Imagery Questions Close Reading Revision

Imagery The term ‘image’ is used to refer to a descriptive word or phrase that involved some kind of comparison. Imagery is likely to involve one of three figure of speech. Can you think what these might be?

Imagery 1)SIMILE a comparison between two different things using the words ‘as’ or ‘like’ (‘A is like B’) 2)METAPHOR a comparison where instead of saying that ‘A is like B’ the writer says ‘A is B’. 3)PERSONIFICATION a specific type of metaphor comparing an inanimate object to a living thing.

Answering Imagery Questions To explain why an image is a good one, you need to think about why the comparison sheds light on the subject under discussion. For example, think about the word ‘spaghetti’ and what you associate it with: - Something Italian - A tangled mess - Long thin strips of pasta - Stuff mixed together Which of these connotations do you think a writer had in mind when he described the London Underground map as “a spaghetti of confusion”?

The following extract describes the attraction of the Grand Canyon as a tourist destination. Examples of imagery are underlined. The heat in Arizona is legendary. The land is so parched each step throws up clouds of orange dust. When a chain of tethered pack-horses passed us coming the other way we were temporarily lost in an orange fog. As we descended, the Canyon walls grew evermore imposing and I felt that we were in the middle of a battleground fought over by armies of cacti. Rocks and boulders hemmed us in like giant towers. Sun and shade gave them definition and shape: here a grizzly bear of granite; there a troupe of acrobatic sandstone dolphins. 1)Identify each as a simile, metaphor or personification. 2)Work out what is being compared to what. 3)Discuss how the two are similar.

Practice Question All that lies ahead of me is one last hurdle of embarrassment, when we tell the clients who I am. Then we’ll all go down to the beach, light a big bonfire and drink lots of beer. I’ll look up at the brilliant night sky and reflect on what a brilliant week it’s been. What image does the writer use in the paragraph above to show that he felt the safari had been an ordeal, and how does it do so?2A

Practice Question “Women are the key to chocolate advertising,” says Rita Clifton, the chair of the leading branding agency Interbrand. “They are not only important consumers in their own right but they also act as gatekeepers to the rest of the family.” Explain how effective “gatekeepers” is as an image or metaphor.2E

Practice Question From the tail of my eye, I saw what I took to be a kestrel. I turned my head to watch it as it climbed, and I waited for it to go into its hover, according to time- honoured kestrel custom. But it did nothing of the kind. It turned itself into an anchor. Or a thunderbolt. No kestrel this: it crashed into the crowd of martins, and almost as swiftly vanished. I think it got one, but I can’t swear to it, it was all so fast. It was a hobby-hawk. 1) What is the writer suggesting about the bird when he says “It turned itself into an anchor”?1U/A 2) Why is the comparison to a “thunderbolt” an effective image or metaphor?2E