The imagery of sight
The first imagery is drawn from Fay's first letter to Alice, which depicts the sense of sight to readers. Fay writes, "The last time saw you, you were two, blonde and cherubic." Fay's description helps readers to visualize Alice's physical appearance when she was two years old. Fay also describes the appearance of Alice in her eighteenth year. Fay writes, “Now, I gather, you are eighteen, you dye your hair black and green with vegetable dye, and your mother, my sister, is perturbed.”
The imagery of the sea
As Fay writes her letter to Alice, she gives readers an impression of her physical location at the hotel, which aids readers in comprehending the setting and surrounding environment. Fay writes, “A coconut fell from a tree just now, narrowly, missing the head of a fellow guest, here at this hotel at the edge of a bright blue tropical sea, where sea-stringers in the mating season grow invisible tentacles forty feet long, the merest touch of which will kill a child, and any easily shockable adult too, no doubt.”
Fay’s Literature Books
Fay talks about her literature writings and reminds Alice that it is all fiction. Fay's description of her literary work is vital in helping readers to understand the concept of her authorship work. Fay writes, "Now, as a writer of novels, I am one thing: what you read of mine has gone to the third or fourth draft: it is fiction: that is to say, it is properly formulated vision of the world."
The City of Invention
The City of Invention is an imaginary urban setup for accomplished writers. Fay provides a vivid description of the city and how it looks. Consequently, Fay invites Alice to this Invention City to be her neighbor and share the experience of literature with other neighbors. Fay writes, "Let me give you, let me share with you, the City of Invention. For what novelists do is build Houses of imagination, and where houses cluster together, there is a city. And what a city this one is, Alice!"
