Unit 3: The Touchstone of Poetry Imagery

1. Unit 3: The Touchstone of PoetryImagery AP English IV

2. Imagery • Imagery is the painting of pictures in the reader’s mind through the use of language. • Because poetry is such a condensed form of language, poets tend to make greater use of imagery than novelists. Images take a variety of forms. • They can: • Use a comparison between one thing and another, to develop the picture that is created. This type of image includes similes and metaphors. • Create sound pictures, by using words that make a sound like the thing that is being described, or that add rhythm to the poem. Examples of this type of imagery include alliteration and onomatopoeia.

3. Using Imagery • When you use imagery in your own poetry, you must take great care to create suitable images. Clichéd images that you will have encountered before, such as “as white as snow” or “as big as a house” are uninspired; the best images are original and thought provoking.

4. “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end” William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) “I caught this morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding” Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)

5. Analyzing Imagery • Avoid simply ‘listing’ the images that the poet uses. For each image you discuss, you should consider: • What type of image is being used. • Why this particular image is being used. • What the effect of this image is on the reader. • How the image contributes to the poem as a whole. • When you analyze imagery, you should suggest a possible interpretation, rather than stating your ideas as definite.

6. “Basic” Images • Although the images below are described as ‘basic’, they are by no means easy to use or to analyze. They are, however, the most simple forms of imagery that you will come across. Simile: A comparison between two things, using the words “like” or “as … as a …”. Metaphor: A comparison between two things, where one is said to be the other. Alliteration: The use of repeated consonant sounds to create a ‘sound picture’.

7. “Advanced” Images • The images below are less common, but many poets make use of them. Extended Metaphor: A metaphor is extended to run throughout a poem or piece of prose. Onomatopoeia: A word that sounds like the thing it describes, for example “ow!” or “crash!” Assonance: The use of repeated vowel sounds to create a ‘sound picture’. Personification: Giving human attributes to an inanimate thing.

8. Sunday By Nikki Giovanni hot rolls in a summer basket 1 fried chicken piled on the platter 2 lemons squeezed for lemonade 3 blackberries sugared for pudding 4 corn on the cob is steaming in butter 5 green beans surrounding a ham hock 6 salt and pepper and hot sauce too 7 after all it's Sunday 8

9. Sunday By Nikki Giovanni hot rolls in a summer basket 1 fried chicken piled on the platter 2 lemons squeezed for lemonade 3 blackberries sugared for pudding 4 corn on the cob is steaming in butter 5 green beans surrounding a ham hock 6 salt and pepper and hot sauce too 7 after all it's Sunday 8 Connotation vs. Denotation: Sunday is the day of rest and a time for family. Imagery: The speaker uses images of hot food to entice the senses and appeal to our sense of taste, sight, and smell. These images invoke the feeling of family, in addition to rest and relaxation, her words flowing with smooth ease.