What's the difference between an analogy and a simile? | | Comparison is said to be the thief of joy, but it's also one of the best tools in a writer's arsenal. Deploying an analogy or setting up a simile is a great way to add flourish to your writing, but which is which? | |  | Julia Rittenberg |
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| |  | | I n writing, comparison is a useful tool to provide background information or add detail to an explanation by giving your audience more context. Using an analogy or a simile is a way to creatively insert a comparison into a description, but these literary devices are often mixed up by novice writers.
At a basic level, an analogy is a comparison, but the most common literary usage involves taking two different things and finding a quality they share in order to draw a comparison. For example, a writer might use the holidays over the course of a year as an analogy for the cycle of a person's life, or someone giving a speech might use their dog's sense of playfulness as an analogy for the importance of creativity and play in the workplace. Standardized tests in many United States schools use analogies for a familiar format: "Writer is to word as sculptor is to marble." To correctly answer this question, the test taker would identify the comparison as being between the creator and the medium.
As a comparison tool, a simile is more specific in its format: Two seemingly unalike concepts are linked with the words "like" or "as." The word "simile" comes from the Latin adjective similis, which means "similar in likeness." In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the narrator Scout uses a simile to introduce her teacher, Miss Caroline: "She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop." This comparison gives us an immediate picture of a young woman dressed in red and white with a minty perfume, and also suggests that she's young, fresh, and energetic.
A metaphor is a very similar concept to a simile, but it relates two concepts directly, without the use of "like" or "as." For example, in As You Like It, Shakespeare emphasizes the temporary nature of the world by calling it a stage play: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."
Similes and metaphors are specific types of expression, while analogies encompass the whole concept of the comparison. The use of analogy is like the pollen in spring — all around us. And similes are to writing as dabbing is to painting — a specific technique, well deployed by the artist. |
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Emoji Decoded | |  | | Ringed Planet | | | Meaning: Shows a planet encompassed in rings, similar to the planet Saturn.
Evolution: The Ringed Planet emoji 🪐 is a stand-in for all planets and can be used for anything space-related or "out of this world."
Usage: [Text to a friend:] Did you hear what she said? I totally spaced out 🪐🥱 |
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| | Ringed Planet | | | Meaning: Shows a planet encompassed in rings, similar to the planet Saturn.
Evolution: The Ringed Planet emoji 🪐 is a stand-in for all planets and can be used for anything space-related or "out of this world."
Usage: [Text to a friend:] Did you hear what she said? I totally spaced out 🪐🥱 |
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Have you read? | |  | | When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary | | By Alice Hoffman | | Even if you didn't read "The Diary of Anne Frank" in your school years, you're likely familiar with her story. This novel, written for middle-grade readers, imagines what life was like for the Frank family in the years leading up to their hiding in the attic, which is portrayed in Anne's diary. In this fictional account, the glimmers of the creative, bold, intelligent young woman we know from her diary are given more room to grow. We know how Anne and her family's story will end, which lends a foreboding bent to the book but also gives an important historical context to young readers. | | | | Jennifer A. Freeman, Word Smarts Senior Editor | | | | We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. |
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| | When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary | | By Alice Hoffman | | Even if you didn't read "The Diary of Anne Frank" in your school years, you're likely familiar with her story. This novel, written for middle-grade readers, imagines what life was like for the Frank family in the years leading up to their hiding in the attic, which is portrayed in Anne's diary. In this fictional account, the glimmers of the creative, bold, intelligent young woman we know from her diary are given more room to grow. We know how Anne and her family's story will end, which lends a foreboding bent to the book but also gives an important historical context to young readers. | | | | Jennifer A. Freeman, Word Smarts Senior Editor | | | | We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. |
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You might also like | |  | | | | What Do We Mean By "Jack of All Trades"? | | Who is "Jack" and what does he have to do with trades? Going back to the 16th century, there was a specific person the original phrase referred to, and you'll recognize the name. |
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