Use Of Imagery In 'When The World As We Knew It Ended'

Good writing is supposed to invoke a sensation in the reader, one which causes the reader to live in the work and experience the mind of the author. Events and personal experiences allow authors to develop strong stories that are interesting. Ultimately leading to producing a final draft that contains gasping aspects and characteristics which attach the reader to the author. Some unique and meaningful similarities between “When the World as We Knew It Ended” by Joy Harjo and “The Tropics of New York “ by Claude McKay contain an appeal to sad emotions, the beauty of nature, and strong usage of imagery.

Mckay and Harjo both heavily rely on appealing to the emotions of the audience more specific events that cause sadness. Harjo brings up the terrorizing events

This imagery causes the audience to see the story in their own way to make a connected feeling to the work that they are reading. These pieces of imagery could be seen when Harjo explains that she “saw it from the kitchen window over the sink as {she} made coffee, cooked rice and potatoes” while the world was changing rapidly around everybody (Harjo). She uses a common place such as the kitchen the let the reader see through their own kitchens and watch how their worlds have turned and changed over time. This is also used in McKay's scene of agony for his past when he “turned aside and bowed {his} head and wept” for the past (Mckay). The reader is able to draw a picture of Mckay sitting there crying for his life that he no longer upholds. Though he also uses the description of the “dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies” to let the reader paint their own pictures of their paradise which Mckay remembers as Jamaica (Mckay). Mckay and Harjo both use these aspects of heavily detailed writing to allow the reader to produce their own image of the scene, and let the reader paint their own pictures of the events that they can connect