d
images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and
the vacant and eye-like windows."

And one may see from looking back at the illustrations given that the
dominant impression which gives the character to the whole
description, this leading quality which is the essence of the whole,
usually stands at the very beginning, and to it all the succeeding
details cling.

The End of a Description.

The end of a description is equally as important as the opening. In
most descriptions, whether short or long, the most important detail,
the detail that emphasizes most the general feeling of the whole,
stands at the end. If the description be short, the necessity of a
comprehensive opening statement is not imperative,--indeed, it may be
made so formal and ostentatious when compared with the rest of the
description as to be ridiculous; yet even in the short description
some important detail should close it. In a long description the
repetition of the opening statement in a new form sometimes stands at
the end. If the description be of movement or change, the end will be
the climax of the movement, the result of the change.

In the examples already given there are illustrations of the methods
of closing. In each case, there is an important detail or an artistic
repetition of the general impression. Many examples of short
characterization can be found in all narratives. In Irving's
description of Ichabod Crane, the next to the last sentence gives the
significant detail, and the last gives another general impression. It
reads:--

"The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person.
He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders,
long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his
sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his
whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small,
and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes,
and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock
perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind
blew." ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.")

So far this is but an amplification of his likeness to a crane;
certainly "a long snipe nose" "upon his spindle neck" is the most
important detail. Next the author gives another general impression:--

"To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy
day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one
mi