Sound
A person writes to the author describing an experience taking place inside their apartment in which strange sounds could be heard. The sound is described as being "Like a baby who was extremely discreet." This is the evocative use of auditory imagery to convey the subtle hesitancy of the experience. The writer does not know exactly what is being described and goes on to engage synesthesia by comparing the sound to the weight of a feather and the speed of a falling leaf. This use of imagery serves to delineate the sense of mystery about the cause of the unknown sound which turns out to be emaciated kittens trapped within the walls.
Touch
The use of tactile imagery is engaged in the following example. "I remember that moment precisely...because when he said what he said it felt like he’d scooped a hunk of my insides out and shown it to me in the palm of his hand." This especially visceral description is the way that a woman paints the complex emotions experienced by the author upon being told she need not be broken to get a man to love her. The imagery is expressive of the moment of humiliating realization of learning something about yourself that you had successfully denied admitting to yourself.
Metaphorical Imagery
The author provides advice to a writer who is wondering about the future of a musical career and responds with surgically precise imagery. "Do not reach the era of child-rearing and real jobs with a guitar case full of crushing regret for all the things you wished you’d done in your youth." This imagery refers specifically to the writer's as-yet-unfulfilled dreams of rock and rock glory. On a larger scale, the image of a guitar case filled with regret is a metaphor for all those who chose the easier path of lowered expectations than the trickier path of following one's dream.
Man of Fire
Lighting a match during an unknown gas leak would, one would think, become the worst possible moment in that person's life. Instead, the author describes this badly burnt victim as "a man made by the fire." The imagery here strongly advises the letter writer to re-examine his own obsession with his self-described "incredibly ugly" physical appearance. The idea forwarded by the description here is that suffering through the aftermath of the fire is what made this victim the person he became.
