The analysis focuses upon the ways in which the offender's selection of descriptions for the victim (in addition to the description 'victim') can serve with various degrees of implicitness or explicitness -- to make available a motive for the offense. The analysis is elaborated by considering the ways in which the descriptions of the victim may tie to a self-description of the offender. Also considered are the ways in which descriptions are organized relative to each other and are related to particular deeds/offenses through an allusion to motive. Finally, the analysis examines the ways in which the description of victim and motive may work to allocate and negotiate blame, guilt responsibility and, correlatively, mitigation or justification. (Author abstract)