Authors note:
This short response is
showing my understanding of figurative language. I used different colors to
show the figurative language and under the text I wrote a short response about
how the figurative language changes the mood in this piece written by Rachel
Rosencrans.
The dark alley slowly
started to get smaller and smaller. What little
light remained, was dissolving faster than she
could move. She walked, forward, not a doubt in her mind. But her
mind was wrong. Her mind had not a
sliver of sense. She continued, forward. Down the
alley she went. One step at a time. Thump.
Thump. Her
feet carried her into the darkness.
She knew not where she was going, but had faith. She had faith that
things would be better this way, everything would hurt less this way.
A cool, brisk wind tried fiercely to
hold her back, but she had to keep going, forward. She
walked until death was looking her
in the eyes like the monster it was; but she was not
afraid. She walked until she could see nothing. She walked until
she could hear nothing but her own two feet and the beating of her heart.
Then, she stopped. She
stopped moving forward. She stood still for what seemed longer than an
eternity. She stood until she saw a glimpse of light. It began to grow. Bigger and bigger, faster and faster it
came. One step, one step she took forward.
One step forward into the light.
What little light
remained, was dissolving- This is a
Personification because if your standing in a room the light would
not literally be dissolving it may be getting darker but not
actually dissolving
Her mind had not a
sliver of sense- This is a metaphor because is
talking about her mind as
if it was something else this can also be seen as a personification because
your mind doesn’t actually have slivers of sense
Thump. Thump. - This is an onomatopoeia because you can hear the sound
in your head as you read the piece and the words sound like the action
taking place.
Her feet carried her- This is a personification because it is giving feet
the ability to carry you when really that's not possible. It
gives a human trait, feet, an inanimate ability, carry.
A cool, brisk wind
tried fiercely to hold her back-
This is a personification because a cool brisk wind can’t
actually try to hold you back
Death was looking her
in the eyes- This is a personification because
death was looking her in the eyes but death cannot really look anyone in the
eyes, death doesn't even have eyes
Death was looking her
in the eyes like the monster it was- this is a metaphor
because it uses like to compare death and a monster.
she stopped. She
stopped moving forward. She stood still for what seemed longer than an
eternity. She stood until she saw a glimpse of light.- This is an Alliteration because you can feel the rhythm
of the sentences as you read it because it repeats to
make rhythm, she stopped, she stopped, she stood, she stood, you can see the
rhythm.
One step, one step she took forward. One
step forward into the light. – This is an anaphora because it is
repeating the phrase “One Step” over and over again.
The figurative language in this piece changes the tone a
lot. The use of personification and the word choice makes the readers see a
dark place. As you read you don’t picture a warm happy place. When you read the first line, “The dark alley slowly started to get smaller and smaller”
it immediately gives you a grim and sad feeling. As you read on the writer uses
a metaphor to give you a sense of a girl not knowing what’s going on as the
light is slowly dissolving. These first few lines make you feel like there’s a
place that is dirty and dark and maybe a lost girl who feels like the world is
caving in on her. The onomatopoeia followed
by the personification really gives you a feeling of the girl being lost and
maybe something is chasing her while she is trying to find her way in this
scary dark world. “Her feet carried her”
and “A cool, brisk wind tried fiercely to hold her back” really make
you feel like she is trying to run but something non literal is trying to stop
her like an emotion or dark thing in her past.
Through the book you also read metaphor’s, alliteration and anaphoras and without these in a short story, poem,
book or even a song everything would be bland and the reader would lose
interest really easily. All the
figurative language in this book add so much expression and emotion into the
piece which makes it better and more interesting to read.
