Title: What Are the Effects of Figurative Language on a Short Story? | Education - Seattle PI
Headings: What Are the Effects of Figurative Language on a Short Story?
What Are the Effects of Figurative Language on a Short Story?
Figurative Language Creates Mood
Figurative Language Develops Characterization
Figurative Language Advances the Plot
Figurative Language Enhances Everyday Language

Content: What Are the Effects of Figurative Language on a Short Story? | Education - Seattle PI
What Are the Effects of Figurative Language on a Short Story? Education
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K-12
By Emily Layfield
Figurative language refers to the use of words, phrases and sentences in an unconventional and non-literal manner. Authors often employ figurative language to make unfamiliar objects, settings and situations more relatable. Short stories, in particular, rely heavily on figurative language -- such as similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification -- to make the characters and storylines come alive in the reader’s mind. Figurative Language Creates Mood
Figurative language can affect the mood of a short story. The term mood refers to the atmosphere that envelopes the reader and evokes certain feelings. While novelists are able to expound for pages to create the mood, a short story writer’s parameters are significantly condensed. Figurative language is used to draw the reader into the story quickly. For example, Edgar Allan Poe utilizes the simile "His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness" to construct a dreadful and eerie mood in his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart."