Definition of ImageryImagery is a literary device that refers to the use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience or create a picture with words for a reader. By utilizing effective descriptive language and figures of speech, writers appeal to a reader’s senses of sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound, as well as internal emotion and feelings. Therefore, imagery is not limited to visual representations or mental images, but also includes physical sensations and internal emotions. Show
For example, in his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes imagery as a literary device to create a sensation for the reader as a means of understanding the love felt by the protagonist, Hester Prynne.
By using descriptive language in an effective and unique way, Hawthorne evokes feelings and allows the reader an internal emotional response in reaction to his description of love. This image is especially poignant and effective for readers of this novel since Hester’s love, in the story, results in darkness, shame, and isolation–the opposite of sunshine and radiance. However, Hawthorne’s imagery appeals to the reader’s understanding of love and subsequent empathy for Hester’s emotions and actions, despite her transgression of societal norms, morals, and laws. Common Examples of Imagery in Everyday SpeechPeople frequently use imagery as a means of communicating feelings, thoughts, and ideas through descriptive language. Here are some common examples of imagery in everyday speech:
Types of Poetic ImageryFor poetic imagery, there are seven primary types. These types of imagery often feature figures of speech such as similes and metaphors to make comparisons. Overall, poetic imagery provides sensory details to create clear and vibrant descriptions. This appeals to a reader’s imagination and emotions as well as their senses. Here are the main types of poetic imagery:
Famous Examples of Imagery in Shakespearean WorksWriters use imagery to create pictures in the minds of readers, often with words and phrases that are uniquely descriptive and emotionally charged to emphasize an idea. William Shakespeare’s works feature imagery as a literary device for readers and audiences as a means to enhance their experience of his plays. Shakespeare’s artistic use of language and imagery is considered to be some of the greatest in literature. Here are some famous examples of imagery in Shakespearean works:
Writing ImageryWriters use imagery to evoke emotion in readers. In this way, the reader’s understanding of the poetic subject, setting, plot, characters, etc., is deepened and they have a sense of how to feel about it. Ideally, as a literary device, imagery should enhance a literary work. Unfortunately, some writers try to use this literary device too often, which can lessen the impact of the description and figurative language. For imagery to be effective and significant, whether, in poetry or a story, it should add depth and meaning to the literary work. Overuse of imagery can feel tedious for readers and limit their access to and understanding of the writer’s purpose. Therefore, it’s essential for writers to balance presenting information in a straightforward manner and using imagery as a literary device. Difference between Literal Imagery and Figurative ImageryThere is a slight difference in literal and figurative imagery. Literal imagery, as the name applies, is near in meanings and almost the same thing or exactly what the description says. For example, color like the red rose implies the same thing. However, in figurative imagery, a thing is often not what it implies. There is often the use of hyperbole, simile, or metaphors that construct an image that could be different from the actual thing or person. For example, his cries moved the sky is not an example of literal imagery but of figurative imagery as the skies do not move with cries. Tips to Analyze ImageryAnalysis of imagery is often done in poetry and short stories. However, imagery is present in every literary work where description becomes of some significance. Whenever there is a description in a literary work, a reader first analyses different figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, personifications, images, and hyperbole, etc. There are four major steps in analyzing imagery in a specific description.
Use of Imagery in Sentences
Examples of Imagery in LiteratureThough imagery is often associated with poetry, it is an effective literary device in all forms of writing. Writers utilize imagery as a means of communicating their thoughts and perceptions on a deeper and more memorable level with readers. Imagery helps a reader formulate a visual picture and sensory impression of what the writer is describing as well as the emotions attached to the description. In addition, imagery is a means of showcasing a writer’s mastery of artistic and figurative language, which also enhances the meaning and enjoyment of a literary work for a reader. Here are some examples of imagery in literature: Example 1: Goblin Market (Christina Rossetti)
In this passage of her poem, Rossetti uses all forms of poetic imagery to appeal to the reader’s physical senses as well as their experience of motion and internal emotions. The reader can visualize the actions taking place in the poem along with a sense of orderly movement paired with disordered emotion. As the sisters Lizzie and Laura go about their maidenly and pastoral tasks, the poet’s description of their divergent mindsets and feelings creates an imagery of the tension between darkness and light, innocence and temptation. These contrasting images evoke unsettled and contradictory feelings for the reader, undermining the appearance of the sisters’ idyllic lives with a sense of foreboding. Example 2: The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
In this passage of Gilman’s short story, the narrator uses poetic imagery to describe the yellow wallpaper which eventually ensnares her mind and body. The narrator’s imagery effectively appeals to the reader’s sense of sight, smell, and touch so that the reader is as repulsed by the wallpaper as the story’s protagonist. By utilizing imagery as a literary device, Gilman is able to evoke the same feelings of sickness, despair, fear, claustrophobia, etc., for the reader as she does for the narrator. In addition to this emotional effect, the artistic language used to describe the yellow wallpaper also enhances its symbolic presence in the story. Example 3: The Red Wheelbarrow (William Carlos Williams)
This poem by William Carlos Williams features imagery and, in fact, is an example of Imagist poetry. Imagism was a poetic movement of the early twentieth century that veered away from the heavy description that was characteristic of Romantic and Victorian poems. Instead, the purpose of Imagism was to create an accurate image or presentation of a subject that would be visually concrete for the reader. Imagist poets achieved this through succinct, direct, and specific language, favoring precise phrasing over set poetic meter. In Williams’s poem, the poet uses simple language and clear expression to create imagery for the reader of a red wheelbarrow, lending beauty, and symbolism to an ordinary object. By describing the wheelbarrow with sparse but precise language, the reader can picture an exact visual image of what the poet is trying to convey which, in turn, evokes an emotional response to the image. This imagery enhances the meaning of the poem’s phrasing such that each word becomes essential, and the poem and its imagery are nearly indistinguishable. Synonyms of ImageryImagery has several synonyms with slightly different meanings. They are imagination, picturing, mental imagery, vision, imaging, and dreaming are almost near in meanings but evocation, chimera, pretense, and mind’s eyes. What are examples of imagery in The TellThe first example of imagery to be found is when Poe talks of the “pale, blue eye, with a film over it.” Poe described the eye as such because blue represents innocence, but the paleness of the eye as well as the film that overlays the eye are representations of guilt.
What are 5 examples of imagery?Here are some common examples of imagery in everyday speech:. The autumn leaves are a blanket on the ground.. Her lips tasted as sweet as sugar.. His words felt like a dagger in my heart.. My head is pounding like a drum.. The kitten's fur is milky.. The siren turned into a whisper as it ended.. How does Edgar Allan Poe use imagery in The Tell"The Tell-Tale Heart" frequently uses auditory imagery. As the speaker goes mad, he becomes more obsessed with the sound of his neighbor's beating heart. The repetition of the sound of the heart is what actually drives the speaker mad and causes him to turn himself in to the police.
What's an example of imagery?Sound: The concert was so loud that her ears rang for days afterward. Sight: The sunset was the most gorgeous they'd ever seen; the clouds were edged with pink and gold. Smell: After eating the curry, his breath reeked of garlic. Touch: The tree bark was rough against her skin.
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