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 similies from Lisa Ko… The first of her family to be born in the US, Chinese-American writer Lisa Ko (pictured above) is the author of the novel The Leavers, […]
The figurative language of Lisa Ko… 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 metaphors and similes from Kathryn Schulz… As a longtime fan of the New Yorker, I keep an eye out for writers I like. Then, when my weekly copy
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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 series of similes from Michael Redhill… It was the promise of a doppelganger that led me to read the award-winning novel Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill. Described as a “darkly comic
The figurative language of Michael Redhill… 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 Karen Joy Fowler… Described by a Guardian review as “a provocative take on family love,” the book We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, is one
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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 Leila Slimani… Considered one of the “it” books of 2018, the psychological thriller The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (pictured above) crept into my suitcase before
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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 series of similes from Anthony Horowitz… I don’t typically read murder mysteries but somehow the novel Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, made its way into my hands. Horowitz has written more
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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 series of similes and metaphors from Gillian Best… One of my favourite writers for 2018 was Gillian Best. (See other fave books from that year here and here.) She’s a
The figurative language of Gillian Best… 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 Jennifer Egan… My husband knows how much I enjoy the writing of Jennifer Egan. So, one of his recent gifts for me was her novel, Manhattan
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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, similes and personification from Gail Honeyman…. When I heard the book title, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (pictured above), I suspected it might be either
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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 metaphor from New Yorker scribe Andrew Marantz…. I like political satire as much as the next person, but American politics is so coo-coo right now that satire scarcely seems necessary. Still,
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