What is "vivid imagery"?

Question

For my English homework I have to read a story and find an example of vivid imagery in the story. What is vivid imagery? What would be an example of it?

Answer 1

Vivid imagery is well-described imagery. For example, I could write, "My mother's house was very large and she had the best of everything in it." Or I could write, "My mother's old Victorian home makes me feel cold at the end of every nerve. She kept the finest vases, furniture, and drapes. The living room looked like a seance parlor with thick dark purple drapes that looked like rotten grapes, five vases meticulately placed on her elaborately carved and designed end tables and coffee table. That coffee table was made from some kind of wood that was supposed to make it look like old mahogany--stained with tea and cigar burns. That damn thing was fire-proof and as ugly as it was with it's green and gold trimming that was supposed to look like lace. . . . Well, you get the idea. Vivid, rich, detailed with as much precision and perceptivity that a writer can imagine. Recommendations for an excellent descriptive short story would be Mistaken Charity by Mary E. Wilkins. Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard Find is also good, but gruesome. And Zora Neal Hurston's "Sweat" is very descriptive and less gruesome than O'Connor's short story. James Baldwin's Sonny Blues is more than rich with vivid imagery; it's flowing with vivid pathos (feelings and emotions) expressed sharp enough to look like real life at the overwhelming beginning of an end that never had a chance without hope, and deep enough at the end of the story as to give a reader reason to weep with a smile. Take an emotion for example, such as this: "It was a special kind of ice. It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins" (Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin page 619 in Living Literature John C. Brereton, editor).

Answer 2

Vivid Imagery

Answer 3

The most accurate definition of vivid imagery is that it involves one of the five senses. It is not a matter how how many words you use to describe something. That does not make the imagery vivid. Often, a single word can do that. Overly describing something is an information dump. It takes away the reader's right to use their own imaginations. I would never go into great detail to tell you what a house looks like. I would let YOU figure that out.

One of the finest examples is Ursula Le Guin's fabulous short story The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas. The story takes place in a utopia. But rather than TELL her readers what that utopia looks like, she specifically tells her readers to add whatever details they need to define a utopia. What a brilliant way of writing! It makes the reader a part of the story without the author shoving pages of details down their throats. Stephen King is also a master of this.

Here is an example of vivid imagery.

She bit into a juicy orange. or She bit into the dill pickle.

You can visualize that vividly in your mind. I don't need to say another word. You can taste it. You know what sour tastes like. Or what it feels like to taste something very juicy. The author doesn't have to put a ring in your nose and lead you around.

The chalk scraped the blackboard.

How much more vivid can you get? You just cringe thinking about that sound.

Long icicles clung to the gutter and glistened in the sun.

Look through your story for instances when a single word or a few brief words triggers one of your senses. The briefer the better the imagery is done. In On Writing, Stephen King talks about overly adjectived nouns and overly adverbed sentences. I love his quote "The road to hell is paved with adverbs"

Remember that silence and simplicity can speak volumes. Overuse of detail and metaphor leads to the deadly purple prose.

Good luck. Pax - C

Answer 4

Personally, I didn't like The Great Gatsby, but I have to admit you'll find some fine examples of 'vivid imagery' right at the beginning.
The first couple of chapters should give you plenty of examples for your homework.

Best wishes,

Answer 5

It just means descriptive, the author wrote it in a way that you could see it perfectly in your mind

Like if an author describe a sunset really really well and you could see it in your mind, that's vivid imagery

Answer 6

What Is Vivid

Answer 7

vivid imagery is when you use words to create a picture in the reader's mind. for example: the ocean seemed like glass as it reflected the mammoth pale moon

Answer 8

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