General Discussion

nolabear

(41,960 posts)

29. I'm a writer too and there can be vast differences.

Tue Nov 5, 2019, 06:25 PM

Nov 2019

If you think in terms of sentence structure it’s simple, and everyone replying so far has explained.

But in poetry or prose you can literally be talking about something by talking about something else. The Road Not Taken is described as a literal road but it’s clearly a metaphor for life decisions. In The New Colossus there’s no actual Golden Door. It’s a metaphor for the route to America’s opportunity.

Simile can’t do that.

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Do they still teach the difference between simile and metaphor? I ask because... [View all] LAS14 Nov 2019 OP

I'm a writer wryter2000 Nov 2019 #1

A metaphor is a type of similie, I think. Mike 03 Nov 2019 #2

A simile uses "like" or "as" BlueMTexpat Nov 2019 #11

A metaphor compares two dissimilar things by linking them with a commonality. TheBlackAdder Nov 2019 #23

I'm like wow! wasupaloopa Nov 2019 #26

... BlueMTexpat Nov 2019 #30

Your post resembles the textbook definition ProudLib72 Nov 2019 #33

Yes, it does. BlueMTexpat Nov 2019 #41

Metaphor if figurative and simile is literal (kind of--it doesn't pretend one is the other). Cuthbert Allgood Nov 2019 #18

Do they teach either? LisaM Nov 2019 #3

Ugh. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #22

Ugh, whatever? LisaM Nov 2019 #39

Nuance. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #42

Who remembers if you don't use it exboyfil Nov 2019 #4

Some people insist that writing cursive is faster than lettering. Mariana Nov 2019 #9

I use a combo of print and cursive to write faster. Claritie Pixie Nov 2019 #10

Luckily we have the internets so we don't have to remember anything anymore underpants Nov 2019 #5

Well, I'm a fiction writer, and I think the difference is unimportant-- dawg day Nov 2019 #6

I also find the old metaphors and sayings interesting, rusty fender Nov 2019 #13

I always thought it was from football, but that's 10 yards! dawg day Nov 2019 #28

I thought the same thing about a bolt of material rusty fender Nov 2019 #32

Hell, rownesheck Nov 2019 #7

Spelling-- have her pay attention to words as she reads- dawg day Nov 2019 #31

I've always been a good speller rownesheck Nov 2019 #36

Same here-- it was third