Nobody has ever been a tornado in the kitchen, and you still know exactly what that means. Here's how a writer makes a comparison do the work of a paragraph.
Not started yet.
Students will learn that a figure of speech describes one thing as another very different thing, tell a simile (uses like or as) from a metaphor (says one thing is another), and explain what the comparisons in Emily Dickinson's 'I'm Nobody!' do.
A figure of speech is never literally true, and that's the point. A good one is surprising and still fits.
The difference between a simile and a metaphor is only whether the comparison uses like or as. The thing being compared is the same either way.
Calling any comparison a simile because it sounds like one. The test is the word like or as, so look for it.
Stopping at the name. Saying 'it's a simile' isn't an answer until he says what the two things have in common.
Have the student make up one simile and one metaphor about the same thing, like his dog or a rainy day, and read them aloud. The written task at the end is the same exercise on paper.
Emily Dickinson lived from 1830 to 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts, and only a handful of her poems were printed while she was alive. The lesson says this in one line before the poem, and it's added from the historical record.
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Before You Start
The words this lesson uses. Tap a card to see what it means, then come back to them whenever a question uses one.
Part One
Questions about the story you just read. Pick your answer straight off, or press Find it in the story if you would rather hunt for the sentence first.
Part Two
The word cards are at the top of this page. Look back at them as often as you need, then answer.