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Figurative language essays
Figurative language essays
Figurative language in short stories
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Recommended: Figurative language essays
In chapter 23 of the novel Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech the author uses figurative language to describe the Badlands of South Dakota. When comparing the author’s vivid imagery to actual images of the Badlands it is surprising how accurate her description is. “It was as if someone had ironed out all the rest of South Dakota and smooshed all the hills and valleys and rocks into this spot. Right smack in the middle of flat plains were jagged peaks and steep gorges.” Photos of the area do show flat grassy plains surrounding tall jagged mountain ranges. I can’t tell if you could actually “stand right on the edge of the gorges and see down.” However, it does seem possible.
The colors that the author described were more vivid than I could
find in any pictures. The pictures seem to show colors closer to coral and purples but nothing that I could describe as pink or black. Plus, the author’s description of how the colors were arranged “I'll put some purple here and, hmm, some pink over there, and oh, yes, a whole bucket of lavender down there” suggest that the color was more splashes and haphazard. However, the colors in the photos I could find were arranged in a striped pattern. Although the author does a good job at making it so that we can imagine a clear image in our heads there are some things that describes that I can not prove to be true
Throughout the story “Walk Two Moons” written by Sharon Creech, Mrs.Winterbottom is faced with internal and external conflicts that lead her to change.
The title of the short story, “Four Directions” is symbolic for Waverly’s inner misconceptions. As she goes about her life, she is pulled in different ways by her past and her present. She is torn between her Chinese heritage and her American life. She never thought that instead of being pulled in four directions, she could take all of her differences and combine them. In the end she realizes this with the help of her mother. “The three of us, leaving our differences behind...moving West to reach East” (184), thought Waverly. Her whole life she misconceived her mother’s intentions. Lindo never wanted Waverly to solely focus on her Chinese heritage, but rather combine it with her new American ways. The idea of being pulled in four
A Pulitzer Prize is an award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music. Paul Gigot, chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board, described the award as a “proud and robust tradition”. How does one carry on this robust tradition? By mastery of skilled writing technique, one can be considered for the awarding of this prize. Since its creation in 1917, 13 have been awarded annually, one of which, in 1939, was given to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for her novel, The Yearling. Rawlings is an American author from Florida known for writing rural themed novels. Consequently, The Yearling is about a boy living on a farm who adopts an orphaned fawn. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings procured a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her effectual use of figurative language, sensory details, and syntax.
There a lot of literary devices used in the excerpt from All the Pretty Horses that convey the true meaning in the scene. The hallway the man walks in has portraits of his ancestors whom he vaguely knows. This is connected to the present day when the man who he has gone to see now is also dead. The paragraph also uses figurative language like “yellowed moustache” and eyelids that are “paper thin” to tell us that the man he went to see is dead. The next sentence following that says “That was not sleeping. That was not sleeping.” putting emphasis on how the man in front of him isn’t sleeping and is truly dead. It also references the way that death is associated with sleep and called the long sleep. The excerpt also mentioned that the man is
“Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy could ever have, he wasn’t a crazy crazy…. but was a nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams”(Hurst 416).These brothers loved each other. They were closer than most brothers are. Doodle might have been crippled but he tried his hardest to impress his brother. They were close because Doodle was taught everything from his older brother. This made a close friendship. The mood of the Scarlet Ibis is very somber and that is shown by the symbols that were used by the author.
Chapter Three: Symbolism: Why are the notes so important? I think that one of the most obvious symbols in this story is the notes Ms. Partridge sent to Phoebe and her family. These notes seemed to line up with problems in the story, throughout the whole story. “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” (Walk Two Moons, 61).
In the Poem Parsley, Rita Dove uses a legion of figurative language to make a point about the political state of the Dominican Republic and to draw attention to the socioeconomic issues in that society. She effectively utilizes a narrator who gives the reader insight into the lives of the migrant workers as well as the life of the wealthy dictator. We can see into both of their lives and gain an understanding of how they perceive their existence. Diction plays a key role in showing the violence that is going to and eventually does occur. The words chosen relate back to war or make the most ordinary, everyday tasks sound violent. Finally, the parrot in the poem is used to signify all of the major themes and provide insight into the two worlds.
