Imagery Questions

Step 1
Quote the example of imagery and then state what technique has been used.
(i.e. Metaphor? Simile? Personification?) e.g. “mirror” is a metaphor.

Step 2
Think about what is being described (x) and what it is being compared to (y).
e.g. The surface of the loch (x) is being compared to a mirror (y).

Step 3
Explain the relevant connotations of y (Just as...)
Then explain how the connotations of y are transferred on to x (So too...) e.g. Just as a mirror is very shiny and clear (y), so too was the surface of the loch very bright and you could see your reflection in it (x).

“mirror” is a metaphor. The surface of the loch is being compared to a mirror.
Just as a mirror is very shiny and clear, so too was the surface of the loch very bright and you could see your reflection in it.
= the three-step method.

• You are usually awarded 2 marks for each example of imagery that you correctly analyse using “Just as...so too...”
(Three-step-method)
• Some questions will be worth extra marks as you are required to provide evaluation of the imagery.
(you must also explain how effective it is after you do the three-step-method)

1.Explain the following example of imagery, using the three-step method (2)
The young woman’s hair looked like golden silk as she combed it.

“golden silk” is a simile.
The author is comparing the girl’s hair to golden silk.
Just as golden silk is smooth and shiny, so too was the girl’s hair bright and soft. (2 marks)
This is effective as it conveys the great beauty and loveliness of the girl’s hair and shows that the author greatly admires it.
(1 mark)

2. “Beware of Afrikaans, the most dangerous drug for our future”.
Explain why this expression is an effective example of imagery. (2)
“Africans are not dustbins,” declared some of the
June 16 placards; and “Beware of the Afrikaans language, the most dangerous drug for our future.” By the following year, the language had been withdrawn from classrooms as unworkable. And so, thanks to the influence of a long-dead British author, the sacrifices of Hector
Pieterson and many other Africans have proved to be not entirely in vain —which Dickens himself would surely applaud.

“the most dangerous drug” is a metaphor.
The author is comparing the Afrikaans language to a drug. Just as drugs can be damaging and harmful, so too was the
Afrikaans language having a very serious and detrimental effect on the people.

3. Explain how it is appropriate to use the image of
“icebergs” to refer to the appearance of the rock salt deposits (2)
Every year, since (we suppose) at least the time of the Ancient Greeks, hundreds of thousands of camels are led, strung together in trains, from the highlands of Ethiopia into the Danakil depression: a descent into the desert of nearly
10,000 feet, a journey of about 100 miles. Here, by the edge of a blue-black and bitter salt lake, great icebergs of rock salt encrusting the mud are prised up, hacked into slabs and loaded on to the camels.

“icebergs” is a metaphor. The author is comparing the deposits of rock salt to icebergs. Just as icebergs are very white and very large, so too were the rock salt deposits extremely huge and bulky and they stood out from their surroundings as they were so bright.

4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the imagery in the following paragraph (3)
After only five minutes of getting myself set up at the local market on Saturday, customers and traders surrounded my stall like vultures around a carcass.

“vultures” is a simile.
The author is comparing the customers approaching his stall to vultures around a carcass.
Just as vultures are scavengers and hunters, so too were the customers greedy and aggressive.
This is effective as it conveys how the customers were almost preying or stalking the man’s stall.

5. Evaluate the effectiveness of the imagery in the following paragraph (3)
As my grandfather grew older, and particularly after my grandmother passed away, he became more and more dependent on alcohol, and it gradually became an overcoat to him.

“overcoat” is a metaphor.
The author is comparing alcohol to an overcoat.
Just as an overcoat offers security and warmth, so too did the man use alcohol for protection and comfort.
This is effective as it conveys how the man became dependent on alcohol in order to cope with the loss of his wife.

6. Evaluate how the author’s use of imagery effectively conveys his poor financial situation (3)
Despite starting a good job with a decent wage; despite having no family and no dependants; despite not having to worry about car payments or a hefty mortgage, every time I looked at my bank balance it seemed that I was haemorrhaging money. What was I spending it on?

“haemorrhaging” is a metaphor.
The author is comparing the man’s financial situation to a brain haemorrhaging.
Just as a brain haemorrhage involves harm and death, so too was the man’s finances in danger and unhealthy.
This is effective as it conveys how perilous the man’s financial situation is as he is losing so much money and he can’t control it.