Question

In his book Walden, Henry David Thoreau uses detailed imagery to describe the setting of his house. Picture a place that is special to you; it could be your room at home, a park that you like to visit, or somewhere you have traveled. Describe that special place in a few paragraphs, using imagery and detailed descriptions. To create imagery in your writing, try to use words that are associated with what you describe and connect them to why that spot is important to you.

Answer 1

Just across my school there is a park where I like to eat my lunch for it gives me peace of mind and tranquility. It also soothes my soul in many different ways and at many different levels. The park is all green and bushy; it was rows of benches with steel frames but wood tiles to sit on.

You can see people hurry across the park and it is that cluster of people rushing across the park which paradoxically contrasts with the sense of calmness that really bedazzle me. I wonder at how contrasting life can be, I can see people worrying in and out the park and at the same time I can see birds chirping and flapping merrily as blissfully ignorant strangers to any preoccupation or bit of hectic chaos.

I wonder at many things, but what really calls my attention is a big redwood standing majestically at the center of the park. I love the contrast that it also offers when it moves along inspired by the hissing music that the air composes as an ode to this almighty being. That contrast of brown, green and blue mesmerize my soul up to the brink of a catharsis worthy of a Shakespeare’s play.

Any time I need to cleanse my body and mind I go to see the “Big Friendly Musical Giant”, just as I like to call him, my friend the redwood.

Answer 2

You should have used descriptive imagery to paint a vivid image of a specific location. Here's one example:

My family and I spent last winter break at my grandparents’ home in Connecticut. The weather there was very different from the weather back home in California. When we arrived, it had been snowing for many days and the whole place was blanketed in snow. This was the first time I had ever seen snow since we usually visited in summer. The driveway leading up to the house looked like a pristine, white carpet rolled out to welcome us. The white snow-clad trees that lined the driveway were covered with a thick, velvety white cloak. Clutching the cold white powder in my gloved hands thrilled me, and I had fun squeezing handfuls of snow tighty, turning them from a soft, malleable powder into rough, ragged balls of ice. What I remember most vividly about the visit is lying in the soft snow making snow angels by my moving arms and legs back and forth. Eventually, my nose turned red and runny from the cold and my fingers became icicles, but I refused to go indoors until dinnertime.