Imagery Figurative Language

1. Imagery & Figurative Language An�image� is �a word or sequence of words that refers to any sensory experience� (Kennedy and Gioia 741).

2. Imagery What are your five senses? Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, and Smell An image conveys a sense perception , i.e., a visual picture, a sound, a feeling of touch, a taste, or an odor Imagery = a noun used to refer to a set of related images in poem or the totality of images in a poem: Shelley uses nature imagery in his poem �To Autumn.�

3. Figures of Speech Figurative language uses figures of speech to convey unique images and create some sort of special effect or impression. A �figure of speech� is an intentional deviation from the ordinary usage of language.

4. Poetry works by comparison Poets often create images or enhance meaning by comparing one thing to another for special effect. A most important figure of speech is the Metaphor

5. Metaphor The term metaphor has two meanings, a broad, more general meaning and a concise, specific meaning. All figures of speech which use association, comparison, or resemblance can generally be called types of metaphor, or metaphorical. One specific figure of speech which compares two things by saying that one IS the other is called a metaphor.

6. Simile A simile is a type of metaphor, a figure in which an explicit comparison is made using the comparative words like, as, resembles, than. Similes are easy to spot. (X is like Y: X is compared to Y in order to illustrate X more fancifully, poetically, or effectively. But Y is not a literal representation of X, not actual.) The team�s center looked like a skyscraper. My love is like a red, red rose. We were as quiet as frightened mice.

7. More similes Kennedy and Gioia offer a good list of ways to make a simile: My love is like a red, red rose. My love resembles a rose. My love is redder than a rose. She came out smelling like a rose! (767)

8. Metaphor A metaphor also compares, but a metaphor is a bit more sophisticated than a simile. For one thing, in a metaphor, the words like or as are missing. So readers have to recognize the comparison on their own without those easy words which help us to spot a simile so quickly.

9. Metaphor (continued) In a metaphor, a poet writes that X is Y. Readers understand that we are not to take the comparison literally, but that the metaphor helps us to see X in a new way. My brother is a prince. Razorback Stadium was a slaughterhouse.

10. More metaphors Richard was a lion in the fight. Her eyes are dark emeralds. Her teeth are pearls. But Avoid Mixed Metaphors (combining two or more incompatible images in a single figure of speech): Management extended an olive branch in an attempt to break some of the ice between the company and the workers.