Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.
Synopsis
Imagination — the faculty or process of forming mental images — is presented as no idle luxury but a productive cog in the mind-machine, valuable to the same degree that pure thought controls it. The chapter distinguishes reproductive imagination, which recalls sensations already experienced (visual, auditory, motor, gustatory, olfactory, tactile images), from productive imagination, which invents 'the unreal on the basis of the real' and is the tool of the poet, fictionist, and speaker alike. Untrained imaging, unrestrained by reason, produces a 'rudderless steamer'; trained imagery, steadied by reason, becomes a graceful sloop skimming the seas at the skipper's will. Practical uses for the speaker follow in two stages: in preparation, imaging the audience, the speech as a whole, and fresh figures of language; in delivery, re-imaging past emotion, reconstructing scenes, and painting concrete pictures rather than stating abstractions — showing the drunkard staggering home rather than merely asserting that whiskey ruins homes. The chapter closes urging deliberate practice at each type of image and figurative language, always mastering the images rather than being mastered by them.
Key points
- Imagination is the faculty or process of forming mental images, and is a serious productive power, not mere fancy.
- Reproductive imagination recalls past sensations (visual, auditory, motor, gustatory, olfactory, tactile); productive imagination invents new combinations on the basis of the real.
- Unrestrained imagery is a 'rudderless steamer'; imagery steadied by reason is a graceful sloop under control.
- In preparation, the speaker should image his audience, his speech as a whole, and fresh figures of speech rather than hackneyed ones.
- In delivery, paint concrete pictures instead of abstract assertions — show the scene rather than merely stating the fact.
Key texts
- Proverbs 29:18
- Habakkuk 2:2
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
- Philippians 4:8
From the book
Chapter XXVI — Riding the Winged Horse · Open the reader
- “The human race is governed by its imagination.”
- “So we see that unrestrained imaging may produce a rudderless steamer, while the trained faculty is the graceful sloop, skimming the seas at her skipper's will.”
- “Avoid general and prosaic terms. Paint pictures. Evolve images for the imagination of your audience to construct into pictures of their own.”
Put it into practice
- Before speaking, image your probable audience's mood and attitude toward the occasion and theme.
- Replace at least one hackneyed comparison in your speech with a fresh, vividly real figure of speech.
- When making a claim, translate it into a concrete picture rather than leaving it as an abstract assertion.
- Comprehension
1. How does the chapter define imagination?
- Comprehension
2. Distinguish reproductive imagination from productive imagination.
- Doctrinal Clarity
3. What are the six types of imaging the chapter names, and why does this matter for a speaker?
- Doctrinal Clarity
4. Explain the chapter's image of the 'rudderless steamer' versus the 'graceful sloop.'
- Contrast
5. Contrast stating 'war is cruel' abstractly with the chapter's recommended approach.
- Contrast
6. Contrast the untutored child's use of images with the trained man's use of images.
- Comprehension
7. List the three specific uses of imaging in speech-preparation named in the chapter.
- Application
8. How might you deliberately cultivate your imaging habit, according to the chapter's counsel?
- Application
9. Recall a time you used a vivid picture instead of an abstract statement to make a point to someone. What was the effect?
- Application
10. Where in your own speaking or teaching do you rely on hackneyed comparisons rather than fresh, imagined ones? What might you change?