What do we call the technique where the subject or figure in the image directly looks at the viewer reader or out of the page?

Setting refers to the time and place in which a narrative takes place. The setting can be as particular as a tiny cottage in the countryside, or as broad a region or time period. Different aspects of setting can also include weather conditions, social conditions and environment, historical time period, geographical location and timing. Setting is often vital to a narrative.

For example, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights relies heavily upon its setting, as the surroundings directly reflect the mood of the characters and their actions, lending to the overall atmosphere of the narrative.

simile

A simile is a figure of speech that draws vivid and often dramatic comparison between two very different things. It differs from a metaphor in that is draws resemblance between the two things using words such as “like”, “as” or “than”.

In Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, he employs the following simile –
“Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa.”

solecism

Another word derived from Greek, Solecism originates from the word soloikismos, meaning to speak incorrectly. It is a stylistic device which deviates from conventional grammar, syntax or pronunciation for dramatic effect. It is often used to add authenticity to a setting or character.

For example, Hagrid, from the Harry Potter series, has solecism employed in his dialogue –
“I’m a what?” gasped Harry.
“A wizard, o’ course,” said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, “an’ a thumpin’ good’un I’d say, once yeh’ve been trained up a bit. With a mum an’ dad like yours, what else would yeh be?”

soliloquy

A soliloquy is used to reveal a character’s innermost thoughts to the reader, often portrayed as the character talking to themselves without the presence of another person. It is often used to create a revelation or manifestation to the reader.

The most famous soliloquy, without question is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet –
“To be, or not to be – that is the question.”

symbolism

Symbolism refers to a character, object or action that is concealing a different meaning that is generally much deeper and more significant to the narrative.

Examples of every day symbolism include the use of red roses, or the colour red in general, to symbolise love, and the dove as a symbol of peace.

tone

Tone often refers to the attitude that a writer has towards a particular subject or audience, made obvious through the delivery, figurative language and organisation. Tone can vary from formal to informal, playful to serious or sad to cheerful. While every narrative contains a central theme, the way in which the writer approaches this theme provides the overall tone of the piece.

For example, in Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, the last stanza begins with “I shall be telling this with a sigh”, setting the tone as unhappy, or perhaps leading the reader to thinking that the speaker had to make a difficult choice.

When to use:	Before reading	During reading	After reading
How to use:	Individually	With small groups	Whole class setting

More comprehension strategies

• Generating an image while reading requires that the reader be actively engaged with the text.
• Creating mental images while reading can improve comprehension.

Follow these few simple steps to provide practice developing students' mental images:

• Begin reading. Pause after a few sentences or paragraphs that contain good descriptive information.
• Share the image you've created in your mind, and talk about which words from the book helped you "draw" your picture. Your picture can relate to the setting, the characters, or the actions. By doing this, you are modeling the kind of picture making you want your child to do.
• Talk about how these pictures help you understand what's happening in the story.
• Continue reading. Pause again and share the new image you created. Then ask your child to share what he sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels. Ask what words helped him create the mental image and emotions. By doing this, you are providing your child with practice with this new skill.
• Are your images identical? Probably not! This is a great time to talk about why your images might be different. Perhaps your child went on a school field trip or had a school assembly that changed the way they created the picture in their mind. Perhaps experiences you've had as an adult influenced what you "drew." These differences are important to understand and respect.
• Read a longer portion of text and continue the sharing process.
• Once this is a familiar skill, encourage your child to use mental imagery when she is reading by herself. You can feel confident that these mental pictures will help your child understand the story in an important way.

Resources

Into the Book: lesson plans that help students learn to visualize:

Article from Reading Rockets:

As a comprehension strategy, visualizing helps students understand the true size of new objects by comparing them to familiar objects. See the lesson plan.

This video is published with permission from the Balanced Literacy Diet. See many more related how-to videos with lesson plans in the Reading Comprehension Strategies section.

Teaching Shapes Using Read-Alouds, Visualization, and Sketch to Stretch from ReadWriteThink encourages strategic reading and real-world math connections. See example >

Draw a Math Story from ReadWriteThink helps students move from the concrete to the symbolic. See example >

Art

From the Art Junction website: Suppose you had a hat that would help you think like an artist. What would it look like? How would it work? Try to imagine such a hat in your mind's eye. Once you have a mental picture of your "artrageous" hat, make it using a paper plate as a base and colored construction paper to create it's form. It may help to draw a picture of your hat before you start. See example >

Music

The San Francisco Symphony Kids' Site offers an online radio that provides musical examples of drama, excitement, tragedy and triumph. The musical selections offer a great opportunity to pair visualization and writing. Simply select a station button, have kids listen and visualize, and then draw or write what they "see" in the music. See example >

Differentiated instruction

For second language learners, students of varying reading skill, students with learning disabilities, and younger learners

• Start with small bits of text. Gradually add more as students get more familiar with the strategy.
• Pair students, or organize them into small groups, for visualization work. Use a strategy like Think-Pair-Share to help students become more comfortable developing mental images.

Gambrell, L., & Koskinen, P.S. (2002). Imagery: A strategy for enhancing comprehension. In C. C. Block & M. Pressley (Eds.), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 305-318). New York: Guilford Press.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Mental Imagery in Reading: A Sampler of Some Significant Studies