Friday, February 16, 2007

Writing class - part 2

Another exercise she had us do last night (she really made us work and as I think I have arthritis in my hand - it was a bit painful by the end of the night) was to describe the classroom using our five senses. We had to come up with 5 descriptive sentences on each sense. The classroom is in the older part of the college and is pretty drab and boring so it was a tough one. Here are a few I came up with

Sight
  • It looks like it could be the inside of a prison interview room
  • It looks like the room designer was a first year college student
  • It looks like they stayed under budget on the furniture (the class liked that one)
  • It looks like the floor is covered with millions of dead bugs when I let my eyes glaze over

Sound
  • It sounds like a hospital room in the wee small hours of the night
  • It sounds like a room of students taking their third bar exam
  • It sounds like the sterile environment of a labratory under quarantine
  • It sounds like the nervous laughter of people who don't know the answers to the question

Taste
  • It tastes like that dry feeling you get in your mouth when the nerves act up.
  • It tastes like coffee that has sat on the counter for two days and you don't realize it and take a drink
  • It tastes like the overwhelming fear of failure
  • It tastes like you've spent the day at the beach - and brought much of the sand home in your teeth
  • It tastes like those envelopes that use cheap glue. You know the kind that killed Susan (and just about everyone knew I was referring to LOL)

Smell
  • It smells like fear, the kind that is given off when you know you'll be called on to answer questions and you don't know the answers
  • It smells like soap, that cheap kind that is used in public washrooms that dry up your hands
  • It smells like too many bodies, each giving off a different scent, different and undistinguishable
  • It smells like the disenfectant used by the late night cleaning crew
Touch
  • It feels like a group who is weary, who have been up early and gone to bed late
  • It feels like it's the end of the day and the brain has given up the ghost and gone on home alone
  • It feels like a ball of energy has deflated, leaving everything sagging and spent.
  • It feels like a room where the bright lights are the only thing keeping everyone awake

Like I said - it was a good class last night. And the thing is everyone in the class are all good writers. Some of the others descriptions were just as if not better than mine.

'til later

2 comments:

CindyS said...

Wow! This is a great exercise and I love your descriptors - really imaginative for what I imagine is an uninspiring room.

CindyS

ReneeW said...

I'm impressed with your descriptions! Very imaginative and fun to read.