3 May 2012
These are taken from papers turned in by high school students:
• His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
• She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes before it throws up.
• John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
• He spoke with wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at the solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
• The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
• Long separated by fate, the star crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36pm travelling at 55mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19pm at a speed of 35mph.
• The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
• It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
• They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
• He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Why English Teachers Die Young • Opuss № I