Close Reading

1. Close Reading Imagery Questions National 5

2. Learning Intentions Success Criteria To identify images in a piece of text. To understand how to structure an answer based on imagery

3. I can ….. • Identify the root of an image • Structure an answer based on imagery • Discuss the suggestions and connotations of an image • Identify imagery in fiction and non-fiction. I know …. • How to answer link questions

4. Imagery This is a little harder to grasp than word choice, but once you have understood the approach to imagery questions then you can apply that approach to all examples. Common Mistakes Imagery does not mean ‘descriptive writing’ of the kind which uses lots of adjectives to describe scenes and settings in a series of pictures. Down on the level, its pink walls, and struggling roses, and green-painted barrel hidden by a thick dusty planting of spruce and larch, was Fin-me-oot Cottage, where house martins flocked to nest in summer, and small birds found plenteous food on the bird tables when the winter came

5. with frost and snow. There, way-wise deer went in the windy autumn dawns to bite at fallen apples in the little orchard. Although this passage creates pictures of a scene by choosing accurate descriptive words, it is not ‘imagery’ as it is meant in the context of the Close Reading Paper.

6. Imagery Simile Metaphor Personification Also included in this section are other aspects of imagery which work in slightly different ways: metonymy Symbolism Simile This is the easiest of the figures of speech. You all learned about it in Primary School and you know that it is signified by the use of ‘like’ or ‘as (big) as’, for example: ‘The messenger ran like the wind.’ ‘The poppies were as red as blood.’

7. When you are asked in a question to deal with these what do you do? The question will be about the impact of the effect of the image. Example 1 ‘the messenger ran like the wind’ It would not be enough to say ‘messenger ran very fast’ because this just gives the meaning of the phrase and you were asked about its effect. A better start would be: The image (or the simile) ‘the messenger ran like the wind’ gives the impression of speed because the wind is fast:

8. But this is still not really going far enough to explain why the writer chose ‘wind’. An even better answer would be: The image (or the simile) ‘the messenger ran like the wind’ gives the impression of speed because the wind is seen as a powerful force which reaches great speeds. It might also suggest that the runner was going so fast that he was creating a turbulence like a wind. What you are doing here is recognising some of the connotations of ‘wind’, not just its denotation, exactly as we did in the word choice section.

9. Example 2 ‘The poppies were as red as blood’ Answer: This simile is effective because it tries to communicate the intensity of the red colour of the poppies. The word ‘blood’ suggests not just colour, but density, perhaps even shininess which helps you picture the richness of the poppies.

10. Hints and Tips In both of the examples it helps if you can ‘see’ the image. Can you see the blood? If you were painting them, how would you do it? Would the wind be represented by streaks of light? Would the blood be shiny? It helps if you can see these things in your mind’s eye, in your imagination. It is worth noting that in all examples of imagery there is a wide variety of possible answers – it depends on your experience, your range of connotations and personal ‘pictures’.

11. Metaphor A metaphor is probably the most powerful (and magical) device in language. If you can get to grips with this aspect of English, you are home and dry. Metaphor goes one step further than Simile: Simile says something is like something – the woman is like a cat. Metaphor says something is something – the woman is a cat.

12. The first of these statements can be ‘true’ – the way the woman moved reminded you of the way a cat moved, sinuously and quietly, perhaps. The second of these statements is not true – the woman is not, literally, a cat; she is human. However, it suggests that the attributes of both cat and woman are shared. The attributes, or connotations of ‘cat’ are things such as aloofness, elegance, claws, beauty, independence, distrust and aggression. These are all reminiscent of a certain kind of woman. The metaphor fuses the concepts of ‘cat’ and ‘woman’ together to make an entirely new concept. The connotation of ‘kitten’ could be entirely different and would suggest a totally different sort of woman.

13. Good metaphors allow a lot of information to be transferred to the reader economically. Key Points To work with a metaphor you need to: Stage One - Identify a metaphor. But you get no marks for that on its own. Stage Two: Identify the contrast. What is being compared? Stage Three - Discuss the connotations of the metaphor.  Stage Four – Explain why this image is effective. What effect does it have on the reader? What information does it impart?

