Living Life Twice

  Famed British author, George Orwell had this to say regarding  similes  in his 1946 essay,  Politics and the English Language. 'Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.'   Orwell argued aginst stale, overused figures of speech. He felt they required zero mental effort and lacked the precision both the reader and writer deserve. The job of the writer is not to be an echo, but to be a tool for clear, fresh ideas, Orwell contended. Dead and dying similes should therefore be avoided, wrote Orwell. He was all for clarity and sense when it came to similes. Armed with this information, this valuable author insight, I have regularly alerted inexperienced student writers to Orwell's wise words. Young writers are often keen to use similes, so let's help them avoid stale and cliched examples in their writing.  Please avoid providing lists of hackneyed simile examples and inviting the young writer to choose one. T...

The effective use of mentor texts is something worth sharing. Exposing impressionable young writers to exemplars and allowing the words of a trusted author to influence the writing student writers produce, is important in our work as teachers of writing, and teachers of writers. My friend and colleague, Leanne Hunter currently teaches Grade 3 at Toorak College, Mount Eliza in my home state of Victoria. Leanne choose to read a personal favourite of mine, 'Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend,' by Steven Herrick to her eager young learners. In this verse novel, Award-winning author Steven Herrick presents a heart-warming tale about friendship, grief and the importance of baked goods. In a country town, in a school just like the schools you know, the kids in Class 6A tell their stories.  – it's honest, quirky, funny and frequently heartfelt. It is written from many characters' points of view - the cool kid, the funny kid, the bullied kid, the teacher, the school cle...

These wonderful literary elements are everywhere! We owe it to our students to alert them to the power of these features to enhance their writing. It needs to be noted though that while they can add real power to writing if used effectively, - they can also read as 'tres ordinaire' if allowed to descend into cliché! Some writers actually collect metaphors and similes using the examples as a way of refining and expanding their relationship with words. New Zealand writer, Terence Hodgson in his book, Eyes Like Butterflies presents a treasury of similes and metaphors taken from modern English literature. The images collected in his book are arranged by theme and subject. It provides a source of reference and inspiration for writers to add to their word knowledge. Here are a couple of examples: “A smile like a torch with a weak battery” - Hugo Charteris, The Indian Summer of Gabriel Murray His hair was that special mad yellow, like an omelette” – Martin Amis, Money. The following...