From The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy
1) “the tangled bine-stems scored the sky”
When Hardy uses imagery to describe the view from the coppice gate the way he does, the reader can imagine the way the shrubs cut their image into the view of the sky.
2) “The Century’s corpse outleant”
This is an example of diction. Instead of simply saying that the 19th century was over, he describes it in the way he feels about it. To him, the century is dead and gone.
3) “The weakening eye of day”
Hardy is giving the day human characteristics. The day really has no eyes, but it was to the narrator’s advantage to personify the day with eyes. The bad time he is going through has effect on everything else as well, and this is made clear by the dimming of the portals to even the day’s soul.
4) "blast-beruffled plume”
This is another example of imagery. It describes the thrush’s feather colors in a way that makes him seem lively, even with his gaunt body.
5) The thrush is a symbol for hope. The times in which the narrator is writing are unhappy and lifeless. He is outside, observing everything, even nature, as bleak and scoring. The thrush, who has been through tough times himself (assuming by his age and scruff), is able to sing a song that makes the narrator hopeful.
From the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
6) “Le Chiffre is getting into deep water” (page 10).
“Getting into deep water” is an exaggeration, a hyperbole, because even though Le Chiffre is in trouble like he would be if he was in deep water, he is really not in that situation. He is just in a situation that is a little hard to run out of.
7) “In nearly all respects he is an admirable agent of the USSR, but his gross physical habits and predilections are an Achilles heel” (page 10).
“Achilles heel” is both a metaphor and an allusion. Achilles was an ever-victorious warrior who had only one weakness that could cause his demise (his heel). The quote alludes to this legendary Greek character dually serving as a metaphor for ‘weakness’.
8) “He seemed undisturbed when not more than a mile separated the hare from the hounds and he even brought the car down from eighty to sixty miles an hour” (page 119).
In this passage, James Bond is on a high-speed car chase (of course) trying to catch Le Chiffre. The phrase “separated the hare from the hounds” refers to the situation in which the two opposing parties find themselves. “The hounds” refers to James Bond who is chasing tracks belonging to “the hare”, Le Chiffre, in hopes of killing the hare himself or giving his location away to the hunter ( MI6).
9) “Like snow in sunshine his capital had melted” (88).
Snow melts quickly in sunshine, and that is why Fleming used this simile to describe the speed at which his money was gambled away. It helps the reader understand how fast he was losing.
10) “The two cards came slithering towards him over the green baize…which was no longer smooth, but thick now, and furry and almost choking, its color as livid as the grass on a fresh tomb” (89)
This is a great example of imagery because in it there’s a hint of symbolism. The way the felt and cards are described is so easy to picture, and the reader can imagine this unwanted snake making its way closer through the grass. In that image, the change in Bond’s view towards the playing table would symbolize his change in view towards the game he is playing- he is now scared that the ‘slithering’ game will get the best of him.
