Imagery Analysis

Imagery A

Consider:

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”

Discuss:    

1. These stanzas from the “the Rime of the Ancient Mariner” show the Mariner’s changing attitude toward the creatures of the sea. What is the Marine’s attitude in the first stanza? What image reveals this attitude?

2. What is the Mariner’s attitude in the second stanza? Analyze the imagery that reveals this change

The mariner presents 2 visual images to create the tone of sorrow and dismay about his sailors.  The visual images "man many so beautiful", and "All dead did lie" suggest a feeling of loss and sorrow and beauty has been destroyed by a "Thousand, thousand slimy things"  Obviously, the Mariner's attitude toward the "slimy things" which are not even given a name is one of digust and horror.

The Mariner's attitude toward the "slimy things" changes in the second stanza to a tone of fascination and awe as he begins to notice their shape, movement, and color.  Visual images such as "rich attire" where the Mariner begins to notice the sea creatures is followed by more detailed visual imagery such as "coiled and swam" and "flash of golden fire" all suggest a richness that holds his attention.  Colors such as "blue, glossy green and velvet black"   provide specific and engaging that reflect the Mariner's fascination with the bright and unique creatures that swm around his ship.

Imagery B
Consider:
And now nothing but drums, a battery of drums, the conga drums jamming out, in a descarga, and the drummers lifting their heads and shaking under some kind of spell. There’s rain drums, like pitter-patter but a hundred times faster, and then slamming-the-door-drums and dropping-the-bucket drums, kicking-the-car-fender-drums. Then circus drums, then coconuts falling-out-of-the-trees-and-thumping-against-the-ground drums, then lion-skin drums, then the wacking-of-a-hand-against-a-wall-drums, the-beating-of-a-pillow-drums, heavy-stones-against-a-wall-drums, then the thickest-forest-tree-trunks-pounding-drums, and then the-mountain-rumble-drums, then the little-birds-learning-to-fly drums and the big-birds-alighting-on-a-rooftop-and-fanning-their-immense-wings drums…

- Oscar Hijuelos, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
Discuss:
1. Read the passage. How does Hujuelos create the auditory imagery of drumming? In other words, how do the words imitate the sounds they represent?
2. Hujuelos repeats the word then eight times in the passage. What does this repetition contribute to the auditory image of the drumming?

Hujeulos makes auditory images by using drum sounds that people are familiar with and hear every day like “slamming the door drums” or “kicking the car fender drums”. These sounds can be related to what people hear in real life.

Hujeulos uses the word “then” to make continuous events. It makes the sounds feel like they are ongoing and it creates a flow of words. An example is when he says “Then circus drums” and “then lion-skin drums.”

Imagery C

Consider:

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.

Discuss:

1. Although the narrator “looks into the distance,” the images are primarily auditory. What are the auditory images in the passage? What mood do these images create?

2. The last sentence of this passage contains an olfactory image (the musky odor of pinks full the air). What effect does the use of an olfactory image, after the series of auditory images, have on the reader?

The auditory images in the passage are “the old terror flamed up for an instant,” “her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s,” “the barking of an old dog,” “the spurs of the cavalry officer,” “the hum of bees,” and “the musky odor of pinks.” The images creates a nervous feeling and then there is calm.

The effect of the use of an olfactory image after the series of auditory images is to make you feel that you’re there.

Imagery D

Consider:

It was a mine town, uranium most recently. Dust devils whirled sand off the mountains. Even after the heaviest of rains, the water seeped back into the ground, between stones, and the earth was parched again.

              -Linda Hogan, “Making Do”

Discuss:

1. What feelings do you associate with images of dusty mountains and dry earth?

2. These are two images associated with land in the third sentence. Identify the two images and compare and contrast the feelings these images evoke.

The feelings that I associate with the images of dusty mountains and dry earth is dirty, thirsty, and helpless. The images are “after the heaviest of rains, the water seeped back into the ground” and “between stones, and the earth was parched again.” The first image makes a feeling of lust and other image gives relief.

Imagery E

Consider:

                 A woman drew her long black hair out tight

                 And fiddled whisper music on those strings

                 And bats with baby faces in the violet light

                 Whistled, and beat their wings

                 And crawled head downward down a blackened wall

                 And upside down in air were towers

                 Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours

                 And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells

-          T.S. Eliot, “ The Waste Land”

Discuss:

1. Paraphrase the image of the first two lines. What mood does the image create?

2. List the auditory images in these lines. How do these images help create the mood of the passage?

The first two images shows that a women is doing her hair and the other image shows she is playing music. “Long black hair” creates a dark and dull mood. “Fiddled whisper music” makes a creepy like feeling. “Whistled, and beat their wings”, “Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours” and “voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted well”. These images help create a scary mood.