What is a Simile?

A simile is a figure of speech using "like" or "as" to compare one thing to another thing of a different kind. 

 

 

Warrior or a poet? Same thing, right?!

If you’ve ever sung along to a disney movie, you’ve most definitely come across a simile. For example, when Shang from Mulan was teaching her how to be a warrior, he accidentally taught her how to be a poet, too with all the similes he used in his song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”. A simile is a figure of speech using “like” or “as” to compare one thing to another thing of a different kind. Saying someone is “tranquil as a forest” or “mysterious as the dark side of the moon” is to use similes to describe something. But hold up, isn’t the whole comparison thing the same as a metaphor? Nope, but they’re close! The easiest way to tell a simile apart from a metaphor is that similes use the words “like” or “as” to compare two things, and metaphors do not. For example, a simile could be “Her eyes shone as brightly as the sun” while the metaphor version would translate to “Her eyes were sunshine.” Got it? Good.



Now try to figure out the comparisons being made in these poems:

 

 

 

 

 

Harlem by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

 

      Does it dry up

      like a raisin in the sun?

      Or fester like a sore—

      And then run?

      Does it stink like rotten meat?

      Or crust and sugar over—

      like a syrupy sweet?

 

      Maybe it just sags

      like a heavy load.

 

      Or does it explode?

I'll Make a Man Out of You

BY DONNY OSMOND
Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns
Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?
You're the saddest bunch I ever met
But you can bet before we're through
Mister, I'll make a man out of you
Tranquil as a forest but on fire within
Once you find your center, you are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot
And you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll make a man out of you
I'm never gonna catch my breath
Say goodbye to those who knew me
Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym
This guy's got 'em scared to death
Hope he doesn't see right through me
Now I really wish that I knew how to swim
Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon
Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive
Heed my every order and you might survive
You're unsuited for the rage of war
So pack up, go home, you're through
How could I make a man out of you?
Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon
Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

 

Poetry Term: 
Simile