Image Grammar: Brush Strokes

In Image Grammar, Harry Noden considers the writer as artist, "painting images of life with specific and identifiable brush strokes, as realistic as Wyeth and as abstract as Picasso."  Using an artist's eye, the writer can "tease the reader's visual appetite" by applying word pictures just as an artist applies color to a canvas (Noden, 1999).

Strong writing begins with observation, seeing and thinking, then shaping the language to match our visual and mental perceptions.  For student writers, learning to show rather then tell becomes a central step toward using powerful prose.  Revealing the details of an image requires a knowledge of technique and the application of sentence structures that build visualization in the reader's mind.  

Experiment with using the following brush strokes in your writing and study the effects and texture they create.  Also note the use of the comma to set off the applied brush stroke in order to punctuate these techniques correctly.

1.  Participle (verb+ing or verb+ed) and participial phrases placed before or immediately after the noun they modify.  They can also be placed at the end of the sentence, but only if they don't "dangle" and cause confusion as to which noun they are modifying.  
	
	Examples: a) Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the snake attacked its prey. 
		        b) In this world, people hide from Time, living in shadows or
                                     underground, dwelling where clocks cannot reach them. 	
		        c) Sergeant Chad Miller, motivated by his father's former 					service, enlisted in the Navy, eventually serving in the Pacific. 		 

Notice that participles enhance action, add information, and create visual detail;  however, they cannot stand alone as a clause nor show tense as they do not function as verbs.	

2.  Absolutes (noun + participle) and absolute phrases placed before or after the noun being modified
	
	Examples: a) The snake, tail rattling, fangs glistening, attacked its prey.  
		        b)  Hands striking the giant twelve, the clock chimed midnight.
		        c)  Chad Miller showed me his Navy jacket, its pockets pinned  				with numerous metals depicting his many accomplishments. 

Absolutes zoom in on an image much like a telescopic lens, creating detail by focusing narrowly on specific parts of an image.  

3.  Appositive (a noun that adds a second image to a preceding noun) and appositive phrases placed before or immediately after the noun being modified
	
	Examples: a) The snake, a venomous reptile, attacked its prey. 
		        b) Chad Miller, now an 80-year-old veteran, relived his war 				experience in a recent interview.	
		        c) This proposal, a combination of past and future 					technologies, will revolutionize Utah business. 

Appositives offer additional information, clarify, or expand the subject they describe.  

4.  Adjectives shifted out of order, placed after the noun they modify
	
	Examples: a) The spotted snake, hungry and bold, attacked its prey. 
		         b) Father Time, meticulously constant, began each morning 			and night without celebration.
		         c) This solution, inexpensive yet highly innovative, will save the 			university time and money. 

Adjectives placed after rather than before the noun they modify amplify the details of an image and spotlight the attributes, providing focus and context.

5.  Strong action verbs that replace being verbs or passive verb structures.
	
	Examples:  Being verb: The gravel road was on the left side of the barn.
		         Action verb: The gravel road curled around the left side of the 					barn.
		         Being verb and passive structure: Rockwell was a beautiful 				canyon and families were often seen there.
		         Action verb:  Rockwell Canyon echoed with the sounds of 				children and 	families picnicking along its many trails.  

Action verbs replace weaker verbs, create movement, and drive the text forward.  They are the critical component of strong sentences, the key to effective writing. 	

Not only can you try these brush strokes in your own writing, but you can become more aware of them in your reading, noting how and when the writer uses them to produce dramatic effects on readers.  

Source:
Noden, Harry R. (1999). Image Grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.