General (abstract) and Particular (concrete)
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Abstract
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Concrete
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Usually, in the General Statement we find a lot of abstract words (ideas) and in the examples and details we find a lot of concrete words (things, people, places).
For example:
| Some forms of art demand elaborate equipment and materials. The sculptor has to have stone or wood to work with, a variety of tools, access to a studio and perhaps a foundry for casting his work in metal. Someone who takes up drawing needs only a pencil and paper. This, of course, has huge implications for the expense of the different art forms. |
In the passage above the General Statement depends on abstract words like equipment and materials, which we perceive with our minds. The Particular Example uses such concrete words as hammer, chisel, stone and wood, which we perceive with our senses of sight, touch etc.
