Read the excerpt from "The Scarlet Ibis.” After we had drifted a long way, I put the oars in place and made Doodle row back agai
nst the tide. Black clouds began to gather in the southwest, and he kept watching them, trying to pull the oars a little faster. When we reached Horsehead Landing, lightning was playing across half the sky and thunder roared out, hiding even the sound of the sea. The sun disappeared and darkness descended, almost like night. Flocks of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees, and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows and careened away. What best describes the effect of the imagery used in this excerpt?
The imagery in this excerpt of the “The Scarlet Ibis” creates a definite mood of foreboding. This can be seen with the description of the gathering of black clouds, lightning, thunder, the disappearing sun, descending darkness, and the mention of flocks of crows flying by. With all these symbolically dark mentionings, we begin to get a sense of impending misfortune.
