How to Understand Similes and Metaphors

By eHow Education Editor

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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

Step1
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.
Step2
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.
Step3
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.
Step4
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."
Step5
Identify the comparison between the two things. The little girl's body is a tender flower.
Step6
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.

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eHow Article:  How to Understand Similes and Metaphors

eHow Education Editor

eHow Education Editor

Category: Education

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