dominant impression
A dominant impression is a quality, mood, or atmosphere that reinforces the writer’s purpose. It is primarily a feature of narrative and description-based writing. The dominant impression is sometimes called the controlling idea. In this sense, the writer must be consistent. For example, the dominant impression of one snowfall could be “gentle, crystalline, and romantic.” Another snowfall could be “blinding, whipping, and suffocating.” However the writing would be inconsistent if the author described the second snowfall further with words like “soft,” “whispering” or “magical.”