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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
Book 1, Chapter 2: Wildwood (1982-1985)
Explanation and Analysis—Flat, Stale Smoke:
In Chapter 2, Lola uses surprising imagery to describe her mother’s anger in their home:
Her rage filled the house, flat stale smoke. It got into everything, into our hair and our food, like the fallout they talked to us about in school that would one day drift down soft as snow. My brother didn’t know what to do. He stayed in his room, though sometimes he would lamely try to ask me what was going on. Nothing. You can tell me, Lola, he said, and I could only laugh.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 3: The Three Heartbreaks of Belicia Cabral (1955-1962)
Explanation and Analysis—The Canefield:
In Chapter 3, Díaz uses vivid imagery to describe the sensory experience of Beli’s beating in the canefield:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As some of you know, canefields are no fucking joke, and even the cleverest of adults can get mazed in their endlessness, only to reappear months later as a cameo of bones. But before Beli lost hope she heard the creature’s voice. She (for it had a woman’s lilt) was singing! [...] Sueño, sueño, sueño, como tú te llamas. She clung unsteadily to the cane, like an anciano clinging to a hammock, and, panting, took her first step, a long dizzy spell, beating back a blackout, and then her next [...] Sometimes she saw the creature’s chabine eyes flashing through the stalks. Yo me llamo sueño de la madrugada.
Related Themes:
