Below are descriptions of three characters from Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers. Trollope's words produce some vivid images. Write a brief (e.g., one-page) essay explaining what images are evoked and analyzing why and how Trollope's words succeed in creating these images. (Alternatively, your instructor may ask you to simply list the charged words in the descriptions.) This is as close to literary analysis as we'll get-we promise. The selections are from the 1963 Signet Classics edition.Mr. Slope is tall and not ill-made.... His countenance, however, is not especially prepossessing. His hair is lank and of a dull pale reddish hue. It is always formed into three straight, lumpy masses, each brushed with admirable precision and cemented with much grease.... His face is nearly of the

Question

same colour as his hair, though perhaps a little redder: it is not unlike beef-beef, however, one would say, of a bad quality.... His nose, however, is his redeeming feature: it is pronounced, straight and well-formed; though I myself should have liked it better did it not possess a somewhat spongy, porous appearance, as though it had been cleverly formed out of a red-coloured cork.In person Dr. Proudie is a good-looking man, spruce and dapper and very tidy. He is somewhat below middle height, being about five feet four, but he makes up for the inches which he wants by the dignity with which he carries those which he has. It is no fault of his own if he has not a commanding eye, for he studies hard to assume it. His features are well-formed, though perhaps the sharpness of his nose may give to his face in the eyes of some people an air of insignificance. If so, it is greatly redeemed by his mouth and chin, of which he is justly proud.Exteriorly, Mr. Arabin was not a remarkable person. He was above the middle height, well-made, and very active. His hair, which had been jet black, was now tinged with gray, but his face bore no sign of years. It would perhaps be wrong to say that he was handsome, but his face was nevertheless pleasant to look upon. The cheek-bones were rather too high for beauty, and the formation of the forehead too massive and heavy: but the eyes, nose, and mouth were perfect. There was a continual play of lambent fire about his eyes, which gave promise of either pathos or humor whenever he essayed to speak, and that promise was rarely broken. There was a gentle play about his mouth which declared that his wit never descended to sarcasm.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Of course, there is no one right set of remarks to make about these passages. At the very minimum, you should see that Trollope describes Mr. Slope in a most unflattering way; that he is almost equally unflattering toward Dr. Proudie, but in a much more subtle way; and that, despite honestly detailing certain physical shortcomings of Mr. Arabin, Trollope manages to convey a very positive impression of this individual. The TV generation seems to have a surprising amount of trouble with this exercise; all the more reason to take the time to do it.