Teaching a Stone to Talk Imagery

Teaching a Stone to Talk Imagery

Description of a ring of light in the sky

The narrator and her husband had set off for the Yakima Valley to observe an eclipse. The narrator saw a ring of light in the sky which was described as, ' It was a thin ring, an old thin silver wedding band, an old worn ring. It was an old wedding band in the sky or a morsel of bone.'

Imagery in the description of the ring of light is visual imagery. This is because the narrator uses adjectives to describe the size, color and age of the ring of light. The adjectives used are thin to describe the size of the ring of light, silver to describe its color and old to describe its age.

Yakima Valley

The narrator describes the valley as, ' Among the orchards were towns and roads, and plowed and fallow fields. Through the valley wandered a thin, shining river, from the river extended fine frozen irrigation ditches. Distance blurred and blued the sight, so that the whole valley looked like a thickness or a sediment at the bottom of the sky.'

The imagery in the description of the valley is visual imagery. The narrator intends to draw a metal picture in the mind of the reader. The imagery in the description of the valley has been built by the use of adjectives such as thin to describe the size of the river and fine to describe the narrator's opinion and perception of the valley.

The woman sitting at the hotel lobby

The narrator describes a woman sitting at the lobby of the hotel as, ' Beside us on an overstuffed chair, absolutely motionless, was a platinum - blond woman in her forties wearing a black silk dress and a strand of pearls. Her long legs were crossed, she supported her head on her fist.'

The description of the woman is visual imagery. The narrator has used various adjectives to describe the physical aspects of the woman. Platinum blond is an adjective of color that describes the woman' s hair. The adjectives black and silk have been used to describe her dress.

The clown painting

The narrator noticed a painting of a clown in the hotel. The painting is described as, 'The clown was bald. Actually, he wore a clown's tight rubber wig, painted white, this stretched over the top of his skull, which was a cabbage. His hair was bunches of baby carrots.'

The imagery in the narration is visual imagery. The narrator has described physical visual aspects of the painting such as the color of the wig which is white.

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