Metaphors can help describe how one feels about someone or something. They also can provide the reader with a mental visual of how a given character may feel. A metaphor may not always assist the reader in understanding the literal translation of the text; although it may assist the reader in better understanding the overall message through more expansion of the given character's emotions. ... They make a reader think twice about what the character is expressing or feeling. ... Oxymorons catch the readers attention, challenging the reader to carefully assimilate the information, for w...

• Word Count: 499
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

This passage gives us, the reader, an all-encompassing view of the narrator and his characteristics and relationships with other characters in the book. The narrator shows us through his style of storytelling how he perceives the world around him. ... While this makes him an objective narrator, the reader is left with a particularly dry impression of the scene. ... By projecting nonchalance, he entices the reader to laugh not only at a funny situation, but also at his detachment from it. ... This catches the reader's attention in two ways. ...

• Word Count: 726
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Now the father told the girl to jump down the steps [ ]"Jump, Izzy, jump" [ ]"Papa's got you Papa"ll catch you... "[ ] Finally the child gathers up her courage and jumps [ ] the child falls of course [ ]"Papa, why didn't you catch me, Papa?"... Their attention seemed to affect him as naturally as sunshine - and he never talked too much." (11) Unlike the way she wrote about her mother, Dad seemed almost invisible. Even her writing shows how insignificant her father's role was to her. ... She made her readers take pity on the child and scorn the man that hurt her. ...

• Word Count: 1263
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In their conversation, the author leads the reader to understand that Elisa is a mellow, passive housewife who has much of her attention diverted away from her husband and toward her chrysanthemums. ... After several attempts and offers the man was going to turn away and leave but he catches a glimpse of the chrysanthemums and suddenly thereafter, their conversation makes a quick turn and heads toward another direction. ... Notice how Steinbeck describes how Elisa's irritated face has vanished as a result from the stranger's question, which is Elisa's interest. ... This momen...

• Word Count: 1566
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School