What makes something a simile?
A simile is a figure of speech and type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.” The purpose of a simile is to help describe one thing by comparing it to another thing that is perhaps seemingly unrelated.
What makes a simile or metaphor particularly effective?
While both similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons, the difference between similes and metaphors comes down to a word. Similes use the words like or as to compare things—“Life is like a box of chocolates.” In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison—“Love is a battlefield.”
What effect do similes have on the reader?
A simile compares two things so that the thing described is understood more vividly, eg ‘The water was as smooth as glass. ‘ (Hint – ‘like’ or ‘as’ are key words to spot as these create the simile). A simile can create a vivid image in the reader’s mind, helping to engage and absorb them.
What characteristics make a metaphor powerful and effective?
A great metaphor recasts the familiar or mundane as something strikingly different yet truly parallel. It gives a startlingly vivid picture or brings a surprising insight. A bad metaphor fails to achieve the parallel, or the fresh insight, or both. The element of surprise is an important part of a great metaphor.
What makes a metaphor powerful?
Metaphor, which allows writers to convey vivid imagery that transcends literal meanings, creates images that are easier to understand and respond to than literal language. Metaphorical language activates the imagination, and the writer is more able to convey emotions and impressions through metaphor.
What is the effect of a simile?
The effect of a simile is to provide the reader with a more descriptive image of the thing that is being described.
What is a good example of metaphor?
Examples of dead metaphors include: “raining cats and dogs,” “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” and “heart of gold.” With a good, living metaphor, you get that fun moment of thinking about what it would look like if Elvis were actually singing to a hound dog (for example).