By Swapnanil Deb, Mohammed Mannan, and Pratik Mishra

What is Imagery? Imagery is a technique used by writers and speakers to help the reader imagine a situation Imagery is used in almost every text to engage the reader Examples of works that depend on its imagery a lot are A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Hamlet by Shakespeare

Visual Imagery Visual Imagery is imagery that helps the reader see. This is the most prevalent form of imagery in Jonathan Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Visual Imagery Examples “…and the fiery floods of the fierceness…” Fiery refers to red-orange, helping the reader see a color “… a wide and bottomless pit.” Wide and bottomless help the reader visualize the dimensions of the pit. “The bow of God’s wrath is bent.” The word bent helps the reader see a crooked bow

Tactile Imagery Tactile imagery refers to what one can visualize touching or feeling.

Tactile Imagery Examples “…were as heavy as lead.” The reader can imagine feeling something really heavy “…ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it…” A reader can imagine what such great force would feel like, especially if they visualize pushing it.

Olfactory Imagery Olfactory imagery refers to imagery related to smell.

Olfactory Imagery Examples “There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God.” A reader can imagine smelling smoke. “His wrath towards you burns like fire.” A reader can imagine smelling smoke.

Gustatory Imagery Gustatory imagery refers to tasting things, gusta- being a Latin root word for food.

Gustatory Imagery Examples “…and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up.” A reader can imagine swallowing, an action that is related to eating. They could also imagine a person being eaten in hell. “…being made drunk with your blood.” A reader can imagine the disgusting taste of blood when it is drank.

Auditory Imagery Auditory imagery has to do with listening, with –audi being a root word for sound.

Auditory Imagery Examples “His wrath towards you burns like fire.” People can imagine burning “…the fiery floods of the wrath of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth.” A reader can imagine the fairly recognizable sounds of waves crashing.

Why? Edwards, in his sermon, used loads of imagery, and he did this because it would make the reader who does not believe in God or does not take religion seriously to imagine horrific imagines, trying to make them scared. All of his most vivid descriptions are of torturous events like burning in hell.

Imagery Statistics The imagery used the most was visual, which was used about 15 times. The imagery used the least was gustatory and auditory, which were used about 2 times each. This was mostly because imagery was better in conveying how bad the flames and floods of God are. People are more scared of what they see because they see better than they hear, smell, touch, or even taste. This sermon was easily a scare tactic, and imagery works best in these cases.

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