14. Example The UK is not a group of nations swamped by a tidal wave of immigration. Relatively speaking, Europe contends with a trickle of refugees compared to other countries who border areas of famine, desperate poverty, or violent political upheaval. What is the impact of the imagery in these lines in making clear the writer’s point? 2 marks Identify the metaphor(s): - ‘swamped’ by a ‘tidal wave’ of immigration - a ‘trickle’ of refugees (0 marks so far) 2. The numbers of immigrant entering Britain is being compared to bodies of water.

15. 3. Connotations: The connotations of tidal wave and swamped are to do with a mass of water rushing with unstoppable force onto the land drowning it as if the number of immigrants is so great that the people of Britain will be overwhelmed and unable to withstand the force of the impact. • Link between connotations and literal meaning – We have related the figurative meaning of ‘tidal wave’, and ‘trickle’ etc. to their literal existence as bodies of water. • 4. You then discuss the effect.

16. Summary • Identify or quote the metaphor you are dealing with. • Show how the literal and the figurative come together to create an effect. • Say what the effect is.

17. Personification Personification is really just another kind of metaphor. (It’s a ‘subset’ for those who feel mathematically inclined.) In personification some thing or an animal is given human attributes. For example, ‘the sky wept’ means literally speaking that it is raining, but is not ‘true’ (in the sense that a metaphor isn’t true), because the sky cannot weep since it has no eyes, tear ducts, nor emotions. If we were asked to say what the effect of the ‘sky wept’ is, as opposed to ‘it was raining’ we would find ourselves doing exactly what we did with metaphors. We look at connotations of ‘wept’ and we find that we are given a sense of melancholy as if there were something tragic going on under the sky, which required tears to express the sadness.

18. Key Points To work with personification, as with metaphor, you need to: Key Points To work with a metaphor you need to: Stage One - Identify the personification. (But you get 0 marks for that on its own.) Stage Two: Identify the contrast. sadness and melancholy and the literal idea of ‘wept’ are linked by real rain Stage Three - Discuss the connotations of the image.  Stage Four – Explain why this image is effective. As if the universe were in tune with the mood of the description.

19. Let’s consider a more complex example. It’s about global warming. Example Whether the specific storms that scythed down trees in Paris last Christmas, drowned the Po Valley last month and battered Britain last week can be attributed to the warming trend is a subject of serious – and contentious – scientific debate. Show how the writer uses imagery in these lines to emphasise the impact of the storms which affected Europe. You should refer to two examples in your answer. 4 marks

20. Identify the personifications: ‘scythed’ ‘drowned’ and ‘battered’ (0 marks so far) • Comparison – The weather conditions are being compared to a farmer cutting down his wheat using a very sharp and effective tool. • Connotations: ‘Scythed gives the impression that the storm was using a scythe to cut down many tress at once as a farmer would use a scythe to cut wheat in one swing. • This gives the idea that the storm was incredibly powerful, as trees are infinitely stronger and harder to cut down than wheat. It gives a picture of complete devastation.

21. You would now go through the same process with one of the other words. Remember, you were asked in this case to consider two examples, so there is no point in wasting time on the third one. It is actually not necessary to use the word ‘personification’. You could discuss these examples under the general heading of ‘Imagery’, and there are cases where you might even discuss them under the heading ‘word choice’. As long as you are dealing with the connotations of the words then you will be on the right lines, but to make really sure of the marks with imagery, you have to deal with both the literal and the metaphorical ‘meanings’.

22. Summary Identify or quote the personification you are dealing with. Show how the literal and the figurative meanings merge to create an effect. Say what the effect is.

23. Symbolism This concept is related to imagery, but has a much wider and more general application. Symbols do not need to have context in a piece of writing to be effective. A rose is a symbol, whether it is the physical rose, or the drawing or photograph of a rose (especially a red one), or the use of the word ‘rose’. In the culture of Western Europe, it is recognised as a symbol for ‘love’.

