imagery

• Seven types of poetic imagery:

  • Visual: The mind can see it. Example: The glow of the forest fire gave all the trees a red hue.
  • Auditory: The mind can hear it. Example: The waves slapped gently against the shore, over and over.
  • Olfactory: The mind can smell it. Example: I was awakened by the strong smell of a freshly brewed coffee.
  • Gustatory: The mind can taste it. Example: The stench of the dirty canal made bile rise in my throat.
  • Tactile: The mind can touch it. Example: The sweltering summer heat soaks her dress in sweat.
  • Organic: The mind can sense a bodily sensation like fear, hunger, or thirst. Example: Wearily, the soldier slumped to the ground with the heavy weight of defeat.
  • Kinesthetic: The mind can see movement, action, or internal tension. Example: A butterfly swiftly flutters its wings.
• • Paradox: A statement that seems to contradict itself and yet contains the truth. Example: All of us are equal, but some are more equal than others.
  • Oxymoron: Joins two contradictory words for dramatic or witty effect. Example: Open Secret, Sweet Sorrow.
  • Hyperbole: Exaggerates or overemphasizes an idea. Example: At the funeral, she cried buckets of tears.
  • Litotes: Emphasizes a quality by negating the opposite quality. Example: It's not the best restaurant in town.
  • Allusion: Direct or indirect reference to a person, event, or place that may be real or imaginary. Example: Don't act like a Romeo in front of her.
  • Irony: Use of words in a way that the intended meaning is different from the actual meaning. Example: Water everywhere and not a drop to drink.
• Figures of speech:

  • Simile: Makes an explicit or direct comparison between two different things that have similarities using words like "like" and "as". Example: Look at that man, he eats like a pig.
  • Metaphor: Makes an implied comparison between two different things that have similarities. Example: You are such a doll, darling!
  • Personification: Gives human qualities to an animal, object, or idea. Example: The fire greedily devoured the forest.
  • Apostrophe: Addresses an idea or object as if it were a person often with the exclamation "O". Example: O, thunder! Please don't mock my already fearful heart.
  • Synecdoche: Uses part of something to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part. Example: The job needed another pair of hands.
  • Metonymy: Replaces the name of a thing with something else related to that thing. Example: The Palace declared a state of national calamity.