Imagery

Imagery

by Sydney Palmer

Imagery in Writing ​

Howe do we make our writing come alive? ​

​Example of Imagery

clear, smooth lake with an electric blue color. You can hear the hum of the wind from the top of silent mountains, laying beside the perfectly circular lake. The sky is cloudless, fading from light blue to colorless white on the horizon. The sunlight falls across favored pine trees, some marked by shade and others boasting deep green hues. You can smell the clean, cold pine air and touch the hardened rock, cold in the shade and warm in the sunlight.

​Imagery

​Describing the 5 senses to help your reader imagine your story.

• ​description

• ​taste, touch, see, smell, hear

• ​show, not tell

​Why do we use Imagery in our writing?

• Makes writing more descriptive

• Makes writing more enjoyable

• Forces writing to be specific and precise

• If you just described this image as "a lake surrounded by mountains and trees", that wouldn't do it justice, now would it?

​Imagine you are Here:

Open Ended

How would you describe this place? Use your five senses. What do you hear, smell, taste, feel, and see? Write as much as you can in 3 minutes.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is imagery?

• Describing things in as much detail as you can

• Describing objects like you would people

• Showing what the character is doing through precise word choice

• Describing what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell

Multiple Select

WHICH OF THE 5 SENSES DOES THIS PASSAGE APPEAL TO?

"Yes, even that tough-minded old Swede, who'd go up to the devil himself and ask him for a light. Those fishy blue eyes held a look I never saw there before. All I could get out of him was `This place has an evil name among seafaring men, sir.' Then he said to me, very gravely, `Don't you feel anything?'--as if the air about us was actually poisonous. Now, you mustn't laugh when I tell you this--I did feel something like a sudden chill.

"There was no breeze. The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window. We were drawing near the island then. What I felt was a--a mental chill; a sort of sudden dread."

• See

• Hear

• Feel

• Smell

Multiple Choice

WHICH OF THE 5 SENSES DOES THIS PASSAGE APPEAL TO?

Rainsford heard a sound. It came out of the darkness, a high screaming sound, the sound of an animal in an extremity of anguish and terror.

He did not recognize the animal that made the sound; he did not try to; with fresh vitality he swam toward the sound. He heard it again; then it was cut short by another noise, crisp, staccato.

"Pistol shot," muttered Rainsford, swimming on.

• See

• Hear

• Feel

• Taste

Multiple Select

WHICH OF THE 5 SENSES IS BEING APPEALED TO IN THIS PASSAGE ?

He lifted the knocker, and it creaked up stiffly, as if it had never before been used. He let it fall, and it startled him with its booming loudness. He thought he heard steps within; the door remained closed. Again Rainsford lifted the heavy knocker, and let it fall. The door opened then--opened as suddenly as if it were on a spring--and Rainsford stood blinking in the river of glaring gold light that poured out. The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the largest man Rainsford had ever seen--a gigantic creature, solidly made and black bearded to the waist. In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart.

• See

• Hear

• Feel

• Taste