24. However, in a piece of writing, whether it’s a piece of journalism, or a novel or a short story, poem or film, a symbol can be created by the writer to represent an attitude or an emotion or a concept. In ‘Lord of the Flies’ the conch which the boys use to summon meetings becomes a symbol of democracy, or free speech, or authority. In ‘Sunset Song’, the standing stones become symbolic of the old ways, Scotland, the land, and many other things.

25. Other Figures of Speech • Hyperbole (or exaggeration) is a very common figure of speech which candidates often fail to notice in examinations. When you say ‘I’ve been there hundreds of times’ you actually mean a large number of times. Using hyperbole emphasises the frequency. Very often hyperbole is used for comic effect: ‘his eyes popped out of his head’. • Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, and achieves its effect in an ironic way. ‘He was not very happy’ can often mean ‘He was extremely angry’. The effect may be humorous, or it may contribute to suspense. • Euphemism is a way of expressing something in a gentler way than the harsh truth. Many euphemisms are associated with death, e.g., ‘My old dog was put to sleep.’ • Pun/ Play on Words – one word having two different meanings creates humour.

26. Answer the question below about imagery. You will recognise the first one. Example 1. Show how the writer uses imagery in the lines below to emphasise the impact of the storms which affected Europe. You should refer to two examples in your answer. 4 marks Whether the specific storms that scythed down trees in Paris last Christmas, drowned the Po Valley last month and battered Britain last week can be attributed to the warming trend is a subject of serious—and contentious—scientific debate.

27. Imagery Answers: Question 1 - Marks will depend on the quality of the comment. An insightful comment on one image could be worth up to 3 marks; a weaker comment will be worth up to 1 mark. Answers on imagery must “deconstruct” the image, ie show an understanding of the literal root of the image and then explore how the writer is extending it figuratively. Mere identification of the image: 0.

28. Possible answers include: 1 “scythed” just as a scythe will cut down corn, wheat, grass, etc, with ease, so the trees in Paris were brought to the ground swiftly, with no resistance, . . .(also connotations of the “Grim Reaper”, “Death the Leveller”) 2 “drowned” just as drowning involves death by complete immersion in water, so the Po valley must have been completely inundated, . . . 3 “battered” just as “battering” involves hitting violently with repeated blows, so the storms attacked Britain forcefully

29. Example Two: What is the author suggesting about the bird when he says “It turned itself into an anchor”? 2007 1 mark From the tail of my eye, I saw what I took to be a kestrel. I turned my head to watch it as it climbed, and I waited for it to go into its hover, according to time-honoured kestrel custom. But it did nothing of the kind. It turned itself into an anchor. Or a thunderbolt.

30. ANSWER It changed its shape/resembled/adopted the shape of an anchor/looked like an anchor. OR It descended vertically/swiftly.

31. Example Three: (b) Why is the comparison of the bird to a “thunderbolt” an effective image or metaphor? (2007) 2 marks From the tail of my eye, I saw what I took to be a kestrel. I turned my head to watch it as it climbed, and I waited for it to go into its hover, according to time-honoured kestrel custom. But it did nothing of the kind. It turned itself into an anchor. Or a thunderbolt.

32. ANSWER It suggests suddenness/destructiveness/coming from the sky/speed. Any two.

33. Example Four: The word “floes” usually refers to icebergs. Explain why it is appropriate to use it as a metaphor to refer to the appearance of the rock salt deposits. 2 marks (2008) At the beginning of this month I was in a hellish yet beautiful place. I was making a programme for Radio 4 about one of the world’s most ancient trade routes. Every year, since (we suppose) at least the time of the Ancient Greeks, hundreds of thousands of camels are led, strung together in trains, from the highlands of Ethiopia into the Danakil depression: a descent into the desert of nearly 10,000 feet, a journey of about 100 miles. Here, by the edge of a blue-black and bitter salt lake, great floes of rock salt encrusting the mud are prised up, hacked into slabs and loaded on to the camels.

