Imagery Paragraphs- The Wednesday Letters

The Wednesday Letters
Jason F. Wright
pg.58-59

Malcolm dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked down the long corridor toward the kitchen. He stopped halway to straighten a slightly crooked frame holding an aged penny.  "The Inn smells different." "That's because no one's been cooking." Samantha sat at the legnthy dining room table. Malcolm sat across from her. The eggshell-white walls were lined with pictures of war heroes and presidents. Expensive china was displayed behind the glass doors of an antique, handmade cabinet Jack had purchased at an auction in Waynesboro the year they moved to Woodstock...

...The two sat quietly gazing at the family portraits and antique artwork that lined the walls. Eventually Samantha rested her head on her folded arms atop the table. She gazed up at her brother and admired Malcom's rugged features. She noted that even road weary with a long, mangy beard, he was a handsome man.

___=Visual
___=Kinesthetic
___=Smell
      =Auditory

I selected these particular passages because they contain a variety of imagery. These paragraphs appeal to me because every little detail is explained to the point where you feel like you are within the novel itself.

Like many novel, visual imagery is usually the most common. As you can see from the passages above, the blue highlighted sections which represent the visual imagery are the most common.

I think the best snippet of visual imagery within my passages is "The eggshell-white walls were lined with pictures of war heroes and presidents. Expensive china was displayed behind the glass doors of an antique, handmade cabinet." I think this snippet is effective because it describes what every little detail in that room looks like. When I read these two sentences, it paints a picture in my head of how elegant and proper the room is. By describing each item from the classic eggshell-white walls, to the expensive china behind glass doors of an antique handmade cabinet, you can tell what kind of lifestyle the characters Laurel and Jack Cooper had before they passed away.

This imagery is positive and negative at the same time. There are positive aspects as Malcolm admires all of the artwork in his parents house, but it is also negative because his parents have just passed away and his choice of words describing the room for example "long corridor" and "lengthy dining room table" display how empty the house is now. Malcolm also mentions the change of smell in the house now that no one is cooking. "The Inn smells different." This is a negative factor for him because his mom was known for her cooking and since her recent passing, the difference smell makes it more evident that his mom is no longer alive.

Sadness is an emotion that is created in these passages especially in the second paragraph when Samantha and Malcolm are sitting in silence looking at their family pictures. "The two sat quietly gazing at the family portraits and antique artwork the lined the walls. Eventually Samantha rested her head on her folded arms atop the table." The brother and sister are quite sad after the passing of both of their parents as you can tell while they sit in silence not knowing what to say or do. They begin to take in every little detail they may not have noticed as much before.

The purpose of this piece of imagery is to bring the reader right into the story by displaying visual, kinesthetic, smell and auditory imagery. These styles of imagery help in making you feel the grief the brother and sister are going through by the descriptions of the differences in smell and objects around them. Towards the end I felt a little uncomfortable as the two were just sitting in silence, feeling the emptiness around them.