Imagery How to analyse an image
The Method • Say what is being compared to what • Say what they have in common • Say how that helps us imagine the thing that is being described.
What is being compared to what?
What do they have in common?
Teaching is being compared to banging your head off a brick wall.
Pointless, fruitless, painful and frustrating.
Analyse this:
The shark swam by me like a bored fridge.
Analyse This:
The traders at my stall were like vultures round a carcase.
The last EASY imagery example I recently saw a picture of myself aged ten, with a body like a pipe-cleaner.
The Method- Reminder • Say what is being compared to what • Say what they have in common • Say how that helps us picture the thing that is being described. Now to take things to a more difficult level because you have to be able to transfer this method to far more complicated examples.
Imagery Example “Girl power� of the type proclaimed by the Spice Girls, with its message of choice, control and empowerment, most certainly caused some kind of quake among pre- to early teen girls in the late half of the nineties, but it is difficult to measure its real impact, since the modern media are always too happy to construct a fanfare around a small ripple.
Analysis “Girl power� of the type proclaimed by the Spice Girls, with its message of choice, control and empowerment, most certainly caused some kind of quake among pre- to early teen girls in the latter half of the nineties, but it is difficult to measure its real impact, since the modern media are always too happy to construct a fanfare around a small ripple.
Say what is being compared to what: The effect Girl Power had is being compared to an earthquake.
Say what they have in common An earthquake changes the landscape. It unsettles people. It is powerful. It has an epicentre and its effect can be felt for miles around as the vibrations spread.
Say what that adds to the description of the thing that is being described. From this comparison, we can see that Girl Power affected in a permanent and irreversible way what young girls felt about “choice, control and empowerment�. The idea was new, therefore groundbreaking. The writer is unclear as to the extent of the change, as she feels the media try to exaggerate everything they can.
Imagery Example The real stranglehold on our food culture, comes not only from the behemoth fastfood brands, but from the big supermarkets.
Analysis The real stranglehold on our food culture, comes not only from the powerful fast-food brands, but from the big supermarkets.
Say what is being compared to what The effect of grocery corporations and chain restaurants is being compared to a “stranglehold�.
What do they have in common? In both cases, one is in complete control of another, and has the power to put an end to them.
Say what that adds to the description of the thing that is being described. The food companies have complete power, strength and influence in our food culture. They can make us do, or eat , anything they want.