• Introduction
• Character
• Plot
• Setting
• Point of View
• Style
• Poetry

Simile/Metaphor

One of the most effective ways humans understand things is by comparing something unknown to something familiar. “Similes” are explicit comparisons created by using words such as like, as, appears, or seems. “Metaphors” compare implicitly without using explicit words. There are many kinds of metaphors: “direct” metaphors state the comparison directly, and “implied” metaphors do not. “Extended metaphors” and “controlling metaphors” develop comparisons over several lines or even the whole work. “Cliché" or "dead metaphors” have been used so long people don’t even realize they are metaphors. Sometimes metaphors make inappropriate associations, and these are called “mixed metaphors.”