Metaphor

Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.

Unlike simile, you don't use "like" or "as" in the comparison.

Metaphor DefinitionSometimes the speaker says something IS something else.The clouds are marshmallows in the sky

Sometimes the speaker IMPLIES that something is something elseMarshmallows float through the air

Metaphor DefinitionExplicit metaphorexplicitly stated or obvious Implicit metaphornot explicitly stated or obvious When something is subtly compared to another thing. Can slip by readers who arent paying CLOSE attention to language

Explicit vs Implicit MetaphorFor example, You want to describe a stubborn man, unwilling to leave

He was a mule, standing his ground.

This is a fairly explicit metaphorThe man is being compared to a mule.

Explicit MetaphorFor example, You want to describe a stubborn man, unwilling to leavethe man "brayed his refusal to leave" the subject (the man) is never overtly identified as a mule.Braying is associated with the mule, a notoriously stubborn creature, and so the comparison between the stubborn man and the mule is sustained.

Implicit or Unstated Metaphor I am a rainbow

It is comparing two nouns, a person, and a rainbow, but does not use like or as.

ExamplesI am not Anger

it is contrasting two nouns.

Examples

Math is the career for kids.If you don'tknow mathyou won't make any money.you won't get a job. you won't get a house.

By Jake

MathMetaphor for a Family

By Belinda

My family lives inside a medicine chest: Dad is the super-size band aid, strong and powerfulbut not always effective in a crisis.Mom is the middle-size tweezer,which picks and pokes and pinches.David is the single small aspirin on the third shelf,sometimes ignored.Muffin, the sheep dog, is a round cotton ball, stained and dirty, that pops off the shelf and bounces in my way as I open the door.And I am the wood and glue which hold us all together with my love. Fifth of July

By John

My family is an expired firecrackerset off by the blowtorch of divorce. We layscattered in many directions.My father is the wick, badly burntbut still glowing softly.My mother is the blackened paper fluttering down,blowing this way and that, unsure where to land.My sister is the fallen, colorful parachute,lying in a tangled knot, unable to see the beauty sheholds.My brother is the fresh, untouched powder thatwas protected from the flame. And I,I am the singed, outside papers, curled awayfrom everything, silently cursingthe blowtorch.Metaphor Classics

Sonnet 18By William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date:Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimm'd:And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;But they eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

By William Shakespeare

Can you identify examples of metaphor?

Check to see if you know what Metaphor is.

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Metaphor PracticeCrash, bang, boom! goes the car. Over the tree over the hill.Books are dreamsWell done! You are a star!Swoosh! goes the flag The pizza said, "Eat me!"Cats camp in California.The sand is a golden blanketWar cries.Red crackles.The moon is a white balloon