Unit5 • Peopleandplaces
1.2 Precision
Thisdescription of aroom comes from a detectivestory set in ancient China. As
so often in murdermysteries, thedescriptionof the scene of the crimeneeds to
be clearand precise: it holds a cluewhich will eventually solve the crime. (This is
a 'locked room' mystery.There is no apparentway the murderercouldhave
entered theroom , or l eft. Nevertheless, the victimwas murdered, with poison.)
A Read thedescription and draw a plan of the room .At the sametime, try to
guess how the murderwas committed.Judge Dee openedthe door.Holdinghislan t ernhigh,
h e surveyed the sm all square room, simply but
elegantlyfurnished. On theleft was ahigh narrow
win dow;directl yinfrontofitstood a heavyebon y
cupbo ard, bearin g al arge copperteast ove. On th e
stove sto od aroundpewt erpan for boilingthe tea
water.Next to thest ove he saw asm all teapot of
exquisite blue andwh ite porcelain .The rest of thewall was entirelytakenup by book shelves, aswas t he
wall opposit e. The back wall had a low broad
window;its paper paneswere scru pulously clean. In
front of th e win dow st ood an antique desk of
rosewoodwith three drawers ineitherend/ and a
comfortabl e armchair,alsoofro sew oodandcovered
witha redsatin cushi on. The desk wasem pty but for
twocoppercan dlest i cks.B How isthe descriptionorganized?In whatorderare thefeatures of the room
mentioned?From left toright? Clockwise?By referenceto a key feature?
CThedetailed description begins,On the left was .. .directly in frontofit...
Underlinethe otherprepositionalphrasesandthe other occasionswherewas
andtherewasareused.
DWhere the writer doesn'tuse prepositions, what alternativestructures are
used?Underline them. (For example,rather t hanon top of thecupboardthere
wasatea stovehe uses thewordbearing.)
Similarly,thewriterdoesn'trely onthere wasto list the contents of the room.
Underlinethealternativestructuresused, such asstood.1.3 Writing practice
As anexerciseto developyour abilityto writeaninteresting , lively description,
use whatyou have learnedin this module to writea description (about 150
words) ofVincent Van Gogh's bedroom inAries (illustrated here). To make the
exercise more challenging,don'tuse the same
viewpointasthe painter. Instead, imagine you're
looking in throughthe window. Writeyour
descriptionasif, like theJudge Dee description,it
came from a piece of fiction- eitherliterature,
detective fiction or romantic fiction.84 • Types of writing