How Does Imagery Connect Us to Understanding - Assignment Example

Running Head Questions: Week 2 Questions: Week 2 How does imagery connect us to understanding? Imagery is created by using metaphors and similes, assonance and personification. This stylistic device helps a reader to create a picture or image in his head. Traditional poetry represents a realm beyond that of everyday reality; the imagery which it employs serves to draw the audience into its world. This is accomplished quite efficiently through references to the characters surroundings, to that which is external or environmental, that which one sees, hears and physically feels, such as wind or rough seas. Imagery can be described as “instantaneous visual, tactile and auditory impressions created through nouns and adjectives” (Kelly and Hacht 2004, p. 45). Imagery appeals to emotions and feelings, forces us to become active readers and ‘doers’ of events and actions depicted in poetry. Imagery connects us to understanding through generalization of concepts and notions depicted by a poet. In poetry imagery serves as a bridge to communication between voice and audience. The symbol in poetry fosters a movement between the realm of the imaginary, the poetic content, and the real, the audience eager to interpret the content. In many cases, generalizing statement is connected with the illusory nature of communication between poet and reader. Symbolic imagery in poetry invites a depth and variety of interpretations, but does not seek to avoid contact with concrete reality. 2. Why do some writers choose to write poetry rather than fiction or non-fiction? Some authors choose to write poetry because it allows them to express ideas and thoughts more clearly and concisely than in fiction. Whether linked to scenes painted in past or present tense, poetry frequently manages to transcend temporal limits and invite the reader or audience into the mind of the subject or main character. Poetry allows a writer to use such specific techniques as alliteration, rhyme and meter. These techniques add emotional tension and allow the poet to stress main ideas and thoughts. In contrast to fiction or non-fiction, the repetition clearly strengthens the captivating rhythm of poems. Also, poetic elements and concise language help the poet to maintain cohesiveness at the temporal level through the repetition of the same verb in the same tense, pose a gradual movement from the broad to the narrow. Of course, the utterance of the poetic word, or the reading of it, inevitably establishes an immediacy of time and place (Kelly and Hacht 2004). This effect either supports or contradicts the content of the poem, depending on the verb tenses and spatial references it employs. Also, the colors and emotion expressed through metaphors and similes are all the more vivid in poetry than in fiction. 3. What effects do you experience through the authors use of literary devices? Literary devices display a highly economical system of expression. This is not to say that they employ a simple language although poetry do indeed utilize words efficiently, expressing infinite messages in short passages and phrases. Literary devices influence my imagination and have a great impact on my feelings and emotions. Imagery makes an appeal to one or more of the senses. The reader is left to visualize the scene directly before his or her eyes, and not on some unknown plane, in a distant garden. In many cases, symbols and verbs work together to capture the emotional appeal of the theme or motive. Literary devices grab our attention and force readers to think about the context and reinterpreted their views and values. To some extent, literary devices create new reality within the poem appealing to feelings and emotions of the reader. What captures attention is the intriguing notion that the human mind has changed, where consciousness of symbols is concerned. The use of literary devices forces readers to searches for some link to the network of symbolic images. Literary devices, in lyric, grow intense in meaning through emphasis and repetition. They captivate through the striking contrast between the narrative as a whole, and its function within that series of events. 4. Why do we use figurative language in everyday life? Give some examples. We use figurative language in everyday life because many feelings and ideas are difficult to express in words, and for this reason we use metaphors and similes to express ideas and concepts. The use of figurative language allows us to compare some things and actions, concepts and feelings. In some cases, the literal content and the colors may differ, but the figurative meaning of the images is the same. For instance, a girl couldnt digest anything the mother gave her to eat; and a girl couldnt digest anything the mother told her. The first example use a literal meaning of the word “digest” while the second one has a metaphorical meaning. It is the aim of figurative language, in part, to argue that the symbolic connotation of a similar image. Also, we use a lot of metaphors in everyday life in order to create vivid images of events and ideas. For instance, my sunglasses were buried under newspapers. The word ‘buried’ is a metaphor. The bodies of figurative language intersect in the realm of the image, a principal source of their psychological, emotional impact. This sense of an opposition between worlds, the figurative and the real, the illusory and the true, plays a significant role in everyday communication (Kelly and Hacht 2004). 