An Occurrence at Owl Creek is a prime example of the power of imagery. A story about the hanging of a man who supported the Confederate cause during the Civil War and acted against the North leading to his immediate execution. This story effectively uses imagery with consistency, appealing to all senses and types of imagery, Visual imagery pertains to the sense of sight, tactile to touch, olfactory to smell, aural to sounds, and gustatory to taste. The utilization of descriptive words, relatable situations, or physical feelings allows this story to formulate an undeniable image with palpable feelings, sights and sounds. . The most prominent type of Imagery in An Occurrence at Owl Creek is visual imagery. Throughout the story the environment and characters are described in great detail using specific adjectives to allow the reader a sense of the space. The most effective and prominent usage of visual …show more content…
The story is provided depth by its consistent use of aural imagery that compliments the visual imagery. The unrivaled usage of aural imagery is located on the third section, it states “Striking through the thought of his dear ones was a sound which he could neither ignore nor understand: a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the strokes of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality.” You can easily hear the same hollow drumming it describes with its usage of relation and vocabulary or both, for example, “Metallic percussion.” This section is powerful not only due its vivid description but its connotation. The metallic percussion and ringing is his watch which is ticking away the final seconds of his life and acting as a reminder of his inevitable fate. All in all, the vivid description and brilliance of the auditory metaphor is what makes this quote the best aural imagery in the
In Sacco and Hedges book Days of Destruction Days of Revolt a paragraph filled with imagery and destruction caught my eye. It caught my eye because of its strong imagery, I was able to vividly picture the scene it was depicting. This paragraph depicts the destruction coal dust leave’s, through exploitation and mining, using imagery, structure, and specific dictation. Images are the strongest literary device used in this passage.
In the story “Time of Wonder” the writer and illustrator Robert McCloskey creates a mesmerizing picture book. Throughout the book he relates his message to the reader of taking time to enjoy the weather and nature. Likewise, the reader is able to experience these events directly with phrases such as “IT’S RAINING ON YOU” (McCloskey 10). One event the reader is able to conjure up is the ocean in Maine with the taste of salt on their tongue. Moreover, the reader visualizes the calm sea on a sunny day and fears the roaring wind before a hurricane.
Particularly when Andy Barber in Defending Jacob describes the days leading to Jacob’s trial as daunting due to “the intense awareness of time, the heaviness of the passing minutes, the dizzying, trippy sense that the days are both too few and too long (Landay 154.).” These words portray imagery because it recounts the agony the Barber’s experienced each day. This quote supports the theme because even though they were living a temporarily grueling life, they decided they would strive for a normal one. Similarly, the narrator of “The Art of Resilience” explains that Steven Wolin, a psychiatrist, shares the past of a client who “had been whipped by her father throughout childhood anytime he felt challenged (Marano.).” This addition is an example of imagery because it clarifies the intensity of the woman’s state, which allows the reader to visualize the brutality of her childhood.
Together, all of these examples of imagery develop the idea of the animal behavior of the story’s characters by depicting the atrocities and strident conditions the inmates face throughout the
Imagery is used throughout, in order to engage the reader and assist them in understanding things from Saul’s perspective. For example, the sense of sight was touched on when it describes the string of light bulbs, the shadows of the ice and the rocks and spindly trees. It creates a mental image with the use of sophisticated adjectives such as humped, spindly and eerie. Also, the description of the smell is very detailed by saying that it was a “potent mix” of various unpleasing scents. This proves that imagery is a device that is essential in helping the audience imagine the setting, make connections and hold interest.
In the story “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote, imagery is used to create an image in your mind by appealing to your five senses. Imagery is often used to describe the setting of the story and to give you an idea of what is going on. Capote shows many examples of imagery throughout the story to make you understand the importance of his memory. The use of imagery helps create the mood by making the story real and bringing you in what Capote saw.
Mary Hill creates a tone of despair in Excerpts from the Trail of Tears Diary by using sensory imagery. In the text, the author uses sensory imagery when she
Authors use literary devices so that the readers can connect and better understand the mood of the story. Bradbury in “The Pedestrian” uses a variety of lit devices to develop his mood of the story. Bradbury in "The Pedestrian" uses personification, simile, and imagery to develop the mood of loneliness so that the reader can see the dark world the character is living in. Ray Bradbury uses personification to develop the mood of the world the character is living in. The first time he uses personification is when he says, “there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was still open” (Pg 1).
In the excerpt, The Street by Ann Petry, there is a 3rd person omniscient narrator to explain the hatefulness of the cold along with the keen determination of Lutie Johnson. The narrator completely conveys the true parts of the cold to better show Lutie Johnson’s experiences by employing descriptive personifications and vivid imagery of the central antagonist as the wind. Imagery is undeniably the most used literary device in this excerpt, as it gives the reader an accurate sense of the horrible temperate weather that the protagonist is forced to endure in her search for a home. The presence of the “Cold November wind” is shown in the sense of disorder and chaos that is at 110th street. “Scraps of paper “are sent “…into the faces of the people
Rhetorical Analysis of Shooting Dad The story “Shooting Dad” by Sarah Vowell discusses a story about a teenage girl and her relationship with her father and how they are constantly clashing with each other because they are almost exact opposites. The author develops her story by creating images in the reader 's mind to describe events that happened in her life, the use hyperbole for comedic relief, and irony for emotional effect. The use of these emotional strategies is effective because Vowell is able to use these strategies to help the readers understand the relationship between her and her father. Overall by the use of strategies like imagery, hyperbole, and irony the author creates a piece of writing that shows the relationship between the main character and her father.
Panic, anxiety, and most importantly, fear, are all components that form the adventurous tale, The Most Dangerous Game. Rainsford, the protagonist of the story, is widely recognized as an experienced hunter who ventures off in a ship to travel to Rio in order to hunt jaguars. However, the story turns when Rainsford falls off his ship, encounters a hunter who hunts men, and becomes the prey himself. Although Connell sets up an intense plot by using irony, characterization, word choice, and other literary devices, imagery is one of the main aspects that releases an uneasy feeling within the audience. Imagery is a common literary device that authors use to engage a reader into the story, by painting the scene in the audience’s mind.
Connell uses imagery to show the reader how intense and fearful Rainsford feels in the story. For instance, Zaroff first look to Rainsford was “menacing look” (17) This quote is imagery because it describing the look in his eyes did not change and it was a menacing look also. Another example for imagery would be when “Ivan conducted him was in many ways remarkable.”
“A Short Guide to Imagery, Symbolism, and Figurative Language Imagery” describes imagery as “a writer or speaker’s use of words or figures of speech to create a vivid mental picture or physical sensation”(Clark). In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin uses nature imagery to portray the journey of emotions that Mrs. Mallard experiences
As his vision begins to become murky, he sees twin dots of gold from the direction of the sound. One of those battered hands reaches his cheek, and a garbled sound is the only thing he can hear. He holds the hand close as darkness paints his world for the third
Another use of imagery was the whip itself. This whip could have represented society and how it reacts to people like Jay and his sister. It stated that “A whip wasn’t something you rode, it was something to hurt you, something that came down hard on prisoner’s backs and left them scarred” (Hemley, Whipped 114). The imagery in this quote is spectacular. It showed how Jay thought, and made me picture a helpless man being beaten.