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: 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 from Sophie Mackintosh… I don’t normally read Sci Fi or fantasy because neither of these genres has never appealed to me. Yet, …
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 Patrick Radden Keefe…. I seldom buy hard-cover books. Instead, I get them out of the library or I wait for the paperback to …
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 images from Elizabeth McCracken…. I learned about Elizabeth McCracken’s remarkable 1996 novelThe Giant’s House, via the New York Times book review podcast. (I wrote …
More figurative language from Elizabeth McCracken…Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes 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 Elizabeth McCracken… I was listening to my favourite podcast recently — The New York Times Book Review podcast — when …
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes 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 Rebecca Makkai… I will read novel because it wins awards. Because I’m curious. And because its theme or subject matter interests …
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 similes and metaphors from Dani Shapiro… I’ve never been a huge fan of Dani Shapiro. The American writer (pictured above), is 56-years-old and has already …
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 metaphors from the Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell (pictured above)…. My husband picked up a new Maggie O’Farrell book from the library and …
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes, metaphors and personification from Téa Obreht… I’ve not typically enjoyed the genre of magic realism. Somehow, the notion that a “trick” or a Deus Ex …
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 from Irish novelist John Boyne… I read a John Boyne novel about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland a little …
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from author Susan Orlean…. I have visited Southern California many times, on perhaps as many as a dozen different trips. But I have …
