Kailee Bucknum
Imagery A
Consider:
The many men, so beautiful
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.
Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.
--- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
Discuss:
1. These stanzas from the "the Rime of the Ancient Mariner" show the Mariner's changing attitude toward the creatures of the sea. What is the Marine's attitude in the first stanza? What image reveals this attitude?
He is joyful at first, saying that the men were beautiful as they died and
2. What is the Mariner's attitude in the second stanza? Analyze the imagery that reveals this change.
The second stanza has more resentment in it and it shows us his true feelings about the whole situation with his fellow soldiers.
Apply:
Think of a pet you can describe easily. First, write a description, which reveals a positive attitude toward the animal. Then think of the same animal and write a description which reveals a negative attitude. Remember that the animal's looks do not change, only your attitude changes. Use imagery rather than explanation to create your descriptions.
A cat is a loving pet who cuddles with you when you're lonely and you don't have to worry about them needing a walk. Cats also don't make you clean up after them in the backyard.
Cats are evil pets and they scratch and bite at you; just looking at them gives you the chills and 200 years ago, many people were afraid of them as being witches in disguise.
Imagery B
Consider:
And now nothing but drums, a battery of drums, the conga drums jamming out, in a descarga, and the drummers lifting their heads and shaking under some kind of spell. There's rain drums, like pitter-patter but a hundred times faster, and then slamming-the-door-drums and dropping-the-bucket drums, kicking-the-car-fender-drums. Then circus drums, then coconuts falling-out-of-the-trees-and-thumping-against-the-ground drums, then lion-skin drums, then the wacking-of-a-hand-against-a-wall-drums, the-beating-of-a-pillow-drums, heavy-stones-against-a-wall-drums, then the thickest-forest-tree-trunks-pounding-drums, and then the-mountain-rumble-drums, then the little-birds-learning-to-fly drums and the big-birds-alighting-on-a-rooftop-and-fanning-their-immense-wings drums�
- Oscar Hijuelos, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
Discuss:
1. Read the passage. How does Hujuelos create the auditory imagery of drumming? In other words, how do the words imitate the sounds they represent?
He imitates the sound as though you yourself were playing the drums.
2. Hujuelos repeats the word then eight times in the passage. What does this repetition contribute to the auditory image of the drumming?
It tells us that the drumming is repetitive.
Imagery C
Consider:
She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.
Discuss:
1. Although the narrator "looks into the distance," the images are primarily auditory. What are the auditory images in the passage? What mood do these images create?
The images create a mood that the speaker specifically remembers the voice of the people she love and she can never forget them.
2. The last sentence of this passage contains an olfactory image (the musky odor of pinks full the air). What effect does the use of an olfactory image, after the series of auditory images, have on the reader?
This triggers our senses which make us think of sweet-smelling pink flowers while imagining what they look like.
Imagery D
Consider:
It was a mine town, uranium most recently. Dust devils whirled sand off the mountains. Even after the heaviest of rains, the water seeped back into the ground, between stones, and the earth was parched again.
-Linda Hogan, "Making Do"
Discuss:
1.) What feelings do you associate with images of dusty mountains and dry earth?
I associate a dry spell where there is barely any water and everything seems to be searching for something more in life.
2.) These are two images associated with land in the third sentence. Identify the two images and compare and contrast the feelings these images evoke.
It tells us that there is never enough water for the earth to not be thirsty, and it will once again be parched.
Imagery E
Consider:
A woman drew her long black hair out tight
And fiddled whisper music on those strings
And bats with baby faces in the violet light
Whistled, and beat their wings
And crawled head downward down a blackened wall
And upside down in air were towers
Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells
- T.S. Eliot, " The Waste Land"
Discuss:
1.) Paraphrase the image of the first two lines. What mood does the image create?
A woman is playing with her hair. It shows us the meaning of "playing" with hair as a sort of double entandre.
2.) List the auditory images in these lines. How do these images help create the mood of the passage?
