Sensory Details And Imagery In Melissa Grey's Rated

Imagine walking through a school hallway: students are chatting, everyone is wearing the same fabric uniform, and the distinct smell of students who just came from gym class permeates around the building. Melissa Grey, the author of Rated, explores what it feels like to be an average student walking through an average high school’s hallways. Or is it just an average high school? With sensory details and imagery, Grey manages to create an exciting first chapter of the book. The opening scene of Rated contains an abundance of tactile sensory details that engage the reader. In just the first sentence of the first chapter, Grey uses a sensory detail. The text states, “It was the first day of school, the glorious start of a new semester, that time of year when the humidity of summer faded to a fond memory and the air held the promise of a brisk autumn chill” (Grey 3). This helps the reader get a feel of the environment and understand the setting. Just shortly after, Grey writes, “Bex

For example, to describe the color of red spray paint, Grey says, "The spray paint was a lurid red against the dark wood, dripping to the marble steps like freshly spilled blood" (Grey 1). Grey explains what the spray paint looked like with the phrase "lurid red" and the comparison between the red color of the paint and blood. This also adds to the mysterious effect Grey is trying to create with a somewhat peculiar and out-of-place visual. Adding on to what was being explained about the uniform of Bex looked like, Grey writes, “. . . a navy-blue blazer, the rich color accented by the maroon-and-gold crest of Maplethorpe Academy on their chests” (Grey 5). By using two types of sensory details to describe the uniform, Grey helps the reader understand what the uniform of the students of Maplethorpe looked like. Like tactile sensory details, visual sensory details help paint the story in the reader’s