How to Use Imagery
In order to use imagery:
- Decide which senses you would like to appeal to. They should fit the subject.
- Write a description descriptions that appeal to those senses.
Let’s see if we can create juxtaposition.
1. Imagine you are enjoying birdsong on a spring morning.
Sentence Without Imagery:
I enjoyed a spring day.
Without imagery, there is nothing for the reader to picture or enjoy.
Senses to appeal to:
Auditory, Visual, and Olfactory
Description Using Imagery:
I listened to the birds chirp and sing see-saws up in the trees that were beginning to burst out in brilliant pink and white buds. The earth smelled fresh with greenery that was finally emerging with the new season of life.
In this example, the writer appeals to three senses in order to create a vibrant sensory experience of springtime.
2. Now imagine you are describing the joys of eating a cinnamon roll.
Sentence Without Imagery:
I ate a cinnamon roll.
This sentence is in need of descriptions of smell, touch, and taste that help the reader imagine what a cinnamon roll is truly like.
Senses to appeal to:
Olfactory, Tactile, and Gustatory
Description Using Imagery:
There’s no smell like the waft of hot and fresh cinnamon rolls rising from the oven. I squeeze icing onto the top of one, feeling the sticky sweetness on my fingers. I brite into the cinnamon roll and my mouth is flooded with warmth, intensly sweet icing, and cinnamon that dances on my tongue.
This imagery in this description of the cinnamon roll creates a more convincing experience for the reader.
When to Use Imagery
Imagery should be used any time a description is considered necessary. Imagery is often found in narratives, stories, poems, plays, speeches, songs, movies, television shows, and other creative compositions. It uses a combination of literal and poetic figurative language. Thus, it should not be used in technical and literal writing such as mathematical manuals and scientific reports.