Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Facial Expressions in Literature


The Free Dictionary has plenty of them.

Including
...

# Face harsh and wrung and savage beneath the springing tears like sweat —William Faulkner
# Face is still calm, as though she had a cast made and painted to just the look she wanted —Ken Kesey
# Face laced tight as a shoe —Lorrie Moore
# (When he came … her) face lighted up as if he had been sunshine —William Makepeace Thackeray
# Face like a buttered scone, dripping complacency —Helen Hudson
# Face lit up like a sunburst —Max Shulman
# Face lit with a kind of radiant pain, as if she’d been bitten by a miracle —Sharon Sheehe Stark
# (Icy anger tucked behind his) face, locked up like a store after hours —Lorrie Moore
# Face looked all stiff, as if he were afraid the features would fall off —Helen Hudson
# Face puckered and fierce and jowly and quizzical like a Boston bulldog —George Garrett
# Face … rigid, like the face of a man in the grip of a barely controlled rage —Wallace Stegner
# (Tiny’s) face sagged like an old pillow propped against a headboard —Harold Adams
# Faces all knotted up like burls on oaks —William Carlos Williams

2 comments:

Emmy said...

Wonderful! I consider myself as a bit of a writer (in my spare time, although I hope to make a career of it someday) and I just love working with facial expressions! Although, I will admit that these are much fancier than I would dare attempt! :P

Guilie Castillo said...

Jonathan, I just found this post--it was exactly what I needed! I write lit fic, and it's so much better to find "fresh" ways to describe expression and body language. This was a great source of inspiration--thank you!