en; when made or found; how affected by
time.

2. History and traditional associations.

3. Substance and manner of origin.

4. Size, shape, and appearance.

5. Analogies with similar objects.

6. Sensations produced by contemplating it.

7. Its purpose or function.

8. Its effects--the results of its existence.

Descriptions of places must of course vary with the type of the place.
Of natural scenery, the following elements are notable:

1. How beheld--at dawn, noon, evening, or night; by starlight or
moonlight.

2. Natural features--flat or hilly; barren or thickly grown; kind of
vegetation; trees, mountains, and rivers.

3. Works of man--cultivation, edifices, bridges; modifications of
scenery produced by man.

4. Inhabitants and other forms of animal life.

5. Local customs and traditions.

6. Sounds--of water; forest; leaves; birds; barnyards; human beings;
machinery.

7. View--prospect on every side, and the place itself as seen from
afar.

8. Analogies to other scenes, especially famous scenes.

9. History and associations.

10. Sensations produced by contemplating it.

Descriptions of animals may be analyzed thus:

1. Species and size.

2. Covering.

3. Parts.

4. Abode.

5. Characteristics and habits.

6. Food.

7. Utility or harmfulness.

8. History and associations.

Descriptions of persons can be infinitely varied. Sometimes a single
felicitous touch brings out the whole type and character, as when the
modern author Leonard Merrick hints at shabby gentility by mentioning
the combination of a frock coat with the trousers of a tweed suit.
Suggestion is very powerful in this field, especially when mental
qualities are to be delineated. Treatment should vary with the author's
object; whether to portray a mere personified idea, or to give a quasi
photographic view, mental and physical, of some vividly living
character. In a general description, the following elements may be
found:

1. Appearance, stature, complexion, proportions, features.

2. Most conspicuous feature.

3. Expression.

4. Grace or ugliness.

5. Attire--nature, taste, quality.

6. Habits, attainments, graces, or awkwardnesses.

7. Character--moral and intellectual--place in the community.

8. Notable special qualities.

In considering the pre