Have you ever read a story that you were able to get into because the author used different types of ways to write the story

Have you ever read a story that you were able to get into because the author used different types of ways to write the story? Author’s use many different types of literary techniques to make their story better than ever. Imagery is one of the types of literary techniques imagery is very effective in stories because it allows the reader to picture themselves in the story. Imagery is visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work. Author’s know that their story will be the best if they include imagery. Some of the best stories are the ones that have imagery in them. Imagery, all together, makes the best ideas in a story become even better. Johnathan Edwards is known as one of the best thinkers of the faith. His sermons are considered a literary element because of all the literary techniques he used in his works (Sweeney). Johnathan Edwards uses imagery in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” to show how God is omnipotence and also to describe the horrors of hell.
Imagery is one vast and vital literary element; it is considered one of the most effective of all of them because what it does to the reader. Imagery causes a mental image to the reader that he or she can picture the event taking place (Collins). What this means is that when someone is reading a story that has imagery in it, the reader’s mind allows to think that they are actually in the story. Imagery does so much to the mind; it is crazy to see some of the words that author’s use to allow their story be the best. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards writes “The god that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked” (Edwards). When reading this, the picture that comes to mind is a drain that has flames coming out of it and god is just waiting for people to sin so he can just drop them into hell. This is a scary picture that pops into the reader’s head; it is very graphic and extremely visual. Imagery can be found in many different ways other than in stories. There are two different types of imagery, written image and reading image (Collins). Each type of imagery serves their purpose to make the story better. Imagery is very important and Edwards did an amazing job incorporating this literary element into his sermon. Edwards uses imagery in his sermon to make his ideas much more clear and better but also to describe to his clergy that God is the one we should follow.
Johnathan Edwards sermon was about his followers converting back to God and explaining to them that God is omnipotent. What this means is that God has unlimited power and is able to do anything. “Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment… the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of Him who have subjected it in hope” (Edwards). Edwards uses imagery in the quote to show how God is trying to save us but we have to follow him and realize that God is omnipotent.
“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready to string and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood” (Edwards).
God holds us accountable for all of our actions and he always gives us a chance to make up for our sins, but if we do not repent then he will send us to hell. Edwards uses many different examples to show how God is the one people have to follow in order to get to heaven. He shows that God is omnipotent and should be the most important figure in our own life. When we rebel against God it hurts our relationship with him and causes us to go to hell (Jones). The people that Edwards was preaching to were all sinners, everyone besides Jesus is a sinner. Edwards uses his imagery about hell to scare the people that were listening to him to show how God is omnipotent. “There is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one moment, out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God” (Edwards). What Edwards is saying is that God has control over all of us, this is why it is so important to follow him because after we die it is up to God as to where we go. Edwards stressed this point during his sermon and by using imagery, his listeners knew that hell would not be a good place to go. God can do whatever he wants to do and also whenever he wants to do it. Edwards made sure to tell his listeners that with imagery and also other literary elements. “That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God’s appointed time is not come” (Edwards). God has so much power that he can control what we do; he is the only one that knows what will happen. He has control on when we die and if we go to Heaven or not. While he told his listeners that God is omnipotent, he also described to them the horrors of hell and how scary it would be to go to hell.
Our ultimate goal in life is to end up in heaven with God and have eternal life forever. We must follow God to do this, but if we do not then, we will end up in hell as Edwards states in his sermon. Hell, as everyone knows, is a terrible place. No one wants to end up there after they live their life but the decisions they make during their life will determine where they will end up. Johnathan Edwards was stressing this throughout his whole sermon. He was always making references to other certain things on earth to show his listeners the horrors of hell. He said many different lines that dealt with imagery to try and scare his audience. He wanted all of his listeners to convert back to God and also repent for what they did. He tells them that our God is full of wrath because of what we do and how we treat him after what he did for us. “The world of misery, the lake of burning brimstone, is extended under you. There is a dreadful pit of glowing flames of the wrath of God” (Edwards). When Edwards reads this line to his listeners, what they thought of was probably hot lava as the floor which they will be constantly doing work on and also hot fire everywhere that makes the labor so much harder. Edwards tells us that hell Is a terrible place to end up in, people will never have a free day and all they will experience is pain and suffering if they do not convert back to the Church and follow God. Edwards knew what he was talking about because he is considered as one of America’s most important Christian Thinker (Sweeney). He was a preacher, he knew what the people had to do in order to get to Heaven and also live a faithful life.
Johnathan Edwards in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” uses one very important literary element, imagery, to show how God is omnipotent and describe the horrors of hell. Imagery is the visual description of words in order for the reader to see the events and ideas taking place. Edwards during his sermon always made sure his listeners knew the dangers of hell and also made it clear that we must turn back to God in order to get to heaven. God is omnipotent so he has all the power over us, he can do what he wants to us. God knows how long we will live, what we will do in our life, and he also has a plan for us in life. Edwards told this to his listeners as well, he clearly stated that God has a plan for each and every single one of us. The main point of his sermon was that his town would convert back to God, repent their sins, and follow God so they could get to heaven. He used many different literary elements in his sermon to get this point across, but one of the most important element was imagery. His sermon and imagery went hand and hand because he used it so well to make his story bolder. Edwards used his Christian thinking in hope to save his congregation from hell. His sermon was not just a sermon, but also a literary work that his audience can understand. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is one interesting sermon that gives us examples on how to follow God.