Inanimate objects and their characteristics

English Literature - Inanimate Object

DESCRIPTION of an INANIMATE OBJECT Introduction and Thesis Statement:

In general, we tend to rely most on our visual senses to identify unfamiliar objects. However, the other five senses are equally important, which is particularly evident in individuals who have lost their vision. Modern diagnostic brain imaging studies have actually confirmed what has often been described anecdotally in that regard: namely, that the loss of eyesight results in the gradual increase in the relative abilities of the other senses. While we will be describing the inanimate object using sight as well as our other four senses, we expect to demonstrate that it is possible to identify the object through the four other senses before including any visual data.

Detailed Discussion of Sensory Perceptions:

The first impression gathered through physical touch suggests that the object is a flat three-dimensional rectangle whose length is approximately twice its width, with a comparatively smaller depth. A rough estimate of dimensions would be three or four feet in length, three feet in width, and only six inches in depth. The front panel is very smooth to the touch, and from prior experience, it feels like it is composed of glass.

Gently tapping a fingernail against the panel seems to confirm this impression because it vibrates the way a thin panel of glass might.

That vibration also seems to indicate that the glass-like panel is connected to the rest of the object only at its edges and that most of the panel itself is not physically in contact with the object because solid glass and glass panels supported across their entire surface tend to respond much differently to the fingernail tap test. There appears to be a seem between the exterior edges of the glass-like panel where it meets the surface of the rest of the object along its entire perimeter. The size of the seam feels quite small, perhaps a sixteenth of an inch or less.

The glasslike panel feels somewhat cool to the touch, especially in comparison to the flat sides of the object which feel slightly warm in a manner consistent with what one would expect from an electrically powered piece of electronic equipment that is either powered on or only recently powered off. That conclusion seems to be confirmed by the presence of small patterns of uniform holes and thin lines of depression in the area where the sides of the object meet the back section.

A very feint scent is apparent in the vicinity of those areas, strongly suggesting that they represent heat dispersal vents, because the odor is of the type consistent with plastics and the silicates commonly used in electronic circuits. Listening to the apparent vents reveals no sound emanating from the object; that, and the apparent lack of any internal source of heat both seem to indicate that the object was powered off only relatively recently. The sides and back area of the object feel like hard plastic to the touch. They also respond to the fingernail tap test in the manner expected of hard plastics, producing a higher audible pitch and less vibration and "give" to slight pressure than the glasslike front panel. The hard plastic does not have any specific taste to it, but use of the tongue seems to confirm the prior observation that the surface was warm to the touch.