Literary notes about like (AI summary)
The word "like" functions as a multifaceted literary tool that can signal comparison, preference, or even transformation. In many works, it creates vivid similes by equating one object or state with another in order to enhance imagery—for instance, comparing the mind’s intermittent presence to a shadow [1] or likening architectural details to familiar shapes for aesthetic effect [2]. At the same time, it conveys personal inclination or emotional connection, as when a character expresses their fondness or affinity [3], or when feelings are described in a manner that borders on the transformative [4]. Its versatility allows authors to move seamlessly between concrete comparisons and abstract expressions, drawing readers into a world where ordinary elements acquire layered symbolic significance [5] while evoking both aesthetic pleasure and relatable human experience.
- Mind does not accompany body like a useless and persistent shadow; it is significant and it is intermittent.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - Thus the gable tops run in two directions, like the letter T, and give a beautiful effect to the outside and inside of the main roof.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - But I want to come and see you with him; you will like him, won't you?
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I don't like to be away from you this way.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned.
— from Familiar Quotations
