Detail: A

Consider: Whenever he was so fortunate as to have him near him a hare that had 

been kept too long, or a meat pie made with rancid butter, he gorged himself 

with such violence that his veins swelled, and the moisture broke out on his 

forehead.

-          Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”

Discuss: 

1.)      What effect does the detail( the spoiled hare, the rancid  butter, the 

swollen veins, the sweaty
                           forehead) have on the reader?

2.)      How would the meaning of the sentence be changed by ending it after 

himself?

It makes me think
                           that he is poor or homeless and has no other food that he can 

eat,
                           that he has not taken a shower in a long time, and that he is very 

stressed out. 

You would think that he was
                           spoiled and want insane. 

Apply: Write a sentence describing
                           someone with disgusting eating habits. It 

must be one,
                           correct sentence; and it must contain at least three vivid 

details.

Detail: B

Consider: An old man, Don Tomasito, the baker, played the tuba. When he blew 

into the huge mouthpiece, his face would turn purple and his thousand wrinkles 

would disappear as his skin filled out.

-          Alberto Alvaro Rios, “ The Iguana
                           Killer”

Discuss: 
                           

1.)     
                           The first sentence is a general statement. How does the second enrich 

and intensify the first? 

2.)       Contrast the second sentence with the following. 

When he blew the tuba, his face turned purple and his cheeks puffed out.

Which sentence more effectively expresses an attitude toward Tomasito? What is 

that attitude and how is it communicated?

       You would just know that he played
                           the tuba and he baked, and his name. 

you would never
                           know that he was actually trying to play the tuba. 

        The first sentence because you don’t have
                           the visual of his wrinkles in the second. 

Apply: Describe
                           someone jumping over a puddle. Your first sentence should be 

general,
                           stating the action simply. Your second sentence should clarify and 

intensify the action through detail. Share your sentence with a partner.

Detail: C

Consider: CHARLEY(to WILLY): Why must everybody like you? Who liked J.P. 

Morgan? Was he impressive? In a Turkish bath he’d look like a butcher. But with 

his pockets on he was very well liked. Now listen, Willy, I know you don’t like 

me, and nobody can say I’m in love with you, but I’ll give you a job because –
                           

just for the hell of it, put it that way. Now what do
                           you say?

-         
                           Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman

Discuss:

1.)      Who was J.P. Morgan? What
                           is a Turkish bath? What picture comes to 

mind when someone
                           is said to look like a butcher? How do these details 

contribute
                           to the point Charley is trying to make? 

2.)      How would the passage be different if Charley said J.P. Morgan would 

look like a baker in a Turkish bath?

I think that J.P Morgan was a wealthy man that everybody wanted
                           to be. The Turkish bath is a term used when you are trying to say that everybody is the same when they are not dressed but
                           then when everybody is dressed they can tell who is wealthy and who is not. “a Turkish bath he’d look like a butcher.”
                           This is saying that is he wasn’t dressed he would be a normal person who has a normal job like a butcher. Whne I think
                           of a butcher I think of a man who is fat and carries a knife and meat in his hands.

It would make him come out to be a normal person. 

Apply: Think of someone famous and powerful. Use detail to create an 

unflattering but accurate description of the physical appearance of this famous 

person. Model your description on Miller’s description of J.P. Morgan. Share 

your description with a partner. 

Detail: D

Consider: To those who saw him often he seemed almost like two men: one the 

merry monarch of the hunt and banquet and procession, the friend of children, 

the patron of every kind of sport; the other the cold, acute observer of the 

audience chamber or the Council, watching vigilantly, weighing arguments, 

refusing except under the stress of great events to speak his own mind. 

-          Winston
                           Churchill, “ King Henry VIII,” Churchill’s History of the 

English- Speaking People’s

Discuss:

1.)      Churchill draws attention
                           to the contrasting sides of Henry VIII 

through detail.
                           How is the impact of this sentence strengthened by the order of 

the
                           details’ presentation?

2.)      What is Churchill’s attitude toward Henry? What specific details 

reveal this attitude?

It gives
                           you one point of view about Henry the VIII and then shortly after it 

states the contrasting view.

It shows that
                           he has more than one personality in “he seemed almost like two 

men” and he has a cold shoulder toward Henry. 

Apply:
                           Think of someone you know who has two strong sides to his/her 

personality.
                           Using Churchill’s sentence as a model, write a sentence which 

captures – through detail – these two sides. Share your sentence with a 

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