Imagery

Imagery

Imagery is a literary element that refers to the use of

Personification: giving something that is non-human human-like characteristics.

Simile: a figurative language tool that compares one thing to another using the words 'like' or 'as'.

Metaphor: a figurative language tool that replaces an object, concept, or action with another object,
concept, or action that may not be literally applicable.

Onomatopoeia: when a word sounds like what it is describing, e.g., 'hiccup'.

So we beat on, boats against the current, born ceaselessly back into the past.
Nick Carraway, the narrator, uses the imagery of boats pushing in vain against a current as a metaphor.
The boats represent the people featured in the novel. Just like boats trying to move forward on a journey,
the characters in the novel are trying to move forward in their lives and into the future. However, like a
strong current, the influence of the past pushes back against their attempts to move towards their dreams.

Imagery enhances your writing as it helps to paint a picture for your reader. This makes it easier for readers
to imagine the settings and scenarios that you are writing about.
Visual Imagery

Visual imagery works with our sense of sight and helps us to imagine how something looks. For
example: 'Her hair was a flaming red.'
Auditory Imagery

Auditory imagery works with our sense of sound. For example: 'The dog whimpered in fear.'
Gustatory Imagery

Gustatory imagery works with our sense of taste. For example: 'Her honeyed voice.'
Tactile Imagery

Tactile imagery works with our sense of touch and helps us to imagine what something might feel
like.

For example: 'Her skin was smooth as silk.'

Olfactory imagery works with our sense of smell. For example: 'Something was making the room
smell sour like vinegar – a sour kind of smell, like it hadn’t been looked after properly in a while.'
Important Note

Imagery is not limited to sensory perception, although this is a common device used to create imagery. imagery can
also include references to temperature, movement, and inner feelings and emotions. Furthermore, imagery may be
used that appeals to the senses in multiple ways.

The imagery used in the description: 'her honeyed voice', could be described as both gustatory, auditory, and
tactile. The image of sweet and sticky honey could reflect a pleasant, sweet tone in her voice that draws you in
and is difficult to stop listening to.
 'Summer Night' (1919) by Alfred Tennyson
NOW sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:
The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.

Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,

Tennyson uses visual imagery in this poem to describe a summer night's scene. The narrator is spending a summer night waiting for their
lover to come home. The imagery conveys the idea that whilst the narrator is waiting for their lover, the rest of the world is sleeping around
them. The image of sleeping flowers, the 'crimson petal [...] the white', suggests that nature is winding down for the night after a long day,
taking comfort in sleep as humans do. This reflects a feeling of all-encompassing sleepiness that not only affects the speaker, but also the
speaker's entire surroundings, comforting to the speaker as they expect their lover to appear in their dreams. Tennyson uses the simile of
'like a ghost' to evoke the idea that the narrator's lover feels intangible and far away, a figment of their imagination.
 Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
I was spiteful. Full of a baby's venom. [...] Winter in Ohio was especially rough if you had an appetite for colour.

(Chapter 1)
The narrator is 'full of baby's venom', which is a reference to the baby ghost that haunts their home after being murdered several years ago. A baby
being full of venom is an unusual description, as babies are usually associated with innocence rather than danger. This could show how unnatural and
unfair the baby's life and death were. This also highlights the theme of generational trauma that is explored in the novell. Although having a baby is
seen as something positive for many parents, for Sethe, having a baby only symbolises the possibility of continued pain as she fears the
consequences of her child being born into slavery.

The imagery used also presents Ohio as being colourless, dreary, and therefore incompatible with people who prefer the colours of spring or summer.
Describing these people as having 'an appetite for colour' indicates they may thrive on their surroundings being colourful and vibrant. Hence, the
atmosphere is highlighted as being one that is draining rather than fulfilling.
Example A

The Princess' wedding dress was a long trail behind her, its many jewels winking in the sunlight as she
walked down the aisle. She smelled like fresh lilies and lemon on this fine spring morning. She even had
the essence of spring about her, ready to bloom into something beautiful and captivating.
The use of the simile and olfactory imagery in 'she smelled like fresh lilies and lemon' reflects that
the bride is refreshing and beautiful. Comparing her to spring also portrays her as a symbol for
something new and good. The metaphor of 'jewels winking in the sunlight' is used to convey how
the sun reflects on the jewels of her dress, creating an enchanting image.
 Example B

The bear's tongue was rough and wet on his skin as it dragged across his face. He
stood, as unmoving as the boulder next to him, and waited for the bear to be done
with its poking and prodding.
This example uses tactile imagery as it describes the bear's tongue as 'rough'.
The use of the simile 'as unmoving as the boulder next to him' aims to convey
how still the man had to be in such a tense situation. The imagery of the bear
'poking and prodding' shows that the bear was mostly curious as it sniffed around
the man.