“Start with the personificación,” Rivas said. “Give the tree a voice.”
“Today’s exercise is simple,” he said. “You will describe this .” He pointed to the tree. “But you cannot use literal language. You must use three figures: a , a hipérbole , and a metáfora pura .”
Sofía froze. She stared at the tree—its rough bark, its defiant blossoms. She thought of her abuela, who had crossed an ocean with only a suitcase and a recipe book. How she still planted marigolds every spring, even in foreign soil. ejercicios de figuras literarias
“A thousand wars? The school is only fifty years old,” Rivas laughed. “Perfect. Exaggeration is the heart of hyperbole. Finally, Sofía. Give us a pure metaphor.”
That night, Sofía didn’t see a tree outside her window. She saw an old immigrant. She saw waving fiery hands. She saw a thousand wars ending in red petals. “Start with the personificación,” Rivas said
Sofía hated the worksheets. Every Tuesday, her Spanish literature teacher, Profesor Rivas, handed out the same gray photocopies: Ejercicios de figuras literarias . Identify the simile. Underline the hyperbole. Circle the personification.
“Good! The wind cannot be indifferent, but now it feels like a snob ignoring an old friend. Next: hipérbole.” “But you cannot use literal language
The next morning, he led the class to the school’s crumbling courtyard. A lone flame tree bloomed in the center, its red flowers like small explosions against the gray sky.