Imagery

Imagery is a powerful tool used by authors to create vivid scenes and evoke emotion in readers. It involves using language that appeals to the senses, such as sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch. Authors use imagery to help their readers visualize what they are reading about and provide insight into the characters' emotions and experiences. Through imagery, authors can bring life to otherwise abstract concepts like love or loss.


In literature, imagery helps draw out the themes of stories while also providing an emotional connection between the reader and the storyteller. By creating images with words that stimulate the five senses—sight (visual), hearing (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), and touch (tactile),authors can paint a picture for their readers so they feel more connected with the narrative's plot points and protagonists. For example, if an author wants her reader to experience fear when describing a scene involving darkness, she might write something like "The night was heavy around me; its thick cloak muffled all sound." This type of sensory description allows the reader to imagine what it would be like if he were in this situation himself, thus evoking an emotional response from him/her related directly back to the text being read.


Ultimately, then, imagery is used by authors as a means of bringing their stories alive for their audience through visualizing certain settings or events happening within them, thereby allowing them greater access to these literary works on both physical and psychological levels.