Unit 2 Natural disasters
Reading (II)
How to describe
scenes using different senses
There were loud crashes of glass breaking and things falling
to the ground, but the students remained still and waited
calmly and quietly.
hearing sight
People were walking, running or simply sitting on the sandy
beach, enjoying the warm sea air and the soft wind that
brushed their hair.
touch
Five types of senses
Senses Examples
sight
taste
smell
hearing
touch
a pink sunset cloud
a sweet cake
rough hands
cry desperately
the perfume of roses
The sense of sight
The thunder was loud and metallic, like the rattle of
sheet iron, and the lightning broke in great zigzags
across the heavens, making everything stand out and
come close to us for a moment.
My Antonia, by Willa Cather
• Most important
• Enable readers to “see”
How to describe a tornado?
The tornado ripped the roofs from houses and threw the bricks of
the home across the neighborhood. With its deadly power, the
tornado grabbed huge trees and tossed cars around as if they were
toys. The street lamps and traffic lights also fall victims to its
mighty power.
Practice
The sense of taste
In the early summer there are plenty of things for a
child to eat and drink and suck and chew. Dandelion
stems are full of milk, clover heads are loaded with
nectar, the Frigidaire is full of ice-cold drinks.
Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White
• A powerful way of description
• Evoke readers to “taste”
When we walked on the seashore, we could taste the salt
in the breeze.
How to express the scene of walking on the
seashore?
How to express the eagerness of going home?
When she was on her way to her hometown, she could
taste her mother’s apple pie on the road when she was
still 1,000 miles away.
Practice
The sense of touch
The night breezes were pleasant with the scent of Cape
jessamine and wild honeysuckle vines. Throughout the early
evening the earth was like a fire banked with ashes; it was
nearly midnight before there was real relief.
Jubilee, by Margaret Walker
• Enable readers to understand a
painful or pleasant feeling
• An effective descriptive method
The rain was refreshing.
________________________________The gentle rain fell on our hot faces.
The wind is blowing.
________________________________The biting wind chills me to the bone.
Practice
The sense of hearing
From the edge of the woods, the white-throated sparrow
(which must come all the way from Boston) calls, “Oh,
Peabody, Peabody, Peabody!” On an apple bough, the phoebe
teeters and wags its tail and says, “Phoebe, phoe-bee!” The
song sparrow, who knows how brief and lovely life is, says,
“Sweet, sweet, sweet interlude; sweet, sweet, sweet interlude.”
If you enter the barn, the swallows swoop down from their
nests and scold. “Cheeky, cheeky!” they say.
Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White
• Add a soundtrack
• Enable readers to “hear”
How to describe an underground station at peak time?
A mother and her crying child are standing in front of me.
She is quietly cleaning dried chocolate syrup off the child’s
messy face. Farther to the left, two old men are arguing
about the most recent tax increase. You hear a little noise
and see some paper trash roll by like a soccer ball.
Practice
The sense of smell
The night breezes were pleasant with the scent of Cape
jessamine and wild honeysuckle vines.
Jubilee, by Margaret Walker
• Most nostalgic
• Evoke readers to recall
我把树叶放在鼻子前深深地吸了一口气,甜甜的清
香悠悠地进入我的肺腑。那是大自然的味道。
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
I put the leaf in front of my nose to take a
deep breath. A sweet smell flowed into my
lungs. That’s the smell of nature.
Practice
The thunder was loud and metallic, like the rattle of
sheet iron, and the lightning broke in great zigzags
across the heavens, making everything stand out and
come close to us for a moment.
My Antonia, by Willa Cather
hearing
sight
Multiple use
The night breezes were pleasant with the scent of Cape
jessamine and wild honeysuckle vines.
Jubilee, by Margaret Walker
touch
smell
Multiple use
Describe the picture below, using at least two senses.