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I like your insights. It made me feel better about my work because I don't have a good head for detail, and because of that descriptive passages come hard to me. I can think of one short story, "The Dead", by James Joyce, that has an extensive descriptive passage in it, but the passage is germane to the plot, and "The Dead" is a long short story. When Joyce is describing the banquet to which Gabriel and his wife were invited, Joyce meticulously describes the dishes that are presented, and it conveys how much work went into the banquet and how important it is. That is about the only lengthy descriptive passage that I like. For most works it is better to try to find one or two revealing details in the story than more extensive description. For example, in the long poem, "Home Burial" by Robert Frost, a woman's husband comes home after digging a grave for their child, and he has clay dirt caked on the bottom of his boots, which to his wife seems to reveal her husband's indifference to their child's death, and his eagerness to dispose of the small body. It has a strong effect on the reader. |