Higher EnglishImagery

Define, identify, create and analyse imagery

We are learning to

Imagery is . . .

Complete

Imagery is a non-literal comparison. It uses figurative language to create a visual comparison.

Literal: a description of something as it is. Figurative: Appealing to the imagination,

figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world. It always makes use of a comparison between different things. Figurative language compares two things that are different in enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or surprising.

Literal

He’s on fire!

Literally

Metaphor: Metaphor says something is something – the woman is a cat – not literally of course

The attributes of the cat and the woman are shared. The connotations of a cat reflect the qualities of the woman

Think about the difference if the woman had been compared to a kitten

Main Types of Figurative Language

A comparison which highlights the similarity between two things.

Signified by the use of like or as…as.

For example: The messenger ran like the wind The poppies were as red as blood

2. Simile

Personification is a sub-set of metaphor Some thing or an animal is given human

attributes ‘The sky wept’

3. Personification

Identify all the examples of imagery in ‘I am a Rock’.

Choose the two which you find most effective.

Activity

1. Clearly state which two things are being compared.

2. Clearly explain what the literal root of the comparison is.

3. Explain how the qualities/connotations of the literal root affect how we view what it is being compared to.

4. Say if this is an effective comparison.

Analysing Imagery

Aside from the flabbergasting hypocrisy of Sky Sports dismissing a man for sexism when its own Saturday morning Soccer AM lad-fest regularly includes a sub-Nuts item in which a young "Soccerette" writhes onscreen for the delight of a baying mob, the most sinister aspect of the story is that Gray's and Keys' original comments were made off-air. Cavemen they may be, but they were advanced enough to know what was suitable for broadcast and what wasn't. Ultimately, they were tarred and feathered for holding a private conversation. And that's ominous.

Brooker uses a metaphor to compare Grey and Keyes to cavemen. This is effective because a caveman is literally someone who existed in prehistoric times, which matches their outdated attitudes to females.

Clod

Promontory

1. Explain what imagery is.2. Explain the difference between literal and

figurative language.3. Fully explain how the image of the rock is

used by both Paul Simon and John Donne. Use quotations in your answer and refer to the overall ideas of the song/poem. You should also say which you found to be most effective.

Imagery Homework