Max’s House
Max wanted to sell all of the furniture in his house. Jack and Carla came by to see the items when Max was not home. The items are described as, ‘He had emptied the drawers into cartons that morning, and the cartons were in the living room. A portable heater was next to the chiffonier. A rattan chair with a decorator pillow stood at the foot of the bed. The buffed aluminum kitchen set occupied a part of the driveway. A yellow muslin cloth, much too large, a gift, covered the table and hung down over the sides. A potted fern was on the table, along with a box of silverware, also a gift. A big console-model television set rested on a coffee table, and a few feet away from this, a sofa and chair and a floor lamp.’
The narrator has built imagery in the description of the items by using adjectives to describe them. The adjectives include buffed and aluminum that describe the kitchen set, yellow and muslin to describe the tablecloth and big to describe the size of the television.
The Cameraman
A man without hands was a cameraman who took pictures of houses and sold them to their occupants. One man was intrigued by the man. The narrator describes it as, ‘I wanted to see how he would hold a cup of coffee using those hooks. I knew how he used the camera. It was an old Polaroid camera, big and black. It fastened to leather straps that looped over his shoulders and around his back, securing the camera to his chest. He would stand on the sidewalk in front of a house, locate the house in the viewfinder, depress the lever with one of his hooks, and out popped the picture in a minute or so. I'd been watching from the window.’
The narration has visual imagery. The adjectives and the vivid description of how the man carried his camera and took pictures builds imagery. Adjectives have been used to describe the camera as big and black. The straps that were fastened on his chest are made of leather.
Ross' House
Ross was working as a mechanic. The narrator describes his garage as, ‘But I'd seen his house from the outside; and the place looked like a dumping ground, with all kinds and makes of old appliances and equipment that would never wash or cook or play again-all of it just standing in his open garage and in his drive and in the front yard. He also kept some broken-down cars around that he liked to tinker on. In the first stages of their affair my wife had told me he "collected antique cars."
The description of the situation of the house contains visual imagery. The imagery has been built by description of items as old and broken down. In addition to adjectives, the narrator also used a simile to describe the house as follows, ‘and the place looked like a dumping ground.’
Holly
The narrator of the story Gazebo describes Holly as, ‘She's an attractive woman just past thirty. She is tall and has long black hair and green eyes, the only green-eyed woman I've ever known. In the old days I used to comment on her green eyes, and she'd tell me she knew she was meant for something special. And didn't I know it. I feel so awful from one thing and the other.’
Visual imagery has been used in the description. The narrator uses adjectives to describe Holly’s physical appearance. Adjective such as long and black describe her hair and green the color of her eyes.
