Brent has a Ph.D. in American Culture, specializing in film studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in the history of American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses descriptive language in Paz's story.

"My Life with the Wave" is a tale of love turned to hate, of passion turned cold, of happiness and joy turned to bitterness and anger.

In expressing the elements of love and hate running through the relationship between the narrator and the wave, Paz employs contrasting imagery of white and black, light and darkness, heat and cold, and lively and menacing colors. He also describes a rich array of sounds—including music, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, moaning, whispers, and echoes—to evoke the tenor of the narrator' s relationship with the wave as his love for her transforms to hatred.

The positive...