
terrace and signed to the musician to stop beating the drum.

Chandi's head revolved frantically for a while, as it had done when she had
blown at the ankle. Then, as if the fuel to the fire of her movement was
exhausted now that the music had stopped, she slackened. Her shaking
became a wriggle, and then her wriggle relaxed into a quivering and the
quivering into a shiver, till at the end she sat still, brooding and intent, her
lean, ugly face dropping from the flushed warmth to a surly, lined hardness,
'Give her some chapattis, ohe Sitalgar,' the Mahant ordered, 'and some lentil,'
and he went back to his seat.

The boy's body on the terrace turned and heaved and his eyes opened with a
start. His father fell upon him with cries and pressed his limbs, turning the
while to the Mahant and uttering short cries of gratitude, 'You are blessed!
Blessed is the Wah Guru! Blessed are you, oh you of the line of the saints of
Nandpur'

The audience, which had missed many heartbeats, whispered, 'Wah Guru!
Wah Guru!'

The bells in the temple were tinkling for evening worship and everyone felt a
sense of relief after the orgy of the miracle.

4.2.2 Glossary

dilating: becoming wider or more open

hereditary: passed down from father to son
Descriptive Prose trance: sleep-like state when one appears to be unaware of the
things around
tempo: the rate of pattern of movement, work or activity; speed
at which music is played
congregation: a group of people gathered (often for worship)
eerie: causing fear, because strange
caper: to jump about in a funny way
abandon: the state when one's feelings and action are
uncontrolled
uncanny: mysterious; not natural or usual
propitiate: to win favour by offerings or rituals, to attempt to
please
dormant: inactive, or as if asleep
surly: seeming angry; habitually bad-mannered

4.2.3 Discussion

The scene that is described here is of the ritual performed by a 'witch', a

women who mimics a snake in an elaborately symbolic dance performed to
the accompaniment of music and wild rhythmic movements. In the course of
this performance, which to the woman is almost a routine demonstration of
her occult and unconscious powers, she is transformed from a wretched and
pathetic old woman into a powerful agent of life-giving, or at least life-
restoring, mysterious divine forces. Scepticism and faith, superstition and
religious ecstasy mingle with hope and despair in a dramatically shifting
scenario of an old woman-beggar becoming a sorceress-enchanter and agent
of divine providence, at the climax of which the poison seems to have been
drained out of the body of the boy restoring him to life, refreshed as though
after a long sleep. This dramatic episode is vividly described by Mulk Raj
Anand. You will have noticed that there is only a thin dividing line between
narrative and descriptive prose in this passage. This will be discussed at
length in the next block.

The scene is described through the eyes of Lalu, a young boy, the hero of the
novel. He was engaged in making a drink, into which he was grinding some
hemp for the Mahant and others present, when the boy who was bitten was
brought in a palanquin by his father with the help of other villagers. But each
time the miracle was performed by the old woman, Chandi, under the
direction of the Mahant, there was great suspense and fear that it might not
after all work. The old woman, who has been tormented by the urchins in the
neighbourhood, was in a foul mood, but fortunately was immediately available
along with the drummer. So without any delay the ceremony of propitiating
the king of snakes was started. Before long she went into a trance and danced
the snake dance, imitating the movements of a cobra, infuriated and ready to
strike. She went through the various stages of its angry arousal and the
vicious fatal strike of its poisonous fangs. After the propitiation of the king
cobra, she symbolically enacted the process of taking back the poison from the
spot in the left ankle of the boy where he was bitten, thus repeating the entire
cycle, happily bringing back the boy from the jaws of death and restoring him
to his desperate father, to the relief of the entire crowd which was holding its
collective breath in agonised suspense. Chandi, the witch-beggar woman, once
again became a pathetic old woman to be rewarded by a few chapattis and
some lentils. But in her trance she had performed a life-restoring miracle.
 Check Your Progress I , Descriptive Prose3

i) Describe the stages through which Mulk Raj Anand transforms the old
beggar woman.into an instrument of divine providence.

4.3 PASSAGE FROM BLEAK HOUSE BY CHARLES

DICKENS

Let us now take up the next passage, which is from Bleak House (1852-53), a
novel by Charles Dickens. This passage from the opening chapter of the novel
1 sets its whole tone and mood and strikes the keynote of its theme. Fog is a
symbol of the confusion and obscurity ,created by the endless complexities and
the twisted and winding nature of legal proceedings. Litigation, especially, for
equity, for fair play, for redressal of the law's own confusions and
ambiguities, has a way of dragging on interminably, not only for a lifetime but
often for generations together. In the meantime untold miseries are inflicted
on innocent and unsuspecting children, adults and old people who had become
destitute solely because of "law's delays".

