Descriptive Writing Techniques: Steinbeck vs. Parker

A detailed Summary of Descriptive Writing Techniques: Steinbeck vs. Parker

Descriptive Writing Techniques: Steinbeck vs. Parker

The smell of stale cigarettes and old coffee lingers around the dusty, metal desk in the middle of the converted garage that is now a home office. Calendars and itineraries posted on the walls ages ago, now outdated and insignificant, fight the stacks of paper that are piled high around the room to collect as much dust as possible. In the far right hand corner of the room lay boxes of two year old phone books that were at one time gathered to be taken to the recycling center by my younger brother's cub scout troop. Now they have become a catchall, where overcoats are placed for the time being and bibles are stacked waiting for next Sunday to roll around. The two sliding glass doors that occupy the opening of the original garage, are filthy with dirty fingerprints that catch the light of the late afternoon sun as is shines through them towards my dimly lit computer screen. Closing the blinds over the sliding doors helps with the light and I can now see the word processing progr!

am on the monitor; but the change in light allows for another image to appear on the screen. It is my inquisitive and thoughtful face that now reflects back towards me. I resist the pressure of the keyb

Guth, Hans P., and Gabrielle L. Rico. Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays

Dorothy Parker's style of writing differs from Steinbeck's in a slight way. She tends to focus more on the human wit and empathy for her appeal. In her short work titled "The Standard of Living," describes the lives of two friends living in New York. Just like Steinbeck, Parker also utilizes the introductory paragraph as a prelude to the mood of the story. She starts the story by describing the slow, lazy Saturday that awaits her two characters, Midge and Annabel. "They had lunched, as was their wont, on sugar, starches, oils, and butter-fats. . . they chose no other sort of food, nor did they consider it"(Guth 302). Anabel and Midge were off of work and they were releshing in the small things in life that they could control themselves. Later on Midge and Annabel play a game that requires them to both declare what they would do if they had a million dollars. This sets the wheels of greed and envy working in the minds of these two women. With each object they suggest the othe!

r comments on it as if it were the dumbest idea. "She went on, with perhaps a slight loss of head, to declare that she herself wouldn't be caught dead in a silver fox"(Guth 304). I could almost see Midge's eyes roll in her head as she proudly declared that she wouldn't do any such thing. It is strange how an author can describe people's actions so clearly. Just like Steinbeck could describe a natural landscape as if the reader was actually there, Parker seems to transplant me into the minds of these women.

Each author felt what he or she were writing and clearly expressed it through there own words. In Steinbeck, someone looking for fantastic descriptions of beautiful places has found the author for th

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Approximate Word count = 1199
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English