Lesson 4: Images from Paradise
Getting Started
Golding transformed potentially humdrum, predictable descriptions into moving, layered, and emotionally charged mental pictures. In other words, he was a master of elaborate literary imagery. In casual conversation, imagery refers simply to visual representations. But as a literary term, imagery means much more than descriptions of what is visible. Literary imagery uses words to invoke sensory memories from all five physical perceptions: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.
The use of imagery is meant to conjure a feeling from the reader: it does not need to be literal. Here are some examples of taste and touch used as adverbs to create imagery and draw feeling from the reader:
...Ralph said sourly
...Jack said hotly
Roger looked coolly on.
Piggy smiled warmly up at him.
Golding's use of imagery conveys his attitude toward nature. For example, he used visual imagery to make readers feel as though they were truly gazing at a stunning island view: "The glittering sea rose up, moved apart in planes of blatant impossibility; the coral reef and the few stunted palms that clung to the more elevated parts would float up into the sky, would quiver, be plucked apart, run like raindrops on a wire or be repeated in an odd succession of mirrors" (58).
The care Golding took to portray the physical beauty of the island reveals a deep affection and awe for the outdoors. This is an example of tone — word choice that communicates a writer's attitude toward the subjects of his or her work. When we speak, we expose little clues in the form of pitch and pronunciation that divulge whether our attitude is friendly or business-like, sympathetic or critical, joking or jeering, admiring or embittered.
The use of imagery is meant to conjure a feeling from the reader: it does not need to be literal. Here are some examples of taste and touch used as adverbs to create imagery and draw feeling from the reader:
...Ralph said sourly
...Jack said hotly
Roger looked coolly on.
Piggy smiled warmly up at him.
Golding's use of imagery conveys his attitude toward nature. For example, he used visual imagery to make readers feel as though they were truly gazing at a stunning island view: "The glittering sea rose up, moved apart in planes of blatant impossibility; the coral reef and the few stunted palms that clung to the more elevated parts would float up into the sky, would quiver, be plucked apart, run like raindrops on a wire or be repeated in an odd succession of mirrors" (58).
The care Golding took to portray the physical beauty of the island reveals a deep affection and awe for the outdoors. This is an example of tone — word choice that communicates a writer's attitude toward the subjects of his or her work. When we speak, we expose little clues in the form of pitch and pronunciation that divulge whether our attitude is friendly or business-like, sympathetic or critical, joking or jeering, admiring or embittered.
Expressing tone in writing can be more challenging since those auditory clues are not available. In this lesson, you will look for examples of imagery that illustrate the way the writer paints mental pictures for his readers and how he communicates tone through the words he chooses.
Stuff You Need
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Ideas to Think About
- Do groups control individuals or do individuals control groups?
- How does a society maintain order? Are laws necessary?
Things to Know
- Imagery involves creating mental pictures that evoke one or more of the five senses for the reader.
- Tone toward a subject is the author's attitude toward the subject matter; it is communicated through word choice.
- Dependent clauses function as noun clauses, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses.
Skills
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). (LA)
- Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute) and clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing or presentations. (LA)
In this lesson, students will learn that — although in casual conversation imagery refers simply to visual representations — as a literary term "imagery" means much more than descriptions of what is visible. Literary imagery uses words to invoke sensory memories from all five physical perceptions: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. This literary tool helps set the tone of a novel, which is the underlying attitude of an author towards the setting, characters, and events in a story.