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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
Section 4
Explanation and Analysis—Judy at the Club:
One evening, during his relationship with Irene, Dexter ends up going to a University Club dance alone and running into Judy. The narrator uses imagery and a metaphor in this scene to capture Dexter’s experience of Judy’s beauty and allure:
The familiar voice at his elbow startled him. Judy Jones had left a man and crossed the room to him—Judy Jones, a slender enamelled doll in cloth of gold: gold in a band at her head, gold in two slipper points at her dress’s hem. The fragile glow of her face seemed to blossom as she smiled at him. A breeze of warmth and light blew through the room. His hands in the pockets of his dinner-jacket tightened spasmodically. He was filled with a sudden excitement.
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Section 6
Explanation and Analysis—Lost Dreams:
Near the end of the story, Dexter takes a moment to process the news Devlin shares with him—that Judy has lost her beauty and vigor and is now in an unhappy marriage. The narrator uses imagery in this moment to bring readers closer into the scene:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The dream was gone […] In a sort of panic he pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes and tried to bring up a picture of the waters lapping on Sherry Island and the moonlit veranda, and gingham on the golf-links and the dry sun and the gold color of her neck’s soft down. And her mouth damp to his kisses and her eyes plaintive with melancholy and her freshness like new fine linen in the morning. Why, these things were no longer in the world! They had existed and they existed no longer.
Related Themes:
