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 similes and metaphors from American writer Maria Semple… American novelist and screenwriter Maria Semple (pictured above) earned her first writing credit in 1992 for the television show Beverly …
Maria Semple and her figurative language… 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 similes and metaphors from Isabel Wilkerson…. Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist and the first woman of African-American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1994. She is also …
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from Kate Elizabeth Russell…. A client of mine recommended I read the Kate Elizabeth Russell novel My Dark Vanessa and when I checked out …
The figurative language of Kate Elizabeth Russell…. 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 series of similes from Patrick Radden Keefe… Patrick Radden Keefe is an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and one of the most remarkable …
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I am not writing a regular blog post today as it is Canada Day, marking the country’s 154th birthday. That said, Canada has many reparations to make to the Indigenous people who lived here first, for countless generations. I was recently deeply saddened to learn of the 215 Indigenous children …
Reading time: About 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 by Sameer Pandya…. A professor of creative writing and Asian American literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sameer Pandya …
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Reading time: About 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 Jean Kyoung Frazier… I like reading debut novels. While they are usually flawed, they often spark with little shards of brightness. Such …
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Reading time: About 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 Rumaan Alam…. An American writer of Bangladeshi origin, Rumaan Alam (pictured above), studied writing at Oberlin College and currently lives …
The figurative language of Rumaan Alam…. 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 series of similes from writer Sharon Harrigan… As a mother of triplets, I have more than a passing interest in multiples. Perhaps that’s why I was …
The figurative language of Sharon Harrigan…. 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 series of similes from Michael Lewis…. Many readers know Michael Lewis (pictured above) from his ultra-successful book The Big Short, about the 2008 financial crisis. (It …
The figurative language of Michael Lewis… Read More »
