I
Она окинула взглядом Гофер-Прери. Снег, сплошной пеленой затянувший всё от улиц до всепоглощающих прерий, срывал с города маску тихого пристанища. Дома были лишь черными пятнами на белом полотне.
a) snow stretching without break Semantics: the transference of the mode of action; common semantic characteristic – duration of the process; Originality: genuine; Expressiveness: the gap between associated modes is quite wide; Syntactic function: verb; Vividness: vivid, the reality is shown in underlining that the action is really long; Elaboration of the created image: single metaphor.
b) devouring prairie Semantics: the transference of the typical characterization; common semantic characteristic – vast; Originality: genuine; Expressiveness: the gap is huge; Syntactic function: object predicative; Vividness: vivid, the reality is that there is nothing else; Elaboration of the created image: single.
c) wiped out Semantics: personification, the transference of the mode of action; common semantic characteristic – lack of visibility; Originality: genuine; Expressiveness: the gap is not critical; Syntactic function: verb; Vividness: very vivid, the reality is almost exactly shown; Elaboration of the created image: single.
d) black specks on a white sheet Semantics: the transference of the name of one object to another; common semantic characteristics – (for houses) color, size, (for background) color; Originality: trite; Expressiveness: the gap is not wide; the visual likeness is obvious; Syntactic function: subject predicative; Vividness: vivid, the reality is almost exactly shown; Elaboration of the created image: sustained.
2. А юбки! Как они выглядели! Представляли они собой ни что иное как огромные украшенные пирамиды, каждая из которых была увенчана станом принцессы.
Semantics: the transference of the name of one object to another; common semantic characteristics – size, form. Originality: genuine; Expressiveness: the gap is not too wide; Syntactic