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Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Summer Sunshine:
In Chapter 7, at her daughters' urging, Kimmerer helps them tap the maple trees in their new yard. She uses a metaphorical image to describe the syrup the trees yield:
The syrup we pour over pancakes on a winter morning is summer sunshine flowing in golden streams to pool on our plates.
Related Themes:
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Lonely Winter:
In Chapter 26, Kimmerer describes the history and origin of the Windigo. She starts the chapter with striking imagery that foreshadows the later scene where she finally comes face to face with the Windigo:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In the winter brilliance, the only sounds are the rub of my jacket against itself, the soft ploompf of my snowshoes, the rifle-shot crack of trees bursting their hearts in the freezing temperatures, and the beating of my own heart, pumping hot blood to fingers still tingling in double mittens. In the break between squalls, the sky is painfully blue. The snowfields sparkle below like shattered glass.
[...]
Everybody's hungry.
Related Themes:
Chapter 30
Explanation and Analysis—Painting with Fire:
In Chapter 30, Kimmerer describes the lessons her father taught her about fire. She recalls how he used a simile and imagery to instill in her the idea of fire as her people's art and science all in one:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The fire stick was like a paintbrush on the landscape. Touch it here in a small dab and you’ve made a green meadow for elk; a light scatter there burns off the brush so the oaks make more acorns. Stipple it under the canopy and it thins the stand to prevent catastrophic fire. Draw the firebrush along the creek and the next spring it’s a thick stand of yellow willows. A wash over a grassy meadow turns it blue with camas. To make blueberries, let the paint dry for a few years and repeat.
Related Themes:
