With HYPERBOLES, don't believe everything you hear or read. This descriptive writing technique means using outrageous exaggeration to drive home a point or entertain readers. The more absurd HYPERBOLES are, the more likely they are to draw a laugh - or at the very least, an eye roll or grin. Stay tuned for four examples plus a quote from the ultimate example of HYBERBOLE. (P.S. This image is a very big, or should I say very tall, hint!!)

This book has ten million pages! Do I have to finish it by tomorrow?

I'll be completely gray by the time you finish eating. (That sentence isn't quite the exaggeration it would have been prior to the COVID-19 quarantine.)

That spider was bigger than a cat! It had longer fangs, too!

The music was so loud, it blasted eardrums all the way from Connecticut to the Canadian border. 

For the ultimate example of HYPERBOLE in writing, look no further than the enduring Tall Tales about Paul Bunyan and his blue ox named Babe. This quote hails from a 9/23/16 NY Times article (In an Era of Hyperbole, Paul Bunyan is as Tall as Ever) by Dan Barry:

"Bunyan existed in a world so cold that spoken words froze in the air. He was at least six ax handles tall, and spoke with such force that limbs fell from trees when he called his men to dinner. He once sneezed so hard from a pinch of snuff that he cleared all the timber for 11 miles. And he was so thorough a logger that he turned the Dakotas into prairies." 

I hope this post encouraged you to give HYBERBOLE a chance in your own writing! I'll be back next Sunday with a brand new Spoonful of Grammar. 

Sincerely and best wishes for your continued health and safety,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

You may think I'm kidding when I call metaphors magical, but I assure you, I'm quite serious. While they may be difficult to master, they possess the power to turn one thing into something completely different. 

While similes relate one person or object to another with the use of like or as, metaphors equate instead of relate! Here are some examples:

Stanley is a bear when he gets hungry.
(Stanley = bear)

Tom is a walking dictionary about every conceivable baseball fact. 
(Tom = walking dictionary)

This movie is a snore.
(movie = snore)

Maria is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
(Maria = ray of sunshine)

My first car was a lemon, but I didn't know about the Lemon Laws. (my car = lemon)

Henry is the Energizer bunny, hopping from one activity to another before he powers down.
(Henry = Energizer bunny)

Go ahead and sprinkle some metaphor magic into your stories! As with similes, if you can turn your characters into things that relate to their passions and interests, all the better. I'll return next Sunday with another descriptive language spoonful. 

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

If YOU guessed this spoonful on POV would cover 2ND PERSON, YOU are absolutely correct! If YOU also guessed this POV relies on the personal subject pronoun YOU, YOU are absolutely correct once again.  

Traditionally, the 2ND PERSON POV is primarily used in how-to books with names like "How to Build a Birdhouse" or "How to Train Your Puppy." But this POV has been showing up more and more in children's literature, too. 

YOU may be familiar with the CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE series that allows kids to make important plot decisions (making them brilliantly re-readable, as kids can get a new story every time). Or YOU may have read IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Numeroff, which celebrated its 30th anniversity in 2015 and is still going strong. A more recent picture book written in this POV is the delightful WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore that states, "If you build a sandcastle, a dragon will move in." I don't know about YOU, but I'm itching to build a sandcastle to see if it works!

2ND PERSON POV doesn't need to be carried throughout the entire book to be impactful. In the adventurous PERCY JACKSON series by Rick Riordan, main character Percy occasionally slips into 2ND PERSON to warn readers about signs they might be demigods. In THE NAME OF THIS BOOK IS SECRET by Pseudonymous Bosch, the narrator/author interrupts the plot to snarkily warn readers against reading the book. The fact that the author is an obvious pseudonym creates a blend of mystery, humor, and danger: kids must be brave to read this book! 

If YOU choose to write in 2ND PERSON, keep the POV consistent. If you start with the pronoun YOU, don't switch to the nonspecific ONE or any other pronoun. This is because the reader interprets YOU as ME! If you use ONE, it could mean anyone at all and doesn't impart the same impact.

Thus ends my POV miniseries. To recap, I covered 3RD PERSON OMNISCIENT in Spoonful #45, 3RD PERSON LIMITED in Spoonful #46, and 1ST PERSON in Spoonful #47. Whether you write or wish to better comprehend what you read, understanding POV is critically important.

Thank you for reading and sharing A Spoonful of Grammar. 

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

My last spoonful ended with a teaser: what POV (Point-of-View) is most similar to 3rd Person Limited? Well, the answer is the topic of this week's Spoonful. 


We learned in Spoonful #46 that the 3rd Person Limited POV uses a narrator who can only see into one character's inner thoughts. That POV is tricky because the narrator refers to that character by proper name and also by HE, SHE, and THEY. 

It probably won't surprise you to learn that the 1st Person POV also centers on one character's inner thoughts. This time, however, that character visibly acts as the book's narrator by referring to themselves with I, ME, and MY. If the prior POV is the most challenging to discern, this POV is probably the easiest. It bears repeating that POV is determined by examining a book's narration. When characters talk through dialogue, they all refer to themselves as I. 

What is the benefit of the 1st Person POV? When the narrator reveals his or her deepest inner thoughts and perceptions, readers can develop powerful connections to the character. The pitfall, however, is how to use this POV without starting every other sentence with the word I. The writer must also take care not to creep inside any other heads and only reveal what the narrator observes.

The 1st Person POV is also useful when switching narrators by chapter. In order for that to work well, the author must clearly differentiate between the alternating narrators. A great example of this is THE KANE CHRONICLES, by Rick Riordan, a trio of Egyptian Mythology-themed books featuring narrators (and siblings) Sadie and Carter. Each character is so well drawn, you can easily tell who's narrating even without their names as chapter headings. 

The last POV in this miniseries will air next week. Can YOU figure out which one is missing? Stay tuned!

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

Inquiring minds want to know: how does 3RD PERSON LIMITED compare to 3RD PERSON OMNISCIENT(covered in the last spoonful)? Read on and all will be explained. 

The similarity is that both POVs refer to characters using names and the PERSONAL SUBJECT PRONOUNS he, she, and they. Both POVs are called 3RD PERSON because they don't use I or you. 

Now for the distinction:

The 3RD PERSON OMNISCIENT narrator is all-knowing. The 3RD PERSON LIMITED narrator is NOT! This type of narrator can only see into one character's mind. For all other characters, this narrator can only relate what he or she observes. Is this narrator outside the story or is it really the character whose beliefs, attitudes, experiences, and perceptions skew the story's narration? You be the judge. 

The takeaway:
The 3RD PERSON LIMITED POV is the most difficult type to determine. As soon as you realize you're only learning how one character thinks, you know the book has this type of narration. Which character will it be? Most often, it will be the main character, but not always. 

A wonderful example of the 3RD PERSON LIMITED POV is WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare. Main character Kit is raised free as a bird in Barbados, but flees to Puritan Wethersfield, CT after the death of her grandfather. Is the narration skewed by Kit's upbringing? The answer is a resounding YES!!!! 

Which POV does 3RD PERSON LIMITED most resemble? Stay tuned for next Sunday's spoonful, when the answer will be revealed. 

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper
A Spoonful of Grammar