Introduction

As readers, we like to make pictures in our heads as we read. Visualizing as we read helps us to understand what we are reading. Sometimes, we like our own pictures so much that when we go to the movies to see a film made from a book we’ve read, we don’t like the movie because it isn’t as good as the pictures in our heads. How are we able to make pictures in our heads? This ability is made easier for us when writers use imagery in their stories and poems. If a writer uses sensory details or words that appeal to our senses, then we are able to use our senses and our memory to almost experience the details we are reading. When we are able to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell as we read, we are then able to better understand what we’re reading. If you read about someone eating a chocolate ice cream cone, all of your senses, plus your memory of eating ice cream, kick in to aid your understanding of the experience of eating an ice cream cone. In this lesson, you will learn how writers use words that allow you to create pictures in your head.