Friday, October 9, 2009

homework

Eragon was fifteen, less than a year from manhood. dark eye-brows rested above his intense brown eyes. His clothes were worn from work. A hunting knife with a bone handle was sheathed at his belt, and a buckskin tube protected his yew bow from the mist.

1 comment:

  1. TJ,

    Here are some mechanics I draw from your example. At first glance, this seems to be a physical description. We learn Eragon's age, his eye color, and what he's wearing. Why tell us that? Why not tell us what shoes he's wearing, or what his fingers look like? These details are chosen carefully to tell us what kind of person Eragon is, rather than just what he looks like. Notice how Paolini doesn't just tell us that Eragon was fifteen, but that this means he is almost an adult. He has dark (and from the verb, "rested," I assume they are heavy or overhanging, so as to accentuate the intensity of his eyes) eyebrows and intense eyes. He sounds like a serious young man. We also know he is hard working and not rich because his clothes are worn. However, he takes care of the things he does have. Without telling us in words, we get the idea that Eragon is not a frivolous or capricious young man. We also know what sort of world we are in, that is, one in which people still use knives and bows.

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