Welcome Word Nerds! Are you ready to stretch your literary muscles? First this week, I’d like to explore plays on words, or figurative language. Last weekend I went BY MYSELF (translation: my husband watched kids all day!) to the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference, where several presenters sparked creative ideas about the craft of writing.
Jim Minick has written and published The Blueberry Years, a memoir, and several books of poetry, including Burning Heaven. On Saturday he encouraged writers in his workshop to use fresh, creative metaphors. “Good writing,” he said, “is writing against cliché.”
Let’s review. Webster’s defines metaphoras a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness between them. Jim pointed out that the word comes from Greek roots meaning over or beyond (meta), and to carry (phor). So, with a good metaphor, an author carries a reader over to another way of looking at something. A simile does the same thing, except it often introduces the comparison with “like” or “as.”
You’ve heard plenty of overused metaphors and similes, for example, “Like a fish out of water,” or “skinny as a rail.” These do help us form a visual image, but fresh comparisons evoke a stronger response. I can find several examples in this month’s book, Run, by Ann Patchett:
Kenya watched the workers like the foreman of a construction site.
Teddy looked down at the girl who was tucked under his arm like a permanent resident…
The figurative language helps us understand more about the characters without saying it directly. We know that Kenya watched very carefully, and we realilze that the girl under Teddy’s arm has no intention of leaving.
Workout assignment: Try to think of a fresh metaphor/simile to describe something. Here’s mine:
The energetic toddler moved through the house like a funnel cloud through a city, bringing destruction to everything he touched.
On to vocabulary. So far, I’ve found two words in Run that I want to add to the Word Nerd Vocabulary List. Here they are quoted in context:
From the moment of their childhood in which Bernadette’s sisters figured out who looked like the statue they had sung a never-ending chorus of petulance behind her…
Bit by bit, Jackson took over Doyle, washed him down in the waves of mellifluous repetition until the speaker and the listener were one.
Petulance \’pech-e-len(t)s\ From Latin petulans, petere to go to, attack; the state of being rude or insolent in speech or behavior
Mellifluous \me-‘lif-le-wes\ From Latin mel honey + flere to flow having a smooth, rich flow, as in a mellifluous voice
Petulance is definitely one of those I should know this! words; I had the sense of it, but wanted to confirm my gut feeling. Here’s how I apply it:
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Martha noted the petulance in her daughter’s reply and prepared for battle.
Now it’s your turn, and you have two exercises this week. Click on the comments below and use one of the above vocabulary words in a sentence AND come up with a fresh metaphor or simile. I can’t wait to read your responses! If you can do that in one sentence, I’ll be impressed!
I’m just commenting on how much I like this. Being observant of what we read makes us better writers. That Patchett is GOOD. Thanks for being observant and teaching such good stuff!
Glad you enjoy! When I saw “My Favorite Words” at the top of your blog, http://maisymak.blogspot.com/, I knew I’d found a fellow word nerd. 🙂 Have you read Patchett’s THE GETAWAY CAR? It’s a practical memoir on writing- also very good.
Julia,
I loved this post and the challenge, especially as I have a more simple approach to language. You are helping me grow outside of my box. Thanks! Okay, so I am not sure this sentence is what you were looking for, but here it is:
My teen daughter explained to me that her petulance response was from feeling like a caged bird.
As you and I have discussed before, I need a grammer refresher, so unsure if I am using petulance correctly.
Thanks again…this was a fun exercise!
Great Kim! You have made me realize that I should include the part of speech with each new vocabulary word. “Petulance” is a noun, the state of being insolent. “Petulant” is an adjective, meaning insolent. See the difference? So “petulant” would work best in your sentence, as “petulant” is describing the noun “response”. It’s frightening how much I enjoy discussing this. Please let me know if you have more questions! Thanks for “working out” with us and come back again!
I love your word nerd assignments! I need to think.
You can do it Susan! Ask “Siri” 🙂