#6 types of imagery in literature how to

Cold as it was he stood there a long time. In this passage from his novel The Road, note how he uses imagery to describe the fire on the distant ridge, the feel of the air, and even the feeling inside that the man experiences.Р”Р„ forest fire was making its way along the tinderbox ridges above them, flaring and shimmering against the overcast like the northern lights. The novelist Cormac McCarthy is known, among other things, for his powerful imagery. Often you must have seen themР”Р„s the breeze rises, and turn many-coloredР”Р„s the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. I like to think some boy's been swinging them.Р”В«ut swinging doesn't bend them down to stayР”Р„s ice-storms do. When I see birches bend to left and rightР”Р„cross the lines of straighter darker trees, The language he uses in the description involves imagery of sight, movement, and sound. In the early lines of his poem 'Birches,' Robert Frost describes the birches that give his poem it's title. This imagery does involve the use of figurative language, as Romeo describes Juliet's beauty in the nighttime by using a simile that compares her to a jewel shining against dark skin. Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night, O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo describes his first sight of Juliet with rich visual imagery: Imagery is found in all sorts of writing, from fiction to non-fiction to poetry to drama to essays.

To sum up, then: imagery can involve the use of figurative language, but it doesn't have to. It can! You could write, for instance, 'The apples rumbled into the cellar bin like a stampede of buffalo,' using a simile to create a non-literal comparison that emphasizes just how loudly those apples were rumbling. Now, that doesn't mean imagery can't use figurative language. So this imagery involves no figurative language at all. But it is also completely literal: every word means exactly what it typically means. These lines contain powerful imagery: you can feel the swaying ladder, see the bending boughs, and hear the rumbling of the apples going into the cellar bin. I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend. Take the lines from Robert Frost's 'After-Apple Picking:' Imagery is neither a type of figurative language nor does it solely involve the use of figurative language to create descriptions for one simple reason: imagery can be totally literal. It's not literally saying that you are a beam of light from the sun, but rather is creating an association between 'you' and 'sunshine' to say that you make the speaker feel warm and happy and also give the speaker life in the same way sunshine does. For instance, the phrase 'you are my sunshine' is figurative language (a metaphor, to be precise). A Quick Definition of Figurative LanguageР”Р‡igurative language is language that creates a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation of the words.

Describing imagery as the use of figurative language to create descriptions that engage the physical senses.Р”В«oth are wrong.

Describing imagery as a type of figurative language.

Usually this confusion involves one of two things: Many people (and websites) confuse the relationship between imagery and figurative language. Writers may focus descriptions in a particular passage on primarily one type of imagery, or multiple types of imagery. Some people may also argue that imagery can be kinesthetic (related to movement) or organic (related to sensations within the body). There are five main types of imagery, each related to one of the human senses:

#6 types of imagery in literature how to

Here's how to pronounce imagery: im-ij-ree Types of Imagery

While imagery can and often does benefit from the use of figurative language such as metaphors and similes, imagery can also be written without using any figurative language at all.

Imagery includes language that appeals to all of the human senses, including sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

Though imagery contains the word 'image,' it does not only refer to descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight.

Some additional key details about imagery: And I keep hearing from the cellar bin / The rumbling sound / Of load on load of apples coming in.'

For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem 'After Apple-Picking' contain imagery that engages the senses of touch, movement, and hearing: 'I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend. Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. What is imagery? HereРІР‚в„ўs a quick and simple definition: