Imagery: What is Imagery? Definition and example for class 9

 

What is Imagery? Definition and example for class 9.

What is imagery?

Imagery is the art of creating a mental image through descriptive words. Writers use either literal or figurative language to help readers picture an image of a scene by engaging their senses and evoking emotions.

Imagery is a destructive language used to appeal to reader's sense: touch, taste, smell, Sound and sight.

Imagery is a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to readers’ senses to create an image or idea in their head. Through language, imagery does not only paint a picture, but aims to portray the sensational and emotional experience within text.

Important of Imagery

Imagery can improve a reader’s experience of the text by immersing them more deeply by appealing to their senses. Imagery in writing can aim at a reader’s sense of taste, smell, touch, hearing, or sight through vivid descriptions. Imagery can be created using other literary devices like similes, metaphors, or onomatopoeia.

What is imagery used for?

•           Establishing a world or setting

•           Creating empathy for a character’s experience

•           Immersing a character into a situation

 

How many Types of imagery

There are seven different types of imagery that writer’s use. All are in one way or another dependent on the reader’s senses. Let’s take a look at the types of imagery that are most commonly used in literature.

1. Visual Imagery

 

 

Visual imagery is the experience of mentally visualizing the appearance of something, usually without it being present .It is the most common and paramount imagery as it helps authors construct striking images of the scenery and characters in a story.

Visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight and it includes:

1.         Color

2.         Size

3.         Shape

4.         Pattern

For example, when an author writes something like “together, they sat at the expansive shoreline. The shimmering sun was sinking into the sea and, as it disappeared, he went down on one knee and popped out the red ring case." The statement helps the reader conjure up an inner image of the romantic scenery, the characters, and the emotions overriding the event.

2. Auditory Imagery

 

Auditory imagery appeals to the sense of hearing. It describes what we hear from noise, music, and even pure silence. In the auditory modality, it is indicated that auditory imagery represents perceptual attributes of sounds such as pitch and loudness.

Auditory imagery encompasses the following:

      1.         Enjoyable sounds (Music)

     2.         Noise

     3.         Silence or lack of noise

For example, “the trees rustled in rhythm as the wind whistled gently through the leaves." The words “rustle" and “whistled" evoke the sense of hearing, and transports you to a scene in the middle of a forest.

3. Olfactory Imagery

 

Olfactory imagery is described as the ability to experience the sensation of a smell when the appropriate stimulus is absent. When a smell is described so clearly, it rings the bells, thus awakening a sensory cue that triggers vivid memories and emotions.

Olfactory imagery includes:

1.         Fragrances

2.         Scent

3.         Odors

For example, “The aroma of brewed coffee whiffed through the room, causing Virgil to stop what he was doing and sniff the air." The reader can smell the scent of coffee coming off the pages. It follows, then, that memories and emotions that are associated with this smell are stirred almost instantly.

4. Gustatory imagery

 

 

Gustatory imagery draws the attention of the sense of taste. Basically, it deals with the use of specific words that trigger the taste buds, sending the reader down a sensory highway associated with food craving. Actually, beyond visual and olfactory imageries, gustatory imagery is also introduced as a key component of food. Gustatory imagery includes:

1.         Spiciness

2.         Sweetness

3.         Sourness

4.         Savoriness

5.         Saltiness

For example, “the familiar tang of his grandmother’s cranberry sauce reminded him of his youth." The word “tang" awakens the taste buds, and the reader can already imagine the strong flavors of the cranberry sauce stuffed right into the mouth.

5. Tactile Imagery

 

 

Tactile imagery is used to describe something by focusing on aspects that can be felt or touched. As such, it appeals to the sense of touch, and like other imagery devices, it is hugely significant in descriptive writing.

Tactile imagery includes:

1.         Feelings of touch

2.         Temperatures

3.         Feeling of movement

4.         Texture

For example, “while resting in the hammock strapped between two trees, John was enjoying the warmth of the soft, fuzzy blanket on a cold night…." Here, the mention of “cold night" most probably triggers Goosebumps on the reader’s skin, but then, the “soft, fuzzy blanket" brings a mental simulation of the warmth enjoyed by the character.

The types of imagery mentioned above deal with the five senses. Beyond that, there are two forms of imagery that are not related to human senses but are also used in descriptive writing.

6. Kinesthetic Imagery

Kinesthetic is derived from the word kinetic, which means movement or motion. Kinesthetic imagery, therefore, is a type of imagery that describes the actions and movements of people or objects.

Kinesthetic imagery includes:

1.         Actions that lead to touch

2.         Physical movement

3.         Temperature

For example, “She rummaged through the trash, tossing pieces of garbage out of the bin until she finally found the letter that her father accidentally threw away." The phrases “rummaged through the trash" and “tossing pieces of garbage" are kinesthetic imageries used to describe the act of physical movement. It is used as a graphic technique to help the reader create an accurate visual image of the scene.

7. Organic Imagery

Finally, organic imagery is arguably the most difficult and complex form of imagery. This is primarily because it is subjective and it deals with directly creating specific emotions or feelings within the reader. In other words, organic imagery entails the use of words and phrases that make the reader feel elated, nostalgic, fearful, sad, hungry, tired, thirsty, and more.

Organic imagery includes:

1.         Personal experiences of a character’s body

2.         Internal sensations and emotions

Read more