Sensory Language and Imagery

• Sensory language, or imagery, involves descriptive language to create mental images.
• It’s a type of imagery that engages a reader's five senses.

Types of Imagery

• Auditory imagery describes what we hear.
  • Examples include music and silence.
• Visual imagery describes what we see.
  • Examples include colors, patterns, shapes, and size.
• Tactile imagery describes what we touch or feel.
  • Examples include texture, movement, and temperature.
• Olfactory imagery describes what we smell.
  • Examples include nice fragrances and bad odors.
• Gustatory imagery describes what we taste.
  • Examples include sour and bitter tastes.

Sensory Language: Sight

• Example: Kai spotted his red car at the other end of the parking lot.
• Example: Her mother threw the curtains open and golden sunlight flooded in, snapping her awake.

Sensory Language: Sound

• Example: Sara could just make out the intercom's announcement through the din of the busy shopping mall.
• Example: The high hats crashed and rattled with a tinny chaos, while the bass drum pulsed through the floor.
• Other examples of hearing/sound words: booming, shrill, squeaky, harmonious, silent, eavesdrop, bark, chime, and buzz.

Sensory Language: Smell

• Example: Erica took a big whiff of the perfume sample and promptly sneezed.
• Example: The aroma of sautéed garlic drifting upstairs always reminds me of Sunday night family dinners.
• Other smell words include odor, scent, stench, fragrance, astringent, smoky, pungent, and nauseating.

Sensory Language: Taste

• Example: Bright, acidic lemon juice is the perfect addition to greasy and salty fried fish and chips.
• Example: Thomas hates wheatgrass juice because it reminds him of the inside of a lawn mower bag, like dirt and freshly cut grass.
• Other taste words include savory, bitter, herbaceous, sweet, piquant, sample, lick, chew, and scarf.

Sensory Language: Touch

• Example: I ran my fingers down the length of the cold, frosty window.
• Example: Brenda hated the sweater her grandma gave her; its rough material scratched against her skin and made her itchy.
• Other touch words include silky, bumpy, gooey, texture, surface, suede, clammy, gritty, firm, nudge, and poke.

Examples of Imagery by Sense

• Sight (Visual): "The golden rays of the setting sun reflected upon the clear waters of the lake."
• Smell (Olfactory): "The stench of rotting garbage overpowered my nostrils when I opened the bin."
• Taste (Gustatory): "Her mouth watered as she bit into the sour, peppery mango chow."
• Hear (Auditory): "The trees rustled as the wind whistled gently through the leaves."
• Touch/Feel (Tactile): "As I tumbled down the hill, the loose rocks raced alongside me, pricking my hands and face like a hundred tiny knives."

Remember

• Sensory imagery refers to descriptive language that engages the reader's senses, such as sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.
• Writers use this to create vivid and detailed descriptions that allow readers to visualize scenes, feel emotions, and experience sensations as if they were present in the narrative.