34. ANSWER Similarity in size OR colour OR shape OR contrast with surroundings Any two, (1) each

35. Example Five: Look at the placard text “Beware of Afrikaans, the most dangerous drug for our future”. (2009) Explain why this expression is an effective image or metaphor. 2 marks “Africans are not dustbins,” declared some of the June 16 placards; and “Beware of Afrikaans, the most dangerous drug for our future.” By the following year, the language had been withdrawn from classrooms as unworkable. And so, thanks to the influence of a long-dead British author, the sacrifices of Hector Pieterson and many other Africans have proved to be not entirely in vain —which Dickens himself would surely applaud.

36. ANSWERS Just as drugs are harmful (in the long term) So Afrikaans has a (long-reaching) deleterious effect on the lives of the Sowetans

37. Example Six: How effective do you find the writer’s use of “hysteria” as an image or metaphor? 2 marks (2011) Research has made it clear that the early media hysteria about the novelty (and thus the dangers) of text messaging was misplaced. People seem to have swallowed whole the stories that youngsters use nothing else but abbreviations when they text, such as the reports that a teenager had written an essay so full of textspeak that her teacher was unable to understand it. An extract was posted online, and quoted incessantly, but, as no one was ever able to track down the entire essay, it was probably a hoax.

38. ANSWERS Just as “hysteria” suggests panic / extremity / irrationality (1) So the reaction to (innovative) text message language has been excessive / needless / illogical (1) (Extremity and illogicality are the two areas of correspondence.) Accept also negative comment that the word is a cliché/inaccurate.

39. Example Seven: Explain how effective you find the expression “pilgrimage” as an image or metaphor. 2 marks (2013) The X Factor, brainchild of Simon Cowell, is the most popular programme on Saturday night. Each week, hundreds make the pilgrimage to be part of the live audience, and millions of us tune in at home to watch.

40. ANSWERS Just as a pilgrimage… So attendance at The X Factor… involves travel (1) involves going away (1); is / can be carried out by many (1) involves / can involve numbers (1); is done for devotional reasons (1) is done by devotees (1); gives pleasure (1) gives happiness (1) Accept also appropriate adverse comment, (eg) that the use of this religious image (1) is sacrilegious / overstated (1).

41. Example Eight: 2008 - Explain what the word “fumed” suggests about the volcano, apart from having smoke coming from it. 1 mark On the horizon fumed the volcano, Hertale.

42. ANSWERS Idea of personification − eg that it was angry/threatening/bad-tempered

43. Example Nine: 2011 - Identify a feature of the expression “pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences” which makes it effective. 1 mark Recently, a newspaper article headed “I h8 txt msgs: how texting is wrecking our language” argued that texters are “vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbours 800 years ago. They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences.”

44. Answer identification of (humorous effect of) hyperbole

45. Example Ten: 2012 - Explain how effective you find the writer’s use of the image or metaphor “groundbreaking” to refer to Skinner’s experiment. 1 mark Skinner’s view was based on a groundbreaking experiment that he carried out in 1947 in which he placed some hungry pigeons in a cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food “at regular intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird’s behaviour”. He discovered that the pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they happened to be performing at the moment it was first delivered. So what did the pigeons do? They kept performing the same actions, even though they had no effect whatsoever on the release of food.

46. ANSWER It (clearly) conveys the innovative nature of the experiment/he was doing something new; accept adverse comment that the expression may be perceived as a cliché

47. Example Eleven: 2012 - Explain how effective you find the word “spectrum” as an image or metaphor to illustrate people’s “irrationality”. 2 marks It is only when a superstition begins to compromise our deeper goals and aspirations that we have moved along the spectrum of irrationality far enough to risk a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. Take Kolo Touré, the former Arsenal defender, who insists on being the last player to leave the dressing room after the half-time break. No real problem, you might think, except that when William Gallas, his team-mate, was injured and needed treatment at half-time during a match, Touré stayed in the dressing room until Gallas had been treated, forcing Arsenal to start the second half with only nine players.

48. ANSWER It is appropriate because Just as a spectrum contains a whole range/variety/scale (of colours) (1) so there is a (wide) range of superstitions/(illogical) behaviours/perceptions/beliefs (1) It is inappropriate because the (bright) colour imagery implied (1) is not apt or fitting or helpful to describe/illustrate the (melancholy) subject (1) Award one mark for a claim that the expression is a cliché