Questions for the Sense of Sight

Seeing is Believing…

Think of everything you can see in your scene…

• What objects are stationary in the scene? List five specific features of each object mentioned.

• How are these stationary objects arranged? Do they form any definite pattern or shape with relation to one another?

• Can this pattern or shape be compared to the pattern or shape of more familiar objects?

• Does the scene as a whole have any definite shape?

• What objects are moving in the scene? List five specific features of each object mentioned. How are these features related, if at all, to the object’s motion?

• How can the quality of this motion be described? Intensity? Direction? Rhythm?

• Does this motion form any kind of pattern?

• Can the quality or pattern of this motion be compared to the quality or pattern of the motion of a more
  familiar object?

• What are the colors of the scene? Is there a dominant color?

• Can these colors be more vividly conveyed by appealing to well-known objects?

• What is the source of light in the scene? If the scene is out-of-­doors, what is the quality of the sunlight, if any?

• How does the sunlight, or absence thereof, affect the visual aspects of the scene? Shadow? Haze? Glare? Clarity?

• If the scene is in-doors, what is the source and quality of the light? How do these affect the visual aspects of the scene?

• What is the most striking feature of each of the objects mentioned?

• What are the most striking features of the scene as a whole?

• Why are these features striking? Do they form any common impression?

[From D. Gordon Rohman and Albert O. Wlecke. Pre-Writing: The Construction and Application of Models for Concept Forrmation Writing. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University, 1964, pp. 114-115.]