Opening Line
The book commences in its very opening line with imagery. "Such a perfect day for writing, gray and quiet. But nothing came to her." This imagery could seem ironic or perfectly sincere. Because it is the opening line and so lacks any context, however, it is impossible to know for sure.
Heidi
Imagery that depends strongly upon appealing to various senses is engaged for the purpose of describing Heidi. "Heidi smelled like fresh mineral-rich water and sunny skin. She wore bells around her ankles and put bells around Maud’s and taught her to pretend they were a herd of goats prancing gracefully...She was tough, and cool, and fun when she was well." This description makes it very easy for the reader to picture Heidi in their mind. She is almost unambiguously described as clean and mature, but with a sense of whimsy. It is the last part that introduces a seemingly dark ambiguity to this portrait.
Beige
Visual imagery engaging vivid hues and colors is a common use of imagery. This author takes up the challenge presented by beige. "His living room was too tasteful, too clean, too decorated, too self-aware, too beige...Coral pillows, turquoise throws over sofa arms, against a landscape of beige and what Seela called `greige'...her decorator claimed beige was the classiest color, a phrasing that repudiated the statement. `I always think of beige as more a backdrop than a color.'" The use of imagery in this example is dedicated to the goal of making beige a choice about personality rather than style.
Pink Houses
What could be merely a mundane description of setting is elevated to a higher level through judicious use of imagery. "The rock was mainly granite, including a pink variety that became a signature building material of the area. The sight of a pink drive lined with green firs leading to a house with a terrace delineated by a pink wall dripping with ivy and roses in front of a July sparkling sea was the standard." Imagery is skillfully used to take the topography of the setting from the ancient past into the 20th century. The repetition of the word "pink" gives it an emphasis which ultimately succeeds in making it easy to imagine those houses.
