Literary notes about expressive (AI summary)
The word “expressive” in literature is used to convey a wealth of internal states through faces, gestures, language, and even landscapes. Some authors focus on physical appearance to mirror deep emotions—describing a look that seems to speak volumes without a word [1, 2, 3]—while others extend its meaning to articulate the very tone of speech or style of writing, as when language itself is deemed “expressive” [4, 5]. In more analytical texts, such as Darwin’s examinations, “expressive” is employed to discuss how bodily movements or reflexes reveal underlying emotions [6, 7, 8]. Meanwhile, novelists often play with the term to both celebrate and critique exaggerated emotional displays, exemplified by terms like “over-expressive” that hint at theatricality or even irony [9, 10]. Whether describing the serene beauty of a landscape [11] or the poignant, silent dialogue of a glance [12], “expressive” remains a versatile adjective that enriches literary imagery and deepens our understanding of human experience.
- "You have a very old, wise, and extremely expressive face, as though you really had lived more than a thousand years," said Kovrin.
— from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - His expressive eyes evinced the greatest tenderness.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - My father looked at his watch, and paced up and down with a countenance expressive of the greatest anguish.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - “American slang is very expressive sometimes.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - "Though unmusical, German is the most expressive of all languages," he observed when Von Bork had stopped from pure exhaustion.
— from His Last Bow: An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Actions of all kinds, if regularly accompanying any state of the mind, are at once recognized as expressive.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin - As many reflex actions are highly expressive, the subject must here be noticed at some little length.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin - Effects are thus produced which we recognize as expressive.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin - We’re over-expressive—that’s all.”
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - “I have lately imagined that I saw symptoms of attachment between them—certain expressive looks, which I did not believe meant to be public.”
— from Emma by Jane Austen - A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - If I were forced to choose a bride, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes."
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen
