How a Simile Works
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| simile/ˈsɪmɪlɪ/ | A comparison that explicitly links different things using words such as like or as. |
Like or as, and two subjects
- A simile 明喻 uses the words "like" or "as" to liken two objects or concepts to each other.
- That is the identification test, and it is the easy half.
- The analysis is what happens between the two things it links.
“Like” introduces two strangers; analysis asks why the poet invited them to the same table.
A simile uses the words like or ____ to liken two things.
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That is the identification test — and it is the easy half.
A simile transfers
- Similes liken two different things to transfer the traits or qualities of one to the other.
- So a simile has a direction: something is given, and something receives it.
- The question is always which quality moved? — and there is usually only one.
Name the main subject, name the comparison subject, then say which quality crossed over
In her patience was like a rope, the comparison subject is...
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The thing being compared is the main subject; the thing compared to is the comparison subject.
Main subject and comparison subject
- In a simile, the thing being compared is the main subject; the thing to which it is being compared is the comparison subject.
- Naming both is what turns "there is a simile" into an analysis.
- Her patience was like a rope: patience is the main subject, rope the comparison subject.
Main subject, comparison subject, or transferred quality?
Sort each element of her patience was like a rope, worn thin where it turned.
A comparison subject brings many qualities; a simile transfers only some. Deciding which is not free choice — the surrounding lines decide it. An answer that hands over every property of the compared object has stopped reading the poem and started listing facts about ropes.
A simile transfers every quality of the comparison subject.
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Only some transfer — and the surrounding lines decide which.
Read the quality, not the object
- A rope is long, coarse, strong — and it frays, and it can be cut.
- A simile transfers some of those and not the rest, and the surrounding lines tell you which.
- The commonest weak answer transfers the wrong one, or all of them at once.
Select all the steps of the simile pass.
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Beauty is a judgement; the transfer is what the exam asks about.
Match each next line to the quality it transfers.
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Same simile, three different readings — and the poem chose, not the reader.
A simile pass
- Name the main subject. Name the comparison subject.
- List the qualities the comparison subject has; circle the one the context makes relevant.
- Say what the main subject now carries that it did not carry before.
Her patience was like a rope. If the next line is "it held them all winter," the transferred quality is strength. If it is "it wore thin where it turned," the transferred quality is fraying. Same simile, opposite readings, and the poem — not the reader — chose.
A simile uses like or as and transfers traits or qualities from one thing to another. The thing compared is the main subject; the thing it is compared to is the comparison subject. Only some qualities transfer — the surrounding lines decide which.