Scott Fitzgerald vs "Show don't tell" - Which one do you prefer?

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Cindy Blake

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SCOTT FITZGERALD - THE GREAT GATSBY (ORIGINAL)
“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”
SCOTT FITZGERALD - THE GREAT GATSBY ('SHOW DON'T TELL' STYLE)
"He smiled."
 

Helix

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That's...that's not an example of show don't tell.

ETA: Although, arguably, it is, but the first example is show and the second one tell.
 
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AW Admin

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Locking this as duplicate thread of dubious value. Appeal to an Office Party mod if you want it reopened.
 
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