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 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
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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 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,
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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 similes from Luis Alberto Urrea… I bought and read the novel The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urea (pictured above) after hearing
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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 similes and metaphors from Rachel Khong… Unless I take careful notes, I usually can’t remember who has recommended individual books to me. This
The figurative language of Rachel Khong… 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 Tayari Jones…. I read a couple of laudatory reviews of the novel An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (pictured above) and
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