SIMILE AND METAPHOR
By Karen Bristow
GINGKO
crude sketch
chorus
old bull
stubby rough wool
WILLOW
etching
soprano
velvet-nosed calf
silken thread
Willow and Ginkgo
By Eve Merriam
The willow is like an etching.
Fine-lined against the sky.
The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,
Hardly worthy to be signed.
The willow’s music is like a soprano,
Delicate and thin.
The ginkgo’s tune is like a chorus
With everyone joining in.
The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;
The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull.
The willow’s branches are like silken thread;
The ginkgo’s like stubby rough wool.
Choose two different types of
similar objects. Make a table
similar to the one above. Using like
and as one time for each object, list
the things the objects remind you
of. Use interesting words!
Example
ROCK MUSIC
LIKE LIGHTENING
FLASHING IN THE
SKY
AS LOUD AS THE
BANGING
THUNDER
COUNTRY MUSIC
LIKE THE BROWN
OF RUSTED METAL
AS EXHAUSTING AS
A 5k RUN!
Write an 8-line poem using the table you
have created to compare two objects.
Example:
Rock music is like lightening flashing in the sky.
It’s sharp blazes startle me.
Country music is like the brown of rusted metal.
Old and worn out.
Rock music is as loud as the banging thunder.
It rings in my ears even after it is over.
Country music is as exhausting as a 5K run!
Verses of pity and drama over and over and over.
(does not use like or as)
DREAMS
By Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Choose an abstract noun (a
noun you cannot touch). Write
an eight line poem like the one
above using is to describe the
noun.
Example:
Hold on to the people
you treasure.
Love is a ship
on a stormy ocean.
Hold on to the people
who are dear to you.
Love is a magic trick
that can quickly vanish.
SIMILE—a comparison
using like or as
METAPHOR—states
that one thing is
something else (does
not use like or as)