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Figurative Language In Ashes By Susan Beth Pfeffer

979 Words4 Pages

Writing a story is like baking a cake, if you add too many or too little of different ingredients, it isn’t a cake anymore, and definitely isn’t as good as it would have been. Literary techniques are these ingredients, and without them every story would be boring and incomplete. “Ashes” is a short story by Susan Beth Pfeffer that is about the main character Ashleigh’s relationship with her parents. Susan Beth Pfeffer used three literary techniques in her short story “Ashes”: figurative language, foreshadowing, and characterization. The figurative language in “Ashes” is like flour in a cake, it’s necessary, adds volume and allows it to be enjoyed a lot more. The text states, “‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘Oh well, Ashes, you can always see right …show more content…

‘You’re one in a million,’ it cried.” (Pfeffer 4) This is an example of personification. Personification is “a figure of speech in which a thing, an …show more content…

Characterization is “a literary device that is used step by step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story.” The texts states, “He’s unexpectedly there, like a warm day in January. He’s a rescuer.” (Pfeffer 1) This guides the reader to realize that Ashleigh’s father didn’t plan ahead, and that because of this that to him everything is a new opportunity to do good. He wasn’t the type of person to pass by someone in need, instead he would stop and help them out of their situation to the best of his ability. In the text it says that “Mom might never be caught without batteries or tissues, but she just called me Ashleigh- a name she didn’t even like- and never promised me anything.” (Pfeffer 1) The details helped the reader understand that Ashleigh’s mother, unlike Ashleigh’s dad, planned for everything between “earthquakes or the Martians invading.” (Pfeffer 4) Through this, the reader understands that Ashleigh’s mom was realistic, so she did not make promises, which is a lot unlike Ashleigh’s dad who was very idealistic and makes tons of promises. It also helps the reader understand that Ashleigh’s mom wasn’t afraid to let people know how she felt about mostly everything. In “Ashes” Pfeffer lets the reader know that Ashleigh’s father either sees beauty in everything or values the feelings of others

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