Day 243: Emphasize the degree to which a person or thing has a particular characteristic by referring to an extreme example.
If you want to point out some characteristic that is expressed to a greater or lesser degree than common, you can emphasize it by referring to an extreme example in a well-known person. You can refer to either a real person or a fictional/mythological person. Mythological personages are particularly useful as they seem, by their very nature, exceptionally important or representative.
Use this to point out how big, small, great, weak, etc. the characteristic is, i.e., how extreme the person’s demonstration of the characteristic is. However, make sure to select an example of the characteristic that the reader will know and understand.
These two sentences use this technique:
“His addiction to alcohol is his only Achilles’ heel.”
“With the stature and poise of Lincoln, he addressed the hostile mob.”
