Life is Like…

Rhetorical questions don’t require (or deserve) an answer. Do they?

But how about those rhetorical devices—those figures of speech that bring our writing to life. They are the spice of the English language that engage readers, tickle the taste buds of their imagination, and persuade.

Over my next few posts I’ll be covering the familiar and not-so-familiar rhetorical devices that pepper good writing. There’s even a few that you’ve probably encountered, but didn’t recognize as rhetorical devices and very likely are not familiar with their names.

Comparison is a favorite rhetorical device and it comes in at least three forms:

·         Simile compares one object to another. It generally uses like or as. Like for noun comparisons; as for verb comparisons.

Gramma’s hands shook like a fluttering leaf as she opened the long-awaited package. (noun hands compared to noun leaf)

A smile spread across her face as slowly as honey dripping from a jar. (verb spread compared to dripping)

 ·         Analogy is a useful way to compare a difficult or abstract concept with something more familiar or concrete. Simile and analogy may overlap, but a simile is generally more creative, used primarily for emphasis or effect. Analogy fills a more functional role, often explaining an abstract concept in concrete terms, and thus is often more extended.

Forest Gump’s analogy comparing life to a box of chocolates gives us a great visual for a complex concept. Who hasn’t surveyed a Whitman’s sampler, studied the inside cover to determine which foil-covered confection satisfies their sweet tooth only to discover that what you thought was a chocolate covered caramel was really a chocolate covered cherry. Yeah, life is like that. You can’t always tell how something is going to turn out by appearances.

·         Metaphor compares two different things by stating that something is something else—without the use of like or as. Often you can spot a metaphor by the to be verb.

 The late summer thunderstorm was a snarling, angry dog, grabbing its victims in its teeth, shaking them violently before losing interest and moving on to the next county.

 Or this line from Shakespeare: The eyes are the window of the soul.
The Bard uses familiar objects—eyes and windows—to say that the eyes are to the soul as windows are to a house. I see what’s really inside a person—their feelings, passion—when I look into their eyes.

You see what these comparisons are doing? They are giving the reader a visual, playing into their imagination. And giving your reader fresh imagery or a new perspective makes your writing more memorable and persuasive.

A word or two of caution. Be careful about overusing these figures of speech or mixing metaphors. I think you’ll get the point from these illustrations, drawn supposedly from actual student papers.

She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just
before it throws up.

Her pants fit her like a glove, well, maybe more like a mitten, actually. (This one also should be a warning to avoid clichés.)

She was a couch potato in the gravy boat of life, flopping dejectedly on the sofa. –

 Here’s a tip: if a metaphor makes you snort, you should probably reconsider and rewrite.

You can find more humorous figures of speech at: https://writingenglish.wordpress.com/2006/09/12/the-25-funniest-analogies-collected-by-high-school-english-teachers/