Question

Which sentence would a writer use to best appeal to the reader’s sense of touch?

He forgot to turn off the burner on the stove, and that was how she hurt her hand.
The stove was still hot when she put her hand on it to lean back, and the burn was so bad she had to go to the doctor.
When she touched the hot stove, she first heard a muffled sizzle, but then her palm began to scream with pain – pain so hot it almost felt cold.
Everyone winced when they realized she had touched the stove that he left on inadvertently – they knew she had to be in a lot of terrible pain.

Answer 1

When she touched the hot stove, she first heard a muffled sizzle, but then her palm began to scream with pain - pain so hot it almost felt cold.

Answer 2

The right answer is C - "when she touched the hot stove, she first heard a muffled sizzle, but then her palm began to scream with pain - pain so hot it almost felt cold".

It alludes to the sense of touch first by using the actual word "touch", adding sound aid to complement the mental picture"muffled sizzle" and other touch-related descriptors, such as: pain, so hot, cold.

Option A provides a simplistic description of the events; option B focuses on motion including that of her hand, of herself leaning back and her going to the doctor; and option D shifts the focus onto the spectators and their feelings about the accident.