New Day, New Plan, Same Girl
We join the narrator’s life at a particularly momentous point in her life: the day she decides to wear a hijab to school full time. The typical school daze worries approach and seize, but then she has an important epiphany relative to potential consequences:
“…as it turns out, I was pathetic at sport and obsessed with boy bands featured in Dolly magazine, so there were plenty of other ways to make me feel like an idiot.”
Ritualistic Morning Prayer...Every Morning
Take a second to consider if your own religion not only required ritualistic observation of multiple prayer sessions throughout the day, but also that you actually followed the schedule…religiously. Perhaps not so easy to dismiss those who stick to that schedule when you begin to fully appreciate what it means to meet this ritualistic exercise every day. Even the most common pitfalls are must be learned in order to be avoided if possible:
“The walk to the bathroom is always a zombie-steps experience. Some mornings I manage to knock into a wall, but that’s actually quite useful for waking me up.”
Wow…That is a Pretty Bad Beating
Chapter 40 is devoted to a school debating competition. The narrator—and everyone else—is especially impressed by the performance of a girl named Carmen. The explanation of why everyone is impressed is perfectly constructed in the form of a simile:
“The third speaker is Carmen, the smirking one. She is brilliant. Pulverizes Adam into dust. Makes Josh look like one of the Wiggles delivering a speech in Pig Latin.”
Setting
One of the most effective uses for metaphorical imagery is to create setting. Almost the entire atmosphere of a single moment in time can be efficiently conveyed precise images at just the right time to fully capture the metaphorical tone:
“It’s so dark out in the garden. All we have on is a single porch light, capturing us in a whirl of shadows and pools of artificial light or evening darkness. The cicadas are partying hard all around us, breaking the silence of our street.”
Featuring Creatures
Animal imagery—no matter how small the animal—is another excellent use for introducing metaphorical language. The author recognizes the inventiveness of comparisons within the comparison by using two different creatures to expand upon her own sense of anxiety about her recent big decision:
“This morning, I walk along a fence of perfectly trimmed hedges on my way to the main office to see the headmistress and talk to her about my decision. As I’m walking I notice a group of boys, probably in junior school, standing together laughing. I pass them and I swear to God I have butterflies. Butterflies. Over a group of kids the size of lemmings.”
