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Hyperbole
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
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—Rahamat’s Stories:
When describing the sorts of stories that Rahamat would tell him about his life back in Afghanistan, the narrator uses imagery, as seen in the following passage:
[A] morning spent with this Kabuliwallah, was quite enough wandering for me. High, scorched, blood-coloured, forbidding mountains on either side of a narrow desert path; laden camels passing; turbaned merchants and wayfarers, some on camels, some walking, some with spears in their hands, some with old-fashioned flintlock guns: my friend would talk of his native land in his booming, broken Bengali, and a mental picture of it would pass before my eyes.
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Explanation and Analysis—Autumn to Winter:
After detailing the closeness of Rahamat and Mini’s burgeoning relationship, the narrator moves the story forward in time a few months, from autumn to late winter. He uses imagery to capture this change in seasons, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+One morning I was sitting in my little study correcting proof-sheets. The last days of winter had been very cold, shiveringly so. The morning sun was shining through the window on to my feet below my table, and this touch of warmth was very pleasant. It must have been about eight o’clock – early morning walkers, swathed in scarves, had mostly finished their dawn stroll and had returned to their homes. It was then that there was a sudden commotion in the street.
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Explanation and Analysis—Mini’s Wedding Day:
The end of “Kabuliwala” flashes forward in time eight years. Mini is no longer a precocious five-year-old, but a 13-year-old preparing to get married. When describing the morning of Mini’s wedding day, the narrator (her father) uses imagery, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+From dawn on there was uproar, endless coming and going. A canopy was being erected in the yard of the house, by binding bamboo-poles together; chandeliers tinkled as they were hung in the rooms and verandahs; there was constant loud talk.
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