An American Figurative Language

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur, author of What is an American, effectively uses figurative language to emphasize the contrasts between an American life from his European life. He uses various similes and metaphors in order to help the reader understand what an American truly is. On lines 19 through 23, the author uses a simile to compare the European life to “useless plants” that are mowed down by “want, hunger, and war.” He later suggests that by transplanting these plants and giving them “vegetative mold and refreshing showers,” it will help them to “flourish.” Crevecoeur uses the words “withered” and “mowed down” with a negative connotation emphasizing the negativity of the European life. He describes the American life of being the