Ministry of higher education, science and innovations termiz state university

Types of imagery

Whenever you read a piece of content, the clarity and attractiveness of the story boil down to the types of imagery used, and how well they are leveraged. What is more, this is applied not only to content that is read. When a friend is sharing a story, the vividness of the meaning is also heavily reliant on the use of imagery.
There are seven types of imagery used in writing and everyday speech. Many of these types deal with the five basic human senses, namely touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. Authors use the following examples of imagery to entwine the senses and help readers create mental images of the story they are reading:

1. Visual Imagery

Visual imagery is the experience of mentally visualizing the appearance of something, usually without it being present (Albutt, Ling, Rowley, & Shafiullah, 2011). It is the most common and paramount imagery as it helps authors construct striking images of the scenery and characters in a story.
Visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight and it includes:

• 
  Color
  
• 
  Size
  
• 
  Shape
  
• 
  Pattern
  

For example, when an author writes something like “together, they sat at the expansive shoreline. The shimmering sun was sinking into the sea and, as it disappeared, he went down on one knee and popped out the red ring case.” The statement helps the reader conjure up an inner image of the romantic scenery, the characters, and the emotions overriding the event.

2. Auditory Imagery

Auditory imagery appeals to the sense of hearing. It describes what we hear from noise, music, and even pure silence. In the auditory modality, it is indicated that auditory imagery represents perceptual attributes of sounds such as pitch and loudness (Wu, Yu, Mai, Wei, & Luo, 2010).
Auditory imagery encompasses the following:

• 
  Enjoyable sounds (Music)
  
• 
  Noise
  
• 
  Silence or lack of noise
  

For example, “the trees rustled in rhythm as the wind whistled gently through the leaves.” The words “rustle” and “whistled” evoke the sense of hearing, and transports you to a scene in the middle of a forest.