What term describes language that activates visualization of setting by appealing to the five senses?

• A. Similes
• B. Sensory imagery
• C. Allusions
• D. Metaphors

Answer: (B)

This question tests how language can bring a setting to life by engaging the senses. Sensory imagery is language that appeals to sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to create vivid pictures of a scene. When a writer describes, for example, the scent of rain in the air, the rustle of leaves, the glow of sunlight on a wooden floor, or the rough texture of a stone wall, the setting becomes tangible in the reader’s mind. That focus on five-sense detail is what makes it sensory imagery, the exact term that fits this description.

Similes and metaphors are about comparing things, often without relying on sensory detail. Allusions are indirect references to other works, people, or events. While those can include sensory detail, they don’t define the method of painting a setting through the five senses in the same targeted way as sensory imagery.