IMPROVING YOUR STYLE / 89 All of the above examples are clichés and all are metaphors. The language is metaphorical – not literally true. If it were true, all three characters would be dead and we know that is not what is meant. The moon is a silver ball in the dark sky. This is a metaphor but if ‘like’ is added, it becomes a simile: The moon is like a silver ball in the dark sky. Metaphors and similes both add interest to your writing but they should be used sparingly. To personify means to give an inanimate object human characteristics. Look at the following examples: The sun walked across the sky in her golden shoes. The table groaned under the weight of the food. Both use personification . The sun ‘walks’ and wears ‘golden shoes’. The table ‘groans’. They are also metaphors as they are not literally true. The use of the figures of speech we have just discussed, is common in prose writing and adds to the interest. Prose is written and spoken language that does not have a regular beat or rhyme as some poetry does. Personifying inanimate objects