Have you ever read a book and you felt like you were right there where the writer was talking about? Let’s say the story includes scenes about the life of inmates in a prison. Assuming you have never been to prison, you now get a clear picture of what a prison looks like and how things are run. Now that is just an example, but have you ever experienced such a feeling? If yes, then that is the power of visual imagery. A writer who knows how to effectively use visual imagery will make his or her audience feel like they are in a small town in Asia in the fifteenth century. Or maybe they can make the audience feel like they are in Europe during World War II, fighting beside the soldiers.

The definition of visual imagery

Visual imagery is a type of imagery that allows a writer to appeal to a reader’s sense of sight. The writer achieves this through vivid depictions of ideas, characters, and scenes in their narrative.

The importance of visual imagery

Visual imagery allows writers to express things they wish to be seen by their audience even without the actual presence of the "things" around their audience. Through visual imagery, writers can retell past events to their audiences and make them feel as if they were experiencing the events. Visual imagery also makes the work of a writer colorful. All these help to make a writer’s work interesting and memorable.

Examples of sentences with the use of visual imagery

When using visual imagery, writers should ensure that their words appeal to their reader’s sense of sight. Here are examples of sentences that employ the use of visual imagery:

She had to drive slowly on the highway because the beams of sunlight that shone right through her windscreen were blinding.

She was worried about so many things, but at that moment, all she cared about was getting her car out from under a 3-inch thick blanket of snow.

She saw the deep yellow hues of the sunset reflected on the sea and mixing with the blue of the sea.

The school principal bent over Morgan’s old squeaky bed, and right in the corner of the dingy grey wall, he found the drugs.

Caroll could not stop thinking about his baby. He thought of how deep dimples dug into his baby’s cheeks when the baby smiled. Caroll could see his baby’s lonely milk tooth shining in his mouth. He missed his baby boy.

How to use visual imagery

The best way to utilize visual imagery is to use vivid depictions of whatever you are describing in your narrative. Vivid depictions will automatically prompt you as a writer to mention colors, the size of objects, and other words that stimulate a reader’s sense of sight.

If visual imagery is used effectively, it can evoke emotions in a reader. Therefore visual imagery is an important literary tool to any writer.

Sources

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/visual+imagery
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/visual-imagery-examples.html