How to Understand Similes and Metaphors

Understanding similes and metaphors is crucial to comprehend figurative language in literature and to enhance writing. Writers use similes and metaphors to give clarity to their writing or to paint a visual picture. Oftentimes the reader has to not only identify the simile or metaphor, but also infer a precise distinction to what is being compared.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Add similes and metaphors when writing stories, poems or songs to add interest and to add depth to writing. Similes and metaphors create more specific and clearer visual images of what the writer is trying to express.
2. Look for the words "like" and "as" when identifying a simile. For example, "The hungry girl roared like a lion for the ice cream cone.
3. Notice that the simile is not comparing the little girl to a lion, but more specifically, the volume of her voice to the roar of a lion.
4. Learn the definition of a metaphor. A metaphor is a comparison between two things, which are generally not alike do not use "like" or "as". For example, "The little girl is a fragile flower."
5. Identify the comparison between the two things. The little girl's body is a tender flower.
6. Understand that the metaphor is not comparing the girl to a flower, but more importantly, the delicateness of a little girl to the fragility of a flower.