What literary device is imagery? (2023)

What is literary imagery?

As human beings, we understand the world through our senses—what we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we taste, and what we touch. To represent this process in their literary works, storytellers and poets use vivid language designed to appeal to these senses. This language is called imagery.

Imagery is one of the most effective literary devices in narrative writing. An image is a single word or phrase that appeals to a readers' sensibilities. It helps create pictures in their minds.

Imagery and figurative language are related concepts in English literature, but they are not the same. Writers use figurative language to create imagery, which is a strong mental picture or sensation. It might help to think of figurative language as the tool and imagery as the product it builds.

Sensory imagery is a literary device writers employ to engage a reader's mind on multiple levels. Sensory imagery explores the five human senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

Imagery : when figurative language (like metaphor or simile ) evokes as a kind mental image any of the five senses, we call this imagery . “She is the sun” (a simile ) suggests imagery of light and warmth (the senses of sight and touch); thus she is likened—compared—to the sun in a positive ways though the imagery.

One of the most important rhetorical devices that an author can use is that of diction, and with diction, imagery and vivid descriptions are very closely tied. A combination of these rhetorical figures can result in a very eloquent and well written piece that leaves the reader with a lasting impression of the work.

Personification is used to put human qualities on something like an object. It is imagery because it is used to describe something using things people have seen or heard of.

Imagery and metaphor are two different ways in which things can be described or illuminated upon. The term "imagery" refers to the description of a person, place or item using the five senses. The term "metaphor" refers to the comparison of two unlike elements without using “like” or “as,” which are used in similes.

Is imagery literal or figurative?

Literal imagery is when the imagery used to describe something is exactly how it is, whereas figurative imagery is when the imagery is often exaggerated or evokes something similar - this is done by using hyperbole or simile. Let's take a look at some examples: Literal: “The rose was red and prickly.”

Irony. The use of words to express something different from often opposite to their meaning. Imagery. A set of mental pictures of images that appeal to the 5 senses. Symbolism.

An allusion is when we hint at something and expect the other person to understand what we are referencing. For example: Chocolate is his Kryptonite. In the this example, the word “kryptonite” alludes to, or hints at, the hero Superman.

Allusions are generally regarded as brief but purposeful references, within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of literature.

Imagery is a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to a 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.

The definition of irony as a literary device is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality. For example, the difference between what something appears to mean versus its literal meaning. Irony is associated with both tragedy and humor.

Language - Imagery. Imagery is the general term covering the use of literary devices which encourage the reader to form a mental picture in their mind about the way something or someone looks, sounds, behaves, etc. The language used often relates to one or more of our five senses.

Understanding Metaphors. A metaphor is another form of imagery. A metaphor is a less direct way of comparing two things. Instead of using like or as, a metaphor says that one thing is another.

' Alliteration: repeated sound in two or more consecutive words. 'Famous phones. ' Imagery: descriptive language that engages the senses.

Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration. It's not meant to be taken literally. Writers use hyperbole to create imagery, emphasize feelings, or provide insight about a character. Hyperbole appears in novels, songs, poems, and daily speech.

What is hyperbole literary device?

hyperbole, a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect. Hyperbole is common in love poetry, in which it is used to convey the lover's intense admiration for his beloved.

The main elements of creative nonfiction are setting, descriptive imagery, figurative language, plot, and character.

There are five elements of storytelling that every tale needs at the core: a plot, characters, a setting, a conflict or challenge, and a message or purpose.

#10 – Personification

Personification is a literary device where you give human-like qualities to non-human elements. This is one of the most well-known literary devices and it's useful for a number of reasons: Creates a stronger visual.

Personification involves attributing human characteristics to a non-human being or object, or representing an abstract quality in human form. Metaphor is an indirect comparison between two unrelated things without using connecting words such as like or as.

Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants or even inanimate objects, are given human qualities – resulting in a poem full of imagery and description.

Metaphor is a comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated. With metaphor, the qualities of one thing are figuratively carried over to another.

Pictures can be literal or metaphoric. Metaphoric pictures involve intended violations of standard modes of depiction that are universally recognizable. The types of metaphoric pictures correspond to major groups of verbal metaphors, with the addition of a class of pictorial runes.

Can metaphors create imagery?

Metaphor, which allows writers to convey vivid imagery that transcends literal meanings, creates images that are easier to understand and respond to than literal language. Metaphorical language activates the imagination, and the writer is more able to convey emotions and impressions through metaphor.

Literary elements include plot, theme, character and tone. In contrast, literary techniques are non-universal features of literature and include figurative language, irony, and foreshadowing.

Irony expresses an opposition between what is said and implied. Second, metaphor and irony communicate different types of meaning. Metaphor primarily describes or shows something in a novel way about the topic, whereas irony says something about the speaker (i.e., his or her attitudes or opinions about the topic).

The three most common kinds you'll find in literature classrooms are verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.

Hyperbole is a marker of irony that not only directs the hearer's attention to the ironic contrast, but also increases the magnitude of that ironic contrast. Imagine it is raining. The ironic contrast is greater if you say “Oh my gosh, it's the sunniest day of my entire life!” rather than simply “Nice weather …”.

Here's a quick and simple definition: Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. For example, Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech contains anaphora: "So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Here are some examples of synecdoche: the word hand in "offer your hand in marriage"; mouths in "hungry mouths to feed"; and wheels referring to a car.

Repetition can mean repetitive words, ideas, or phrases, while anaphora specifically means the repetition of the first part of successive clauses. Therefore, anaphora is a specific kind of repetition.

What are the 7 types of imagery?

Visual Imagery is about what writers can show the reader at a particular place; it could range from objects, other people, or something unusual. Let us take a look at the related example sentences: The white frost creeping up on the windowpane made her look at her car covered under a 3-inch thick blanket of the snow.

By sensory imagery, we mean descriptive language that engages the reader's five senses: sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell.

Although an onomatopoeia is not imagery on its own, it does help build a mental image of the writing's sights and sounds.

Example Sentences

The book contains a great deal of sexual imagery. The movie was full of biblical imagery.

A metaphor is another form of imagery. A metaphor is a less direct way of comparing two things. Instead of using like or as, a metaphor says that one thing is another.

Personification is another tool used for imagery. Personification provides animals and objects with human-like characteristics. Here are a few examples of personification as imagery: The wind whistled and hissed through the stormy night.

Visual mental imagery is our ability to reactivate and manipulate visual representations in the absence of the corresponding visual stimuli, giving rise to the experience of 'seeing with the mind's eye'. Until relatively recently, visual mental imagery had been investigated by philosophy and cognitive psychology.