"He didn't like to stay in the house for some reason or other-perhaps it held too many unpleasant memories for him" (Thurber 5). In the story "The Dog That Bit People", the dog would bite everybody, he would bite family and strangers and this caused the dog to be treated unkindly. The author uses the phase "perhaps it held too many unpleasant memories for him" as an understatement, because his behavior had been so extreme that he was punished often and it was an unhappy time. Authors who write satirical pieces use figurative language to make their literature humorous. The authors of "The Dog That Bit People" and "The Weather of New England" use plenty of figurative language to add humor to their story like diction, tone, and the use of hyperbole and understatement. First off, diction is one of the most important tools in a writer's arsenal, the diction decides whether a story is joyous or depressing. Diction is the word choice of the author, if the author used words like grim, broken down, or despair then the story would have a depressing tone. Twain and Thurber use this tool exceptionally well, especially in one paragraph of "The Weather of New England". "-the tree becomes a spraying fountain, a very explosion of dazzling jewels; and it stands there the …show more content…
There are a handful of different types of tone, for a story that is scary, the story's tone will be serious. The stories by Twain and Thurber are both satirical pieces of literature, but they have two different tones. Twain's story has a tone of disgruntlement and frustration which creates humor when he writes something that is exaggerated, Thurber's story uses a laid back tone which helps with the understatement that is completely apparent in his story. When Thurber writes in the story about how Muggs may have done something really bad, he plays it off like it is not a big deal which creates