In order to answer this question, the first thing we have to do is define imagery. I like to compare an author using imagery to a painter painting a picture. The artist uses oils or acrylics while the author uses words. Ultimately, the goal is the same: to recreate a specific and vivid picture for the audience.

The second thing we need to do in order to answer this question is narrow down from which of Edgar Allen Poe's writings we will take these examples of imagery. His work is extensive, yet easily accessible. If you do not have any specific stories in your assignment, I would suggest looking at "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Black Cat," "Annabelle Lee," "The Pit and the Pendulum, " and "The Raven." Those are several of his most famously recognized works and are often taught in high schools because they contain a lot of literary devices, including imagery.

The last thing we'll discuss is an example of imagery in Poe's work so that when you begin looking for the imagery yourself, you will have an example to which you can refer. The example I offer comes from the second paragraph of "The Tell-Tale Heart." The narrator describes the old man's eye this way: " One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it." The words Poe uses here attempt to make the reader "see" the eye in his or her mind the way the narrator can see the eye in front of him.