Transcript document
Using Sensory Detail
Imagery is an author's use of vivid and
descriptive language to add depth to their
work.
It is used to describe something that can be
seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled (the
five senses)
Detail and diction is key when using imagery!
The
sun’s
beams
shimmered and
danced on the
ocean’s gentle
waves.
The
fragrant
roses drifted
through the
room like
elusive ghosts.
Although they
could not see
outside the cabin,
they could hear the
eerie tapping,
tapping, tapping, of
his knife upon their
door.
The
cheesecake’s
exquisite flavor
traveled from
his tongue to
his spine.
The
icy breeze
gently brushed
against the
hair on her
neck, and
goose-bumps
shortly
followed.
He
fumed
and
charged
like an
angry bull.
He
fell down
like an old
tree falling
down in a
storm.
He
felt like
the flowers
were
waving him
a hello.
The
eerie
silence was
shattered
by her
scream.
He
could hear
his world
crashing
down when
he heard the
news about
her.
The
F-16
swooped
down like an
eagle after
its prey.
The
word
spread
like leaves
in a
storm.
The
lake
was left
shivering by
the touch of
morning
wind.
Her
face
blossomed
when she
caught a
glance of
him.
He
could
hear the
footsteps
of doom
nearing.
The
iron pot
was a red as a
tongue after
eating a
cherry
flavored ring
pop.
Though I was on
the sheer face of a
mountain, the
feeling of
swinging through
the air was
euphoric, almost
like flying without
wings.
Her
blue
eyes were as
bright as the
Sun, blue as
the sky, but
soft as silk.
The giant tree
was ablaze with
the orange, red,
and yellow leaves
that were
beginning to
make their
decent to the
ground.
The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.
Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
It was a mine town, uranium most
recently. Dust devils whirled sand off the
mountains. Ever after the heaviest of rains,
the water seeped back into the ground,
between stones, and the earth was parched
again.
-Linda Hogan, “Making Do”
She looked into the distance, and the old terror
flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard
her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s. She heard
the barking of an old dog that was chained to the
sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged
as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of
bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.
-Kate Chopin, The Awakening