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Simile
Simile is A figure of speech in which two unlike things are
explictly compared , as in “she is like a rose “ .
Simile is A figure of speech the expreses the resemblance of
one thing to another of a different category .
A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two
different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with
the help of the words “like” or “as”. Therefore, it is a direct comparison.
A
simile (pronounced SIM-uh-lee)
is a comparison that usually uses the words "like" or "as":
"Me without a mic is like a beat without a snare," rapped Lauryn Hill
in the song "How Many Mics." The word comes from similus, a Latin word meaning
"the same." A simile is different from a metaphor, in which the comparison is less explicit, as in
Shakespeare's line "All the world's a stage".
We
can find simile examples in our daily speech. We often hear comments like “John
is as slow as a snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow pace and here the
slowness of John is compared to that of a snail. The use of “as” in the example
helps to draw the resemblance. Some more examples of common similes are given
below.
- Our soldiers are as brave as lions.
- Her cheeks are red like a rose.
- He is as funny as a monkey.
- The water well was as dry as a bone.
- He is as cunning as a fox.
Simile inputs vividness into what we
say. Authors and poets utilize comparisons to convey their sentiments and thoughts
through vivid word pictures like a simile.
Simile Examples in Literature
Example
Written by Joseph Conrad,“I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage.”
The lines have been taken from Lord Jim. The helplessness of the soul is being compared with a bird in a cage beating itself against the merciless wires of the cage, to be free.
Significance
of Simile in Literature
Simile can be an excellent way for
an author either to make an unusual thing seem more familiar (i.e., “The planet
Zenoth was as cold as ice”) or a familiar thing seem more unique (i.e., “Her
smile was jagged like a broken zipper”). In this way, similes can help the
reader imagine the fictive world of a piece of literature. Good similes can
also make readers think about things in a new way, and can sometimes create a
lasting effect. Scottish poet Robert Burns’s declaration that his “luve’s like
a red, red rose” forever linked the concepts of love and red roses in our
minds.
Simile can also sometimes be used to
show a comparison, though with the conclusion that these two things really are
unalike or even at odds with each other. This can either be a negative simile,
which might come in the form of “A is not like B” (see Example #1 below) or an
ironic simile, which communicates the opposite of what is expected at the
beginning of the statement. For example, the famous feminist quote popularized
by Gloria Steinem, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” ultimately
concludes that a woman has no need for a man.
Simile can help to make new
connections for the reader. One of literature’s purposes is to help better
explain the world around us, and the technique of simile is one of those ways
in which we are able to see things in a new way. All types of analogies are
cognitive processes of transferring meaning from one thing to another, and thus
the use of simile in literature has real synaptic effects. For this reason, and
for aesthetic purposes, simile has been a popular literary technique for many
hundreds of years.
- Examples of Simile in Literature
Example
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like
the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
(“Sonnet
130” by William Shakespeare)
This excerpt from Shakespeare’s
“Sonnet 130” is an example of a negative simile. Shakespeare goes against the
expectation praising his mistress’s beauty and instead says what she is not
like. Her lips are not as red as coral, her skin is not pure as snow, and so
on. This striking simile example plays with both the tradition of sonnets as
well as the usual function of similes.
SIMILES
AND METAPHORS COMBINED
Ralph Fletcher has entered the blog
again! Years of great writing by Fletcher give added credibility to his book Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That
Sparks Writing that I mentioned earlier this week. The following excerpt
shows some of Fletcher’s creds.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/simile
htt http://literarydevices.net/simile/
http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.co.id/2011/03/similes-and-metaphorscomparisons-r-
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