This line from the “short story,” The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time reveals that the narrator has a close parent, is very formal and straightforward, doesn’t like hugging people, and knows that they’re loved. Diction in this particular situation is fairly odd because the sentence looks intended to be emotional, but instead turns on quite regular and bland. The vague pronouns “we... me...I...it...he”(16) suggest that the writer doesn’t care about extravagant pronouns and would much rather get straight down to the point than perfect the use of ablatives. Along with the vague pronouns, an extreme lack of adjectives shows that our narrator wants to continue with the trend of plain sailing. Using words like “Father”(16) exhibit a
This passage contains a wide array of literary devices, ranging from syntax to figurative language. These devices all help to describe the situation Jim is in, in this part of the book. He stayed the night at the Cutter’s house instead of Ántonia, which resulted in him being injured and humiliated. From the figurative language and imagery at the start of the passage, such as, “My lip was cut and stood out like a snout. My nose looked like a big blue plum” (161), the sheer damage is shown to its full extent. This connects to the larger motif of the past or childhood that backdrops the entire novel, as it is this kind of very drastic experience that impacts someone. Such an event serves an important role in the development of an adolescent, and the repercussions of this event may be elaborated on later in the book.
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by O’Connor Figurative language is used often by the characters, especially the grandmother who manipulates, which in return, leads to the families murder. In the short story the author gives small details of almost every character. When the author describes the mother’s face, she uses a simile writing, whose face is broad and innocent as a cabbage(pg 296). On the family drive, the author uses imagery to describes the beauty of the families surrounding using words like brilliant red and green lace-work that makes the drive seem relaxing.The author’s use of informal diction helps dictate the calmness of the events. I believe these calming words are the way the author is portraying the calm before the storm. What
The title She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron, the author uses similes and imagery to create a focus and mood that shows the theme that a woman can be beautiful even with her darker qualities.. The poem is about a man describing the beauty of a woman. He is not saying the way she walks is beautiful but, everything she does is beautiful. The figurative language in this poem includes a simile in the first line, “ She walks in beauty, like the night” (Byron 1) to give readers an idea of her beauty. The author explains darkness and brightness and contrasts the two, often repeated throughout the poem, “And all that’s best of dark and bright, Meet in her aspect and her eyes” (Byron 3-4). The connection with dark and bright
In this section, I will argue that La La Land meets and engages with enough of Rick Altman’s criteria for an American film musical to be considered a proper one. Altman outlines two different sets of criteria: the semantics and the syntax. The semantics covers the basics of essentially any musical: format, length, characters, acting, and sound. The syntax, however, is far more specific. It details the specifics the narrative and technical structures of the film must meet in order to be considered a film musical. La La Land meets most the semantic criteria with ease. With a runtime of 128 minutes, it is a feature length film. The narrative of the film focuses on the development and achievements of a heterosexual romantic couple, Mia and
Zora Neale Hurston uses figurative language to show that dreams can only be attained by being strong enough to overcome tragic reality. For instance, while Janie reflects on her life she says to Phoebe that she has “been tuh the horizon and back” (Hurston 191), signifying her accomplishment of her dreams as well as the pitfalls she has passed by along the way. Throughout the novel, the horizon has been symbolic of Janie’s hopes and dreams, by stating that she has been to the horizon Janie is essentially saying that she has successfully attained her dreams. Whereas, being back is the opposite side of the spectrum highlighting all the awful things she has had to encounter in pursuit of her dreams. An example would be either the constant oppression
In this passage, Roderick Usher expresses his fears aloud, they come to pass. “As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell”, Usher’s fears materializing implies a causal relationship between the two events. Furthermore, it suggests a correlation of the speech and the supernatural , particularly in the Usher family. As evidenced by the panels “to which the speaker pointed” moving, the emphasis is on Usher’s implied control over them; this hints at the link between the House of Usher and their house. The doors seem to respond to him, indicating Usher controls the house, even if he suspects the house has control over him, creating a mystical, if somewhat terrifying, mood. When “[the antique panels] threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws”, the personified house
One example of this interpretation might be if a father is a drug abuser, the