ELA6, CSS, Sferrazza

Did you complete 1.1B Parts of Speech Quiz? It is online. Complete it now if you did not complete it at the end of last lesson.

Similes are a way to compare two things using the words like or as.  

Using a comparison helps readers visualize better. Check out this sentence without a simile.

My dog is smelly. (This works, but it’s pretty basic.)

Check it out after it has been spruced up with the addition of a simile.

My dog is as smelly as dirty socks.

How does a simile work?

We know that dirty socks smell badly. In fact, many of us have memories of having smelled dirty socks. Yuck! By comparing the dog to dirty socks, the reader knows that the dog smells that badly! 

You can make the sentence, My dog is as smelly as dirty socks, even more descriptive by adding more details to make your simile even more descriptive. Take a look: 

My dog is as smelly as dirty socks marinating in rotten onion juice at the bottom of a full garbage can.

Here is a catchy song that is overflowing with similes! Listen to it over and over to help you remember what similes are.

Read the following excerpt from Lemony Snicket that reflects a strong sense of a place called "home".

Before reading, connect: Does your home have a special smell or feel to it? Do you have a place in your home that gives you comfort?

This next excerpt really shows appreciation for "home". As you read it, notice the similes that are highlighted. What is home being compared to?  

"There is something marvelous about returning home at the end of a long day, even if there is tuna fish for dinner... It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches. One's home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening--the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life--and can never find again. After you leave home, you may find yourself feeling homesick, even if you have a new home that has nicer wallpaper and a more efficient dishwasher than the home in which you grew up, and no matter how many times you visit you may never quite cure yourself of the fluttery, homesick feeling in your stomach. Homesickness can even strike you when you are still living at home, but a home that has changed over the years, and you long for the time--even if such a time existed only in your imagination--when your home was as delicious as you remember. You may search your family and your mind--just as you might search dark and winding country roads--trying to recapture the best time in your life, so that you might cure your homesickness with a second slice of that distant, faraway pie."  

Source: (Lemony Snicket. Horseradish : Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid. New York, Harpercollinspublishers, 2007.)

In your Learning Guide, complete the Simile Search

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SIMILE SEARCH

A metaphor is a direct comparison between two different things. It does NOT use like or as.

A metaphor provides a strong visual. For example:

The voters are kettles screaming with anger and shooting off spouts of steam.

The comparison helps you to see how angry the voters really must be. They are likely screaming and spouting off angry words. 

Metaphors are often used to describe abstract nouns - things like love, kindness, and anger. They provide a concrete noun to help the reader visualize what you are talking about. For example:

Love (an abstract noun) is a spring bloom (a concrete noun) after the rain.

(This helps you visualize a flower just blossoming after the rain as a way to see what love is.)

For example:

Kindness is a well-thrown boomerang – it always comes back.

(When you throw a boomerang right, it comes back to you - and this comparison is saying the same thing happens with being kind to others. A simile would say "kindness is LIKE a well-thrown boomerang." A metaphor says "kindness is a well-thrown boomerang.")

In your Learning Guide, complete the "Metaphor Search".

Sometimes people get metaphors and similes mixed up. How can you remember which is which?

• Similes use like or as in their comparisons.
  • For example: Shania is as smart as an army of geniuses. (SIMILE)

• Metaphors make direct comparisons.
  • For example: Shania is her own army of geniuses. (METAPHOR)

Watch this video for more examples.

In your Learning Guide, complete Metaphor Search and Comparisons and Emotions.

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS TO THE METAPHOR SEARCH