Language
The short story “The Right Time to Fly” by Shirley Golden is written using rather complex English vocabulary, with many words related to the setting – the landfill area – which may pose some challenges for readers:
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Imagery
What is interesting about the language of the short story is that the author manages to create almost lyrical imagery while describing a very mundane and unusual setting, a landfill and its surroundings. Here is one example: “Wires spiral like springs from a broken clock. Imbedded in the tangle is a radiator half-folded, its corners point towards the sky.” (ll. 113-114)
Most of this imagery is created not only through descriptive words, but also through specific language and stylistic devices which we outline below:
- Irony and sarcasm
- Similes
- Metaphors
- Repetitions
- Rhetorical questions
- Symbols
Similes
Shirley Golden employs numerous similes in the text, mostly related to the setting, which sometimes suggest a desolating view:
- “The scrap heap rears over the cranes and cabins, like the shell of a lifeless monster.” (ll. 40-41)
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Metaphors
Metaphors in this short story are quite straightforward because the author simply drops the markers of similes (“like” or “as”) when describing elements of the setting or the characters.
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