44. Close read by imagery: (poetry analysis paper)

Definition:

Imagery: visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), and tactile (touch). For example, the following line form Robert Frost's "After Apple Picking" is an illustration of auditory imagery:

"...load on load of apples rumbling in"

Example of a close read of imagery in a poetry analysis paper on "Design":

Design

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth-

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth-

A snowdrop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?-

If design govern in a thing so small.

-Robert Frost

The first image of Robert Frost’s poem “Design” is of the speaker’s close observations of a spider on a web. The speaker observes that there is a "dimpled, fat, and white spider" on w spider web attached to a white flower. (line 1) This visual image arrests the reader, for it is not the color or shape that we would expect on a spider. The adjectives: "dimpled," "fat," and "white" have connotations of innocence, sloth, and purity respectively. This is antithetical to our usual perception of spiders as sinister, wiry, and black. The estranging, visual image of the spider underscores the notion that nature masks its evil intentions.

CLOSE READ BY IMAGERY STARTERS:

-The visual image of ______________________ has carefully selected word choice in ________________. The connotations of _____________ are ______________, __________________, and ______________________. These connotations of the visual image are significant because_________________________________________________.

-The auditory image of ______________________ has carefully selected word choice in ________________. The connotations of _____________ are ______________, __________________, and ______________________. These connotations of the visual image are significant because_________________________________________________.

-The gustatory image of ______________________ has carefully selected word choice in ________________. The connotations of _____________ are ______________, __________________, and ______________________. These connotations of the visual image are significant because_________________________________________________.

-The olfactory image of ______________________ has carefully selected word choice in ________________. The connotations of _____________ are ______________, __________________, and ______________________. These connotations of the visual image are significant because_________________________________________________.

-The tactile image of ______________________ has carefully selected word choice in ________________. The connotations of _____________ are ______________, __________________, and ______________________. These connotations of the visual image are significant because_________________________________________________.