Similes

and

Metaphors
OBJECTIVES:
Define a simile and a metaphor
Understand the purpose of similes and metaphors
Explore similes and metaphors in literature and music
Create your own similes and metaphors
 Definition of Simile
• A simile is a comparison of
two unlike things using
‘like’ or ‘as’

Purpose of Simile
• Authors use simile to explain,
express emotion, and to make
their writing more vivid and
entertaining

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 Simile: Examples
The night was as black as
coal.
The paper is as light as a
feather.
The ocean was a raging
bull.
Her eyes shone like stars
in the night sky.
The horse moved with
created by Dianne St Clair 3
 Simile in Poetry
“O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.”
excerpt from A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

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 Similes in Literature
“In the eastern sky there was a
yellow patch like a rug laid for the
feet of the coming sun...” “The café was like a
The Red Badge Of Courage battleship stripped for
by Stephen Crane
action.”
The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway

“She is, as sailors say, like a

lady's watch, always out of
repair.”
Two Years Before The Mast
by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

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 Simile: More Examples!
For more examples of simile

created by Dianne St Clair 6

 Definition of Metaphor
• A metaphor is a comparison that says one
thing is something else.
• Literally, it is not!
Her laugther is a
gentle song.
created by Dianne St Clair
Metaphors are similar to
similes, but make a
comparison instead of
actually suggesting that
two things are
essentially the same.
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Examples of Metaphors
• She is sunshine, brightening our day

• A blank page is a playground for imagination

• The melody is a balm to my soul.

• The wheels of justice turn slowly.

• His cotton candy words did not appeal to
her taste.

created by Dianne St Clair 8

Metaphor in Poetry
"The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.“

Fog
by Carl Sandburg

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 Metaphor in Poetry
"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility."...

extract from 'Because I could not stop for Death‘

by Emily Dickenson

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Metaphor in Literature
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women
merely players;
They have their exits and their
entrances;
As You Like It
— William Shakespeare, As You Like It

This quote is a metaphor because the world is not literally a stage.

By figuratively asserting that the world is a stage, Shakespeare
uses the points of comparison between the world and a stage to
convey how the world works and the lives of the people within it.

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Simile or Metaphor?

The field is a rainbow of colors.

METAPHOR

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Simile or Metaphor?

The trees are like a canopy

covering the road.

Simile

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Simile or Metaphor?

The lake is a mirror of beauty.

METAPHOR

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Simile or Metaphor?

The clouds are as balls of cotton.

Simile

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 Similes and Metaphors
in Music

Look and listen for similes

and metaphors in these
song clips!

created by Dianne St Clair 16