Reading Like a Writer #2: Caramelo

1. Notice a Passage: This passage comes from Sandra Cisneros' novel Caramelo (yes, this is the book I read for my outside reading assignment).

2. Passage: "I feel like I'm soaked with sadness. Anyone comes near me, or just brushes me with their eyes, I know I'll just fall apart. Like a book left in the rain" (389).

3. Name: In this passage Cisneros uses great imagery and a simile to express the despair of the narrator.

4. Evaluate: I love the imagery of being "soaked with sadness." It makes the reader feel heavy, like when you jump in a pool with all of your clothes on. Then the simile Cisneros uses when she compares her sadness to "like a book left in the rain" really emphasizes the imagery of "soaked with sadness." The book soaked book would be heavy and dripping, but it would also fall apart. This simile and imagery work really well together to show us the grief of the narrator.

5. Darkness consumes me. People come in and turn on the light and I can't see a thing. Like I've been swallowed whole in the cavity of a whale.

6. Using It: I could pair my similes with explicit imagery to make them stand out more and to help show my readers the emotions in my writing, rather than just telling them what things felt like. The imagery and simile help the writing show us the picture and help us feel what the narrator feels.