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 Emily Gould… I read Emily Gould’s novel, Friendship, under false pretences. Somehow I thought she was the daughter of Stephen Jay Gould, author of Ever […]
The figurative language of Emily Gould… 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 some metaphors and similes from Mary McCarthy… I first read the 1963 novel, The Group, by Mary McCarthy, when I was 20 years old. I remember enjoying it but
The figurative language of Mary McCarthy… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Jonathan Gottschall… Jonathan Gottschall is an American literary scholar who teaches at Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. I can no longer remember who recommended to me his fascinating book,
The figurative language of Jonathan Gottshchall… 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 two metaphors from Steven Galloway…. I read the Steven Galloway novel The Cellist of Sarajavo in 2013 and found it slow going. Set in Bosnia, in the 1990s,
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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 Martin Cruz Smith… I read, a lot — a minimum of 52 books each year. (See my latest summary here.) That’s why I find it
The figurative language of Martin Cruz Smith… 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 with a simile from Clive Thompson… I discovered journalist and writer Clive Thompson when a colleague forwarded to me a video in which he spoke. (Thompson was addressing the urgent
The figurative language of Clive Thompson… 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 some metaphors and similes from Dana Goodyear… I live in Vancouver, Canada which is geographically considered to fall within a coastal rain forest. Trouble is, we haven’t had
The figurative language of Dana Goodyear… 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 series of similes and metaphors from novelist Joshua Ferris… I’m a relatively fast reader but it took me more than two months to get through the
The figurative language of Joshua Ferris… 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 Karen Auvinen… A few years ago when I was travelling with my family in England, we saw a fox in the backyard of the house
The figurative language of Karen Auvinen… 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 metaphors and similes from Richard Wagamese. My friend Ellen recommended to me the 2009 book Ragged Company by Ojibway author Richard Wagamese (pictured above). This tale of a group of homeless people
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