I know I risk sounding like an English teacher when I use the words “figurative language.” The phrase may sound frightening but figurative language will make your writing more interesting evocative and memorable. And who doesn’t want that –even in non-fiction? Here are some examples of figurative language:
• allusion
• hyperbole
• metaphor
• oxymoron
• personification
• paradox
• simile
I read widely and follow many forms of media, keeping my eyes and ears attuned to figurative language so I can share a piece of it with you each week.
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Rebecca Solnit… If you’re familiar with my blog you’ll know that I am an inveterate walker. Not only do I always walk to get my […]
Three notes suddenly making a chord… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Melissa Hill… I’m glad to be in my 50s rather than my 20s. This thought crosses my mind frequently, as it did when I
Calmed by the metronome of his heartbeat… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a piece of personification from Kent Haruf… I just finished reading the sweet and lovely novel, Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (pictured above.) The story of pair
Old tractors muttering up the street… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Rachel Joyce… I read the novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, about three years ago and found it a delightful summer
The figurative language of Rachel Joyce…. Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Patricia Volk… Food-related memoirs hold a special place in my heart, perhaps because I grew up in a “foodie” family where, after finishing Christmas dinner
The figurative language of Patricia Volk… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes from novelist Paula McLain… I discovered the American writer Paula McLain through her wildly successful novel, The Paris Wife — a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage
The central bonfire licked the sky… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor and a simile from Celeste Ng… I don’t typically read mysteries or thrillers but I’m always willing to make exceptions when something literary crosses my
The figurative language of Celeste Ng Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Ben McGrath… I was serious about canoeing as a young person. The high point of my life, when I was 16 years old, was an 80-mile
A monologue as unstoppable as a river… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a couple of similes and metaphors from New Yorker writer Carolyn Korman… Can a restaurant for the rich benefit the poor? That was the opening question in a very
The figurative language of Carolyn Korman Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about several metaphors from William Trevor… The best figurative writing paints an exceptionally clear and evocative picture in the reader’s mind’s eye. Let me give you an example from
The figurative language of William Trevor… Read More »