5. Why do some writers choose to write poetry rather than fiction or non fiction? Some writers prefer to write poetry rather than fiction or non-fiction because images in poetry are more active than those often found in fiction or non-fiction, which is not to say that they are more meaningful. For instance, the crescendo and decline of energy in poems allows writers to express different feelings and emotions in several lines which generate emotional tension. Another important fact is that poetic symbol invites a variety of interpretations, some contradictory, though all of them intensify the overall sentiment of the themes and motives. On the one hand, symbolism in traditional poetry gains in meaning through its participation in a network: tenses, images, stylistic devices and meter. At the same time, within this network of conventional symbolic usages, the symbol in traditional poetry is relatively autonomous. In contrast to fiction and non-fiction, in poems the characters social and personal identities are immediately made clear. In addition, poetry allows a writer to establish a sense of tension, thus, the simple characters develop through their interaction with one another, rather than through emphasis on a setting. In poetry, it is possible to convey a meaning and ‘construct’ a poem using metaphors and symbols only. The task of the reader is to interpret these meanings and messages according to his life experience and imagination (Kelly and Hacht 2004). 6. Why is the active reading and understanding of metaphor and symbolism important to poetry? Active reading and understanding is important because poetry is based on images and symbols decoded by the author in metaphor and symbolism. The task of the reader is to decode these symbols and messages, images and hints. In the context of poetry, a clear separation of image and symbol is difficult, for most of the images actually consist of arrangements of symbols. Active reading and understanding is important because all symbols and metaphor are closely connected with each other creating a canvas. Given the highly conventionalized usages of certain concrete images, a ‘metaphor" often represents an economic form of expression of mood and location, just as much as it is meant to symbolize something more abstract, such as frustrated love or anguish at the loss of youth (Kelly and Hacht 2004). These symbolic formulas represented by the images discussed inherently lend themselves to establishment of a psychological tension, for they complicate the apparent simplicity of any text. Active reading and understanding is important because the poetry is based on a play of layer of meaning against another, a web of symbols, tensions and oppositions. Active reading helps to concentrate on the meaning and message, and find the best approach to interpretation and analysis of symbols and images. 7. What are some of the different ways society or an individual can be perceived through poetry? The society and individuals can be perceived through personal tone and voice of the author, persona, vivid and bright images and cultural symbols. Poetry establishes a vague sense of open-ended time and space. At the same time, it serves as the central focus of the piece, both visually and emotionally. Both the symbol and the metaphor are creative approaches to poetic expression, and the symbol in poetry shows more originality than the use of the metaphor in fiction. In poetry, vivid references to natural images mark a shift in theme or tone, by adding a depth of symbolic meaning to the surrounding passages. A personal tone and voice of the author allows him to create a specific atmosphere within the poem and express emotions and feelings. Society and individuals are perceived through the author’s vision of reality and objective narration of events. Persona in poetry allows to express ideas and thought of different people, their social and personal preferences. Individual are perceived through their relations with each other, their feelings and emotions while the society is perceived through social environment and the author’s attitude towards social norms and values. In poetry, the scenery establishes and carries the mood and/or theme of the work through which society or an individual is perceived (Kelly and Hacht 2004). 8. How can you explore cultural and interpersonal relationships through poetry? Cultural and interpersonal relationships can be explored through the use of language, and dialectical words and phrases, cultural symbols and concepts, etc. Many poets use specific language and dialectical words which reflect their cultural and social background. They use slang words and euphemisms, cultural symbols (such as a macho, cowboy, etc. ) and social images (a miner, a slave, etc.). Conflicts beyond the realm of politics or social norms become discernible in poems which are normally classified according to the cultural origin of their main characters or the period in which such figures realized their famous deeds (Kelly and Hacht 2004). Some poets express an explicit presence of social and religious oppositions. These pivotal images do not need to be centrally located in the course of the narrative in order to carry out its unifying function. Also, the linguistic complexity itself with regard to verb tenses can draw readers’ attention to cultural relations and specific meanings created by the author. Cultural symbols should be viewed as deliberate, artistic expressions of emotion which consciously and unconsciously employ a variety of degrees of symbolic depth, and which participate in a dialogue or narration. Interpersonal relationships in poetry are depicted in dialogues and personal relations, the written records of the oral tradition or culture. References 1. Kelly, D., Hacht, A.M. (2004). Poetry for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry. Thomson Gale. Read More