4.3.1 Text

London. Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in
Lincoln's Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the
streets, as if the waters had but neyly retired from the face of the earth, and it
would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so,
waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down
from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big
as full-grown snow-flakes - gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the
Descriptive Prose death of the sun. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better;
splashed to their very blinkers. Foot passengers, jostling one another's
umbrellas, in a general infection of ill-temper, and losing their foot-hold at
street corners, where tens of thousand of other foot passengers have been
slipping and sliding since the day broke (if this day ever broke), adding new
deposits to the crust upon crust of mud, sticking at those points tenaciously to
the pavement, and accumulating at compound interest.
Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where. it flows among green aits and
meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of
shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the
Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of
collier-brigs, fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great
ships; fog dropping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the
eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides
of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful
skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of
his shivering little Oprentice boy on deck. Chance people on the bridges
peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog, with fog all around them, as
if they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds.
Gas looming through the fog in divers places in the streets, much as the sun
may, from the spongy E~lds,be seen to loom by husbandman and ploughboy.
Most of the shops lighted two hours before their time - as the gas seems to
know, for it has a haggard and unwilling hok.
The raw afternoon is rawest, and the dense fog is densest, and the muddy
streets ar,e muddiest, near that leaden-headed old obstruction, appropriate
ornament for the threshold of a leaden-headed old corporation; Temple Bar.
And hard by Temple Bar, in Lincoln's Inn Hall, at the very heart of the fog,
sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery.
Never can there come fog too thick, never can there come mud and mire too
deep, to assort with the groping and floundering condition which this High
Court of Chancery, most pestilent and hoary sinners, holds, this day, in the
sight of heaven and earth.

On such an afternoon, if ever, the Lord High Chancellor ought to be sitting

here - as here he is - with a foggy glory round his head, softly fenced in with
crimson cloth and curtains, addressed by a large advocate with great whiskers,
a little voice, and an interminable brief, and outwardly directing his
contemplation to the lantern in the roof, where he can see nothin'g but fog. On
such an afternoon, some score of members of the High Court of Chancery bar
-
ought to be as here they are - mistily engaged in one of the ten thousand
stages of an endless cause, tripping one another up on slippery precedents,
groping knee-deep in technicalities, running their goat-hair and horse-hair
warded heads against walls of words, and making a pretence of equity with
serious faces, as players might. On such an afternoon, the various solicitors in
the cause, some two or three of whom have inherited it from their fathers, who
made a fortune by it, ought to be - as are they not? - ranged in a line, in a long
matted well (but you might look in vain for Truth at the bottom of it),
between the registrar's red table and the silk gowns, with bills, cross-bills,
answers, rejoinders, injunctions, affidavits, issues, reference to masters,
masters' reports, mountains of costly nonsense, piled before them. Well may
the court be dim, with wasting candles here and there; well may the fog hang Descriptive Prose3
heavy in it, as if it would never get out; well may the stained glass windows
lose their colour, and admit no light of day into the place; well may the
uninitiated from the streets, who peep in through the glass panes in the door,
be deterred from entrance by its owlish aspect, and the by drawl languidly
echoing to the roof from the padded dais where the Lord High Chancellor
looks into the lantern that has no light in it, and where the attendant wigs are
all stuck in a fog-bank! This is the Court of Chancery; which has its decaying
houses and its blighted lands in every shire; which has its worn-out lunatic in
every madhouse, and its dead in every churchyard; which has its ruined suitor,
with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress, borrowing and begging through
the round of every man's acquaintance; which gives to monied might the
means abundantly of wearying out the right; which so exhausts finances,
patience, courage,. hope; so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart; that
there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give -
who does not often give - the warning, "Suffer any wrong that can be done
you, rather than come here!"
4.3.2 Glossary
implacable: which cannot be satisfied, or whose demands cannot be
reduced
megalosaurus:' a gigantic carnivorous dinosaur (megalo means huge)
waddling: a heavy awkward way of walking, like that of a duck
blinkers: a pair of flat pieces of leather fixed over a horse's eyes
tenaciously: holding firmly
ait: a small island, especially in the River Tharnes above
London
caboose: a ship's kitchen
collier brig: a ship for carrying coal
rigging: all the ropes and sail$ of a.sailing ship
gunwale: . the upper edge of the sides of a small ship or boat
prentice: short form of apprentice
floundering: struggling, losing control, almost sinking
pestilent: having an evil influence
hoary: grey with age, or having white hair in old age
interminable: (seemingly) endless
precedent: a former action or case used as an example or rule for
the present or future action
goat-hair and
horse-hair
warded heads: British lawyers usually wore wigs made of these
matted well: the courtroom floor covered with coconut matting.
languidly: lacking strength or will
blighted: having a destructive effect i

