Module 1 Section 3

Literary Devices: Imagery

People seeking donations learned many years ago that a picture of a single starving child had a greater impact than the most staggering statistics of mass starvation. Writers have learned that creating images--and this includes anything that appeals to any of the senses-makes writing much more appealing to the reader. A reader who feels as if he or she is part of a story is usually reacting to imagery.

In the 19th century, a typical writer tried to accomplish this by describing settings and characters in minute detail. We know today that readers do not have the ability to remember so much detail and form it into an accurate picture; they just get confused. Modern writers instead focus on providing significant details only, letting the reader create the rest of the pictures themselves through their own memories and imagination. The key trick is to pick some specific nouns rather than general nouns. "Frying bacon" does more for the reader than "breakfast." It appeals to the senses of sound, smell, and sight. Something as universally familiar as bacon does not need description; trust the reader to have experienced it and remember that experience.

The role of the reader is important. In many cases, different people will react to a work of literature differently, based upon their personal reactions to the imagery.

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