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The object of this lesson is to review that the similarities and differences between metaphors and similes.
This packet covers Metaphors and Similes. As they are Figures of Speech, this lesson reviews that term, as well. The student should already have covered Similes in his studies.
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METAPHORS, SIMILES, AND PERSONIFICATION ARE ALL FIGURES OF SPEECH.
A "FIGURE OF SPEECH" IS:
language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense (from: wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)
OR,
[A] word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another, and that is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Always involves some sort or imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike things. (from: www.cougar.issaquah.wednet.edu/teachers/wangeman/handbook_of_literary_terms.htm)
(BTW, "Personification" isn't officially part of this lesson, but it's a Figure of Speech, and it's really easy to understand. Like in the movie NEMO, where all the fish could speak and had emotions, just like a person ["person"ification].)
Source: Sources are embedded.
A METAPHOR IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH WHICH IMPLIES COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO UNLIKE THINGS, OFTEN -- BUT NOT ALWAYS -- USING A FORM OF THE VERB "TO BE." A METAPHOR SAYS "[THIS] IS/WAS/HAS BEEN/WILL BE/ etc. [THAT]." ("THAT" IS THE METAPHORICAL PART.)
IT COULD BE EITHER A PHRASE OR A WORD.
“He was drowning in paperwork” is a metaphor in which having to deal with a lot of paperwork is being compared to drowning in an ocean of water.
"Time flies," an ancient metaphorical expression still in use today, does not use a form of the verb "to be."
"Your mother wears combat boots," an expression historically used as an insult, is a good example of a colloquial metaphor, and again, does not use a form of "to be."
A jazzy little video explaining what a metaphor is, and giving vivid pictorial descriptions. It's the bees knees, lemme tell ya.
Source: YouTube
A short, musically entertaining video, illustrating a PB&J sammie as a metaphor for love.
Source: YouTube
A SIMILE IS ALSO A FIGURE OF SPEECH. IT'S AN ANALOGY, A COMPARISON, BETWEEN TWO UNLIKE THINGS, USING "LIKE" OR "AS" TO CONNECT THEM.
FOR ME, THIS IS ACTUALLY EASIER TO CONSTRUCT THAN A METAPHOR, AND IT'S MORE COMMON IN EVERYDAY SPEECH.
(And again, Shakespeare used similes as if they were going out of style.)
You've heard people say that such-and-such is "as ugly as sin." That's a simile: it is introduced with "like" or "as," and makes a comparison.
Volvos are built like tanks.
Aunt Emma is as big as a house.
That T-Rex is as tall as the Empire State Building.
Some more common similies:
". . . as thick as thieves."
". . . like nails on a blackboard."
" . . . as welcome as a skunk at a picnic."
". . . like two peas in a pod."
" . . . as silent as the grave."
Entertaining compilation of songs and movies to demonstrate similes
Source: YouTube
A clever -- and a little sneakier than one might think -- explanation of the difference between metaphors and similes.
Source: YouTube
