"Similes make you think. Metaphors let you feel things."
That's one line from the short video, "The Art of the Metaphor" by Jane Hirshfield.
It's from TedEd, and I heard about it from Diane Lockward's montly newsletter, which I've touted many times in posts before. If you need to know how to sign up for it, put her name in my search bar, or leave a comment and I'll find the newsletter link for you.
Back to the video: it's is a wonderful teaching tool for the uninitiated, and a sweet reminder for the rest of us about the power of simile and metaphor.
Showing posts with label similes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label similes. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday, December 2, 2011
Similes to Make You Smile
This blog post from House of Figs is making the rounds on the internet recently. It claims to be the 56 best/worst analogies written by high school students, although the site's owner, Bethany Amanda, does say that she has discovered that most these were in fact written for a Washington Post contest. No matter who wrote them, they are pretty amusing. They are also mostly similes, which is after all one technique for making an analogy. Here are a few of my favorites:
4. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
5. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
18. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
32. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
48. I felt a nameless dread. Well, there probably is a long German name for it, like Geschpooklichkeit or something, but I don’t speak German. Anyway, it’s a dread that nobody knows the name for, like those little square plastic gizmos that close your bread bags. I don’t know the name for those either.
50. Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
51. It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before.
Enjoy them all at the link.
4. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
5. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
18. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
32. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
48. I felt a nameless dread. Well, there probably is a long German name for it, like Geschpooklichkeit or something, but I don’t speak German. Anyway, it’s a dread that nobody knows the name for, like those little square plastic gizmos that close your bread bags. I don’t know the name for those either.
50. Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
51. It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before.
Enjoy them all at the link.
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