Refresher Question for A-Level: What is imagery and how is it used in a text?

Imagery is used to create a picture in somebody’s mind and make an idea more vivid. It tends to be aided by figurative language, because when we just use plain or literal language it might not be powerful enough to get our idea across. For instance: ‘It’s hot in my room’ is not as vivid as saying ‘It’s as hot as a jungle in here’ Just saying it’s hot doesn’t tell us HOW hot it is - using imagery means we can make a greater impression on the reader’s physical senses.

There are three devices which create imagery most successfully: • Metaphor: e.g. ‘my classroom is a paradise’ • Simile: e.g. ‘my classroom is like a paradise’ • Personification: e.g. ‘the pen clawed at the paper’ A metaphor is a very strong comparison where you say something IS another thing: e.g. ‘You are my rock’ A simile is a weaker comparison than a metaphor as it compares two things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’: e.g ‘You are like my rock’ Personification brings an image to life and gives it HUMAN qualities. This can make a description feel more vivid as the reader can connect to it more easily. For instance: e.g ‘The stairs creaked as I climbed them’ vs. ‘The creaky stairs complained as I climbed them’.