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Idioms
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
April Seventh, 1928
Explanation and Analysis—Benjy's Attentiveness:
In the middle of Benjy’s segment of narration, a passage of sparse visual imagery provides concrete information about Benjy, as well as helping readers understand how his brain works:
Our shadows were on the grass. They got to the trees before we did. Mine got there first. Then we got there, and then the shadows were gone. There was a flower in the bottle. I put the other flower in it.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Estrangement:
The conclusion of Benjy’s segment of narration is full of multisensory imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Father went to the door and looked at us again. Then the dark came back, and he stood black in the door, and then the door turned black again. Caddy held me and I could hear us all, and the darkness, and something I could smell. And then I could see the windows, where the trees were buzzing. Then the dark began to go in smooth, bright shapes, like it always does, even when Caddy says that I have been asleep.
Related Themes:
April Eighth, 1928
Explanation and Analysis—Jason and Mother:
In Dilsey’s segment, Faulkner provides a detailed description of Jason and his mother using stark visual imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"Quentin," she said. When she called the first time Jason laid his knife and fork down and he and his mother appeared to wait across the table from one another in identical attitudes; the one cold and shrewd, with close-thatched brown hair curled into two stubborn hooks, one on either side of his forehead like a bartender in a caricature, and hazel eyes with black-ringed irises like marbles, the other cold and querulous, with perfectly white hair and eyes pouched and baffled and so dark as to appear to be all pupil or all iris.
Related Themes:
