ImageryAppealing to the Senses

ImageryDefinition: Using concrete language to

create a sensory experience• Visual • (sight)

• Aural • (sound)

• Kinesthetic /Tactile• (touch)

• Olfactory • (smell)

• Gustatory • (taste)

Language of Imagery

• Abstract– referring to something that does not have a

physical reality– Ideas, attitudes, feelings (emotions), concepts– Example: grief– Often vague, difficult to relate to• Vague—not clearly expressed; lacking definite

shape, form, or character• Ambiguous—clearly defined realm of meaning; open

to more than one interpretation

Language of Imagery• Concrete– referring to something that has a physical reality;

appeals to one or more of the five senses– communicating abstract emotions through

language that the reader can experience in his or her imagination through one or more of the five senses

– Focus: showing over telling– Example: abstract=grief; concrete= an empty

doorway (MacLeish)