Lesson 2: Words that Compare
Completion requirements
Unit 3
What Does It Mean to Explore?
Reader's Notebook
Words that compare
Poets use original comparison words to create vivid pictures in the minds of their readers.
Figures of speech take surprising looks at some ordinary things. Figures of speech are helpful for two reasons. First, they appeal to the five senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing). Second, figures of speech show emotion.
A simile is a comparison using the words like or as.
The lake was like a mirror in the moonlight.
The lake reflects the moon like a mirror does.
- noun: lake
- adjective and noun: huge mirror
A metaphor is a comparison not using the words like or as.
The stars are blue flowers.
The point of comparison is shape. You can see both the stars and flowers are round.
The poet used the word blue to suggest sadness.
The point of comparison is shape. You can see both the stars and flowers are round.
The poet used the word blue to suggest sadness.
Her eyes were flickering fireflies.
Eyes were similar to fireflies because they sparkled brightly in the darkness as do fireflies at night.
- noun: eyes
- adjective and noun: flickering fireflies
Idioms and Clichés
If you write the sun is a star, you are making a literal statement, not a simile. Or, if you say the Edmonton Oilers are like the Calgary Flames, this is not a simile.
However, you have made a simile if you say, “The hockey team moved across the ice like runaway horses.” Or, if you write, “The sun was a fiery steed galloping across the sky”, you have compared the sun to a horse. This too is a simile.
Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that are not to be taken literally. Often, when they are used in everyday language, they have meanings other than the basic ones you might find in a dictionary.
That something happens once in a blue moon does not mean the moon is blue! It means the event happens rarely.
I promise you the moon means you are making an extravagant, expensive promise.
I promise you the moon means you are making an extravagant, expensive promise.
If a figure of speech or idiom is common, or it has been overused, it is a cliché. When writing your own poem you should avoid using it. Try to write unique comparisons.
Self-Assessment
Can you finish these idioms? (The missing words are in parentheses.)
Reach for the____.
He was so excited, he was over the _____.
You'll have your day in the _____.
He's spaced out and on another _____.
I came back down to _____ when summer holidays were over and I started school in September.
Go to the next page.