It tells us about voices singing and this shows us what happens when you "play" with your hair.
Imagery J
Apply:
Write a sentence which contains an image that captures the taste of something you hate. Your image should contain an adjective used as a noun.
The grotesque vision of the cankles as I stared down at the bottom of her legs made me want to chop them off.
Detail: A
Consider: Whenever he was so fortunate as to have him near him a hare that had been kept too long, or a meat pie made with rancid butter, he gorged himself with such violence that his veins swelled, and the moisture broke out on his forehead.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Samuel Johnson"
Discuss:
1.) What effect does the detail( the spoiled hare, the rancid butter, the swollen veins, the sweaty forehead) have on the reader?
It tells the reader that the subject was very nervous about something.
2.) How would the meaning of the sentence be changed by ending it after himself?
It wouldn't be as detailed and we wouldn't understand the pain that the subject is going through.
Apply: Write a sentence describing someone with disgusting eating habits. It must be one, correct sentence; and it must contain at least three vivid details.
Detail: B
Consider: An old man, Don Tomasito, the baker, played the tuba. When he blew into the huge mouthpiece, his face would turn purple and his thousand wrinkles would disappear as his skin filled out.
- Alberto Alvaro Rios, " The Iguana Killer"
Discuss:
1.) The first sentence is a general statement. How does the second enrich and intensify the first?
The sound tells us that the sentence is telescoping into how the old man felt as he played the tuba.
2.) Contrast the second sentence with the following.
When he blew the tuba, his face turned purple and his cheeks puffed out.
Which sentence more effectively expresses an attitude toward Tomasito? What is that attitude and how is it communicated?
In the original sentence, it is way more descriptive and in the second, it is much less descriptive and it gives us more to question when posed.
Detail: C
Consider: CHARLEY(to WILLY): Why must everybody like you? Who liked J.P. Morgan? Was he impressive? In a Turkish bath he'd look like a butcher. But with his pockets on he was very well liked. Now listen, Willy, I know you don't like me, and nobody can say I'm in love with you, but I'll give you a job because - just for the hell of it, put it that way. Now what do you say?
- Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
Discuss:
1.) Who was J.P. Morgan? What is a Turkish bath? What picture comes to mind when someone is said to look like a butcher? How do these details contribute to the point Charley is trying to make?
The picture that comes to mind when someone is called a butcher is that they are very aggressive and they are around blood a lot, meaning they can tolerate certain things that many people can't.
2.) How would the passage be different if Charley said J.P. Morgan would look like a baker in a Turkish bath?
It would tell us that the person is more sensitive than a butcher, because kneading bread is more relaxing than chopping meat.
Detail: D
Consider: To those who saw him often he seemed almost like two men: one the merry monarch of the hunt and banquet and procession, the friend of children, the patron of every kind of sport; the other the cold, acute observer of the audience chamber or the Council, watching vigilantly, weighing arguments, refusing except under the stress of great events to speak his own mind.
- Winston Churchill, " King Henry VIII," Churchill's History of the English- Speaking People's
Discuss:
1.) Churchill draws attention to the contrasting sides of Henry VIII through detail. How is the impact of this sentence strengthened by the order of the details' presentation?
In one point of view, Henry VIII may seem innocent and sweet. In another point of view, the king seems angry and one-sided at many things.
2.) What is Churchill's attitude toward Henry? What specific details reveal this attitude?
It reveals to the reader that the attitude of the king is that he is angry with many things going wrong with people speaking out.
Apply: Think of someone you know who has two strong sides to his/her personality. Using Churchill's sentence as a model, write a sentence which captures - through detail - these two sides. Share your sentence with a partner.
To those who saw her often he seemed almost like two girls: one the athletic, all-American girl who could beat anyone in a given race. the friend of everyone, the girl who could pull off anything; the other the cold, quiet girl who no one ever saw a side of, staring intently, weighing arguments, refusing to accept that many may actually be jealous of her talents.