[exDemMom]

I am sure the circles are animate. When referring to them they should be recognized as such. I also think, if I may be so bold, that the word “of” is a preposition and intelligent people generally concede they should avoid ending sentences in prepositions, which you made no mention of. Heh heh heh.

I'm pretty sure the circles are figurative.

I wouldn't mention the practice of ending a sentence with a preposition, since it seems to be a fairly common grammatical construction in English. If this exchange were taking place in French, I might comment, since ending sentences with prepositions would sound utterly bizarre in French. The Oxford dictionary people have this to say: There’s no necessity to ban prepositions from the end of sentences. Ending a sentence with a preposition is a perfectly natural part of the structure of modern English.

[jessduntno]

“I’m pretty sure the circles are figurative.”

That doesn’t make sense.

A circle of rocks THAT bakes in the sun would be correct.

A circle of sunbathers WHO bake in the sun would be correct.

The figurative aspect has nothing to do with it.

As for ending a sentence in a preposition, if you should see the editors of that piece, tell them they are a circle of ninnies WHO know nothing. Seeming to be fairly common matters little. A circle of fools WHO pronounce it so does not make it so.