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: About 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 crime writer Tana French…. I’ve become a recent fan of the Irish crime writer Tana French. I like the way she uses […]
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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 images from Etgar Keret… Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. I was completely
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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 Deborah Copaken…. Deborah Copaken is a photojournalist, Emmy-Award-winning news producer and and New York Times bestselling author of several books, including her
The figurative language of Deborah Copaken…. 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 and metaphors from Madeleine Watts… Madeleine Watts, who grew up in Australia, but who has been based in New York since 2013, writes
The figurative language of Madeleine Watts… 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 Belinda Bauer…. I didn’t used to read many mysteries, but the Belinda Bauer book, Snap, was a gift from a friend. I
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Reading time: About 2 minutes In his life as a journalist, James Fitzgerald has relatively recently turned to book writing and his 2010 memoir shows a keen eye and ear for figurative language… The first book of journalist James Fitzgerald was, Old Boys: the Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College
The figurative language of James Fitzgerald… 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 spectacular metaphors from British journalist Anthony Lane…. Anthony Lane is a British journalist, who is currently a film critic for The New Yorker
The figurative language of Anthony Lane… 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 and metaphors from Jesmyn Ward…. I’m not usually drawn to books best described as “bleak.” I usually prefer to live on the
The figurative language of Jesmyn Ward… 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 from Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich…. A rivetting hybrid of murder mystery and memoir, The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, was named one
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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 the personification, similes and metaphors of scholar Tara Westover… The story of Tara Westover is almost impossible to believe. An American author living in the UK,
The figurative language of Tara Westover… Read More »
