ncy. It is this personal quality--this
question of the personal eye which sees the things later to be
described--that makes description so interesting in public speech. Given
a speaker of personality, and we are interested in his personal
view--his view adds to the natural interest of the scene, and may even
be the sole source of that interest to his auditors.

The seeing eye has been praised in an earlier chapter (on "Subject and
Preparation") and the imagination will be treated in a subsequent one
(on "Riding the Winged Horse"), but here we must consider the
_picturing mind_: the mind that forms the double habit of seeing things
clearly--for we see more with the mind than we do with the physical
eye--and then of re-imaging these things for the purpose of getting them
before the minds' eyes of the hearers. No habit is more useful than that
of visualizing clearly the object, the scene, the situation, the action,
the person, about to be described. Unless that primary process is
carried out clearly, the picture will be blurred for the
hearer-beholder.

In a work of this nature we are concerned with the rhetorical analysis
of description, and with its methods, only so far as may be needed for
the practical purposes of the speaker.[20] The following grouping,
therefore, will not be regarded as complete, nor will it here be
necessary to add more than a word of explanation:

_Description for Public Speakers_

Objects { Still
" " { In motion

Scenes { Still
" " { Including action

Situations { Preceding change
" " { During change
" " { After change

Actions { Mental
" " { Physical

Persons { Internal
" " { External

Some of the foregoing processes will overlap, in certain instances, and
all are more likely to be found in combination than singly.

When description is intended solely to give accurate information--as to
delineate the appearance, not the technical construction, of the latest
Zeppelin airship--it is called "scientific description," and is akin to
exposition. When it is intended to present a free picture for the
purpose of making a vivid impression, it is called "artistic
description." With both of these the public speaker has to deal, but
more frequently with the latter form. Rhetoricians make still further
distinctions.

_Methods of Description_

In public speaking, _description should be mainly by suggestion_, not
only because suggest