Different types of imagery in literature

After you stop sniffing those scones, youвЂ™re going to want to sink your teeth into one. Gustatory imagery has to do with our taste buds. People stank of sweat and unwashed clothes from their mouths came the stench of rotting teeth, from their bellies that of onions, and from their bodies, if they were no longer very young, came the stench of rancid cheese and sour milk and tumorous disease. The stench of sulfur rose from the chimneys, the stench of caustic lyes from the tanneries, and from the slaughterhouses came the stench of congealed blood. The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of spoiled cabbage and mutton fat the unaired parlors stank of stale dust, the bedrooms of greasy sheets, damp featherbeds, and the pungently sweet aroma of chamber pots. In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable to us modern men and women.

Suskind takes us on an amazing olfactory ride in this excerpt and throughout the entirety of his novel: Patrick SuskindвЂ™s novel, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, is based on a main character who has a supernatural sense of smell. So, when the main character of a novel walks into his motherвЂ™s kitchen and catches the buttery scent of scones dancing through the air in salutation, donвЂ™t be surprised if that scene takes you back to your NanaвЂ™s kitchen stool from your childhood. To no surprise, authors want to tap into some of that. A single whiff of our motherвЂ™s favorite flower can take us back in time. Science has proven our sense of smell is our strongest link to the past. In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings, candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals, salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and wooden sticks of lollipops. HereвЂ™s a lovely example of visual imagery from CharlotteвЂ™s Web by E.B. If an author writes, вЂњThe ancient willow trees swayed in the moonlight,вЂќ weвЂ™re enjoying visual imagery as he or she sets the scene. If an author writes, вЂњShe had chestnut brown hair with glimmering golden hues,вЂќ thatвЂ™s visual imagery describing a character's appearance. Tied into each of those elements are vivid images of the characters and the scenery, making visual imagery not only common but paramount. At its core, every story has five elements: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Visual imagery is the most common form of imagery in literature.

Different types of imagery in literature