-- When describing a scene or character, verbs are preferable to adjectives. ---
A good example comes from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonder Land."
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...They saw the Mock Turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break.
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Leaving aside "Mock" as an adjective, since it is more like a title, and discounting articles ("a" and "the")...
Adjective count - 1 (little)
Adverb count - 3 (sad, lonely & nearer)
Verb count - 6 (saw, sitting, came, could hear, sighing, would break)
Carroll does not say the Mock Turtle had a broken heart, which would be boring, but fills the scene with action.
What do y'all think?
Sad and lonely are adjectives, despite their placement. It wasn't the manner of sitting that is being described as sad and lonely, but the Mock Turtle itself. Hence he is, nearly in so many words, saying the Mock Turtle was broken-hearted.
I'd suggest that adverbs are often a good thing to avoid, and it's best to use adjectives sparingly, so all in all I probably agree with your basic point. Carroll has a moving scene here, even if the movement is minor, and that seems to me to lend to its effectiveness.
Luc
"Sad and Lonely are adjectives, despite their placement."
What a nice poetic rhythm that has. I have it in my heart to feel sorry for those sad, lonely adjectives.
"Carroll has a moving scene here."
'Tis true, so true. Carroll intended us to be moved to laughter by the "moving scene" that the Mock Turtle acts out.
Very nice.
Let me preface by saying that I'm not really sure what point you are trying to make.
But I'll second PaganQuaker--adverbs and (to a lesser degree) adjectives do not lend to strong writing. The problem with adverbs is that they modify a verb, and you can usually find a single verb to denote what you mean without having to rely on the verb + adverb scheme. For example, a person who is "walking slowly" can also be described as "creeping" or "tiptoeing." The added bonus of finding the stronger verb is that it's more precise. A person creeping across a room is different than a person tiptoeing across a room.
Adjectives should be limited, but not avoided like the dreaded adverb. You just need to try to avoid redundancy when using adjectives. For example, don't talk to me about the brown wooden desks, since most wooden desks are brown.
I think the real issue you are bringing to the fore is simplicity of writing. Adverbs clutter up our prose, and adjectives have the propensity to do the same thing. But if you want to learn how to use adjectives really well, read Hemingway. Get a book of his short stories and pour over them. He's the simplest writer I've ever read, and he writes powerfully.
I end with a scene from his story, "Hills like White Elephants." It's full of nouns and verbs, and his use of adjectives is superb.
quote:
The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.
[This message has been edited by Augustine (edited November 03, 2001).]
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"I love your sentences, although I don't know if your irony is intentional.
'Sad and Lonely are adjectives, despite their placement.'
What a nice poetic rhythm that has. I have it in my heart to feel sorry for those sad, lonely adjectives"
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that took me a sec, but very cute!
no, i really don't have anything useful to say here... you guys pretty much summed it up.
TTFN & lol
Cosmi