4.3.3 Discussion
The .opening passage sets the scene. It begins with a one word sentence:
"London" The second sentence is longer, but we note at once that it has no
finite verb, the third is shorter, but again verbless. In sentence after sentence
we have the same elliptical syntax (ellipsis is a rhetorical device, involving
the omission of words and phrases, often easily supplied contextually)
building up an atmosphere of gloom, ill-temper, irritation and repetitive and
unproductive activity. Dogs, horses as well as people splashed in mud are
struggling for a foot-hold in the all-pervading fog, wallowing in the slippery
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Descriptive Prose street, as though the earth was just recovering after the biblical floods. In such
a strange world, where everything seems to have turned black, in mourning for
the death of the sun (again a figure of speech), meeting a Megalosaurus
would have caused no surprise.
In the second paragraph the word fog occurs for the first time and is repeated
over and over again; the verbless sentences (the main verb elided) describe the
fog expanding in all directions, all over London, outside London, in Essex and
Kent, on the land, the river and the sky. It penetrates into the Closed cabins of
ships of every size and variety, into the 'eyes and the throats of ancient
Greenwich pensioners', inta the pipe the angry ship's captain was smoking.
People on bridges thought 'they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the
misty clouds'. The fog becomes a symbol of complete insulation from the
world of real people, suggesting the true nature of the Court of Chancery,
living in its own warld, isolated from humanity, hanging 'in the misty clouds'.
And this is the setting for the 'Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of
Chancery'.
The street lamps were lit earlier than usual, but they failed to dispel the gloom.
The thickest of fogs and the deepest mud and mire could not match the
confusion and ineffectualness of the Caurt. Note particularly the use of
superlatives. Then follows the contrast between the comfort, warmth and
luxury in which the Court functions routinely day after day with its
meaninglessness and utter indifference to human suffering. Justice is delayed
from generation to generation and abjcct misery and helplessness are inflicted
on the orphans, the old, the weak and the derelict. The syntax (the
arrangement of words, phrases and clauses), the sentence structure and the
tense used emphasize the unvarying routine and pointlessly interminable
procedures, 'the groping knee-deep in technicalities', 'the slippery
precedents', the wigged and gowned lawyers fighting their mock battles
'making a pretence of equity with serious faces, as players might'. The
repetitions with variations of certain structures serve to emphasize the futility
and the ridiculous nature of their petty wranglings, carried on from generation
to generation. Over this sterile activity' presides each succeeding Lord
Chancellor, concentrating, like the lawyers' 'on the lantern in the roof, where
he can see nothing but fog'. Reality in the form of day-light never penetrates
into the courtroom through the stained glass windows.
The repeated structures 'on such an afternoon, if ever, the Lord High
Chancellor ought to be sitting here - as here he is' and 'well may the court be
dim.. ..' both emotionally and logically build up to the climax 'where the Lard
High Chancellor looks into the lantern that has no light in it, and like the
people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog',
feeling suspended and drifting like a balloon, are all 'stuck in a fog-bank'. It
is not difficult to see how at this point all the descriptive strands are tied up,
reinforcing the central theme of the futility of whatever goes on inside the
Chancery. Instead of dispensing justice, .the Chancery delays it, causing
untold misery to generations of people.
Check Your Progress 11
'i
Now read the passage carefully as many times as you consider necessary and
then try to understand the exact.meanings and suggestions of the words and
phrases you find difficult in the contexts in which they are used in the passage.
The glossary at the end of the passage is meant to help you.
56
 What kind of atmosphere does the frequent use of the word 'fog' Descriptive Prose-3
evoke?
......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
......................................................................................

Mark TrueBalse after reading the following statements

a) The passage opens in spring TrueBalse
b) The weather is bright TrueBalse
c) It is night time TrueRalse
d) The Court of Chancery is an unpopular place TrueRalse
iii) Explain the following
a) hard by
...........................................................................
b) in the heart of
...........................................................................
c) monied might

iv) How many times is the word afternoon repeated in the final paragraph?
What purpose, do you think, is served by this repetition?

4.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have analysed two fictional passages of prose. The first is a
dramatic description of an episode while the second conveys both the genuine
feel of the period described. We have:
examined some of the distinctive stylistic features in the passage such as
ev.ocative diction, imagery and syntax, miming of action and repetition.
seen how style plays a decisive role in presenting content.

4.5 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

Check Your Progress I
i) Stage 1: Chandi is bullied by the neighbourhood urchins
Stage 2 : Suddenly, with the arrival of the palanquin she becomes the
object of everyone's attention

57
Descriptive Prose Stage 3: When she starts dancing, a gradual change takes place in the
ceremony. The transformation is complete.

Check Your Progress I1

i) You may read the passage again, keeping in mind the fact that writers
use natural background and seasons in order to trace some
correspondence between outer events and inner states of mind.

ii) a) False
b) False
C) False
d) True

iii) a) nearby
b) in the midst of
c) power that stems from great wealth

iv) Three times. Repetition serves the following purposes

• moves from the particular to the general
gives it an effect of timelessness
• conveys a strong impression of the repetitive and pointless
activity that goes on endlessly in the Court of Chancery.