Study Guide on Imagery

Introduction to Imagery

  • Definition of Imagery: Imagery is a specific type of language used by poets, novelists, and various other writers to create vivid mental images in the mind of the reader.

  • Function of Imagery: It utilizes figurative and metaphorical language to enhance the reader’s experience by appealing directly to their physical senses.

General Examples of Imagery

  • Visual Imagery (Example 1):

    • Description: "The night was black as ever, but bright stars lit up the sky in beautiful and varied constellations which were sprinkled across the astronomical landscape."

    • Sensory Details: This example describes the night sky using color (black, bright), shapes (varied constellations), and patterns (sprinkled).

  • Auditory Imagery (Example 2):

    • Description: "Silence was broken by the peal of piano keys as Shannon began practicing her concerto."

    • Sensory Details: The silence is interrupted by the specific sound of piano keys.

  • Olfactory Imagery (Example 3):

    • Description: "She smelled the scent of sweet hibiscus wafting through the air, its tropical smell a reminder that she was on vacation in a beautiful place."

    • Sensory Details: The scent of hibiscus is used to establish a scene that feels relaxing, warm, and welcoming.

  • Gustatory Imagery (Example 4):

    • Description: "The candy melted in her mouth and swirls of bittersweet chocolate and slightly sweet but salty caramel blended together on her tongue."

    • Sensory Details: Through in-depth descriptions of flavors, the reader can almost taste the "deliciousness" directly.

  • Tactile Imagery (Example 5):

    • Description: "After the long run, he collapsed in the grass with tired and burning muscles. The grass tickled his skin and sweat cooled on his brow."

    • Sensory Details: This captures the internal feeling of strained or "burning" muscles, the physical sensation of the grass "tickling" the skin, and the temperature change of sweat cooling.

The Five Most Common Types of Imagery

There are five primary categories of imagery used in creative writing, each corresponding to a specific sense:

  • Visual Imagery: Describes what we see, such as comic book images, paintings, or narrator experiences.

    • Color: Burnt red, bright orange, dull yellow, verdant green, and Robin’s egg blue.

    • Shapes: Square, circular, tubular, rectangular, and conical.

    • Size: Miniscule, tiny, small, medium-sized, large, and gigantic.

    • Pattern: Polka-dotted, striped, zig-zagged, jagged, and straight.

  • Auditory Imagery: Describes what we hear, ranging from music and noise to pure silence.

    • Silence: Peacefulness or eerie quiet.

    • Enjoyable sounds: Beautiful music, birdsong, and the voices of a chorus.

    • Noises: The bang of a gun, the sound of a broom moving across the floor, or the sound of broken glass shattering on a hard floor.

  • Olfactory Imagery: Describes what we smell.

    • Fragrances: Perfumes, enticing food and drink, and blooming flowers.

    • Odors: Rotting trash, body odors, or a stinky wet dog.

  • Gustatory Imagery: Describes what we taste.

    • Sweetness: Candies, cookies, and desserts.

    • Sourness/Bitterness/Tartness: Lemons and limes.

    • Saltiness: Pretzels, French fries, and pepperonis.

    • Spiciness: Salsas and curries.

    • Savoriness: A steak dinner or thick soup.

  • Tactile Imagery: Describes what we feel or touch through skin or internal sensation.

    • Touch: Hand-holding, lying in the grass, or the feeling of starched fabric.

    • Texture: Rough, ragged, seamless, and smooth.

    • Temperature: Bitter cold, humidity, mildness, and stifling heat.

    • Movement: Burning muscles from exertion, swimming in cold water, or the action of kicking a soccer ball.

The Importance of Using Imagery

  • Human Experience: Since humans experience life through their senses, strong writing appeals to those senses.

  • Immersion: Descriptive imagery "launches" the reader into an environment (e.g., a warm spring day or a harsh winter).

  • Sympathy: It allows readers to sympathize with narrators and narratives by imagining the same sensory experiences.

  • Versatility: Imagery is essential for creating compelling poetry, convincing fiction, vivid plays, well-designed film sets, and descriptive songs.

Imagery in Literature

  • Excerpt from "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop:

    • Text: "…his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper: / its pattern of darker brown / was like wallpaper: / shapes like full-blown roses / stained and lost through age…"

    • Analysis: Bishop uses visual imagery to beautify and complicate the image of a caught fish. The reader imagines the fish with tattered skin, barnacles, lime deposits, and sea lice, incorporating colors like brown, rose, white, and green.

  • Excerpt from "Atonement" by Ian McEwan:

    • Text: "A taste for the miniature was one aspect of an orderly spirit… in a prized varnished cabinet, a secret drawer was opened by pushing against the grain of a cleverly turned dovetail joint… a diary locked by a clasp… inside an old tin petty cash box was hidden under a removable floorboard beneath her bed."

    • Analysis: McEwan uses tactile and visual imagery so the reader can almost feel the varnished texture and the specific "dovetail joint." The details of the clasp and the tin box allow the reader to visualize the scene in-depth.

Imagery in Pop Culture

  • Film: Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox is cited as an example of colorful, imaginative, and vivid movie-making where imagery is filled with action and detail.

  • Music: Louis Armstrong’s "What a Wonderful World" uses simple but beautiful imagery. It emphasizes colors like green trees, red roses, blue skies, and white clouds, contrasting the bright day with the dark night.

Related Literary Terms for Imagery

  • Metaphor: A direct comparison of two distinct things used to create imagery.

    • Example: "Her smiling face is the sun."

    • Example: "We were penguins standing in our black and white coats in the bitter cold."

    • Example: "His temper was a hurricane whipping through the school."

  • Onomatopoeia: A form of auditory imagery where the word sounds like the object or action it describes.

    • Example: "The fire crackled and popped."

    • Example: "The wind whistled and hissed through the stormy night."

    • Example: "She rudely slurped and gulped down her soup."

    • Example: "The pigs happily oinked."

  • Personification: Providing animals or objects with human-like characteristics to enhance imagery.

    • Example: "The tired tree’s branches moaned in the gusts of wind."

    • Example: "The ocean waves slapped the shore and whispered in a fizz as they withdrew again."