Figurative Language In Canyons

“Figurative language adds pizzazz. It raises work above the plain, the dull, the ordinary," said Ellen Hunnicutt, a successful American writer. In order to make writing stand out, and be engrossed, the writer needs to include figurative language. In the stories “Canyons” by Gary Paulsen, and “Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers, all use a common stylistic technique of figurative language to get the characters and setting across to the reader of the story.
First off, Gary Paulsen in the book “Canyons” uses figurative languages such as metaphors and hyperboles. For example, Paulsen describes the setting by using a metaphor; “They were beautiful, colored layers of rock and natural formations that looked painted and yet he was having

For example, Lemon Brown says “Don’t try nothin’ cause I got a razor here sharp enough to cut a week into nine days!”. This metaphor allows the reader to infer that Lemon Brown is aggressive and very poor because a razor is not a very threatening weapon and the slang word “nothin’” creates a suspenseful mood. Myers also uses personification to imprint the setting into the reader's mind by saying, “A car passed, its tires hissing over the wet street and its red tail lights glowing in the darkness”. This creates an eerie mood. The words “its tires hissing” and “glowing in the dark” allows the reader to understand that Greg is alone and that his neighborhood is poor and very quiet. Finally, Myers describes the setting by again, using personification, “Gusts of wind made bits of paper dance between the parked car.”. The reader can visualize that the area is abandoned and under kept which also gives the reader a sense of vulnerability for the character. In the story “Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers, Myers uses figurative language to describe the characters and setting more effectively the