Language

The language of “The Fabulous Button Sisters” by Sarah Salway is simple and easy to follow British English, including several idioms, descriptive and narrative passages as well as dialogue. The choice of words reflects the preoccupations of teenage girls, such as fashion and being popular: “But when I walked down the street towards her, a chocolate button searching for the rest of the packet, something had gone wrong. Michelle was wearing a green sequined top and pleated denim miniskirt.” (ll. 106-108)

Simile

An interesting simile is used to depict the way Karen lies to her mother regarding the reason why she is going to dress plainly for the party: “The words rolled off my tongue like melted chocolate.” (l. 65)

Other similes are constructed with the help of the expression “as if”: “Mum nodded as if she understood...” (l. 66); “I’d tried to look as if I’d understood...” (l.92); “… it looked as if it was mocking both of us” (ll. 135-136)

Metaphors and figurative speech

The author employs a few metaphors in the short story, but also a lot of figurative speech created ...