Imagery

This article is about the literary technique. For other uses, see Imagery (disambiguation).

Imagery, in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to their work. Sensory imagery appeals to human senses to deepen the reader's understanding of the work. Powerful forms of imagery engage all of the senses.

Forms

There are five major types of sensory imagery, each corresponding to a sense, feeling, action, or reaction:

• Visual imagery pertains to graphics, visual scenes, pictures, or the sense of sight.
• Auditory imagery pertains to sounds, noises, music, or the sense of hearing. (This kind of imagery may come in the form of onomatopoeia).
• Olfactory imagery pertains to odors, aromas, scents, or the sense of smell.
• Gustatory imagery pertains to flavors or the sense of taste.
• Tactile imagery pertains to physical textures or the sense of touch.

Other types of imagery include:

• Kinesthetic imagery pertains to movements.
• Organic imagery / subjective imagery, pertains to personal experiences of a character's body, including emotion and the senses of hunger, thirst, fatigue, and pain.
• Phenomenological, pertains to the mental conception of an item as opposed to the physical version.

External links

• "Imagery and Imagination". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Thomas, Nigel J.T (Winter 2011), Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), "Mental Imagery", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, retrieved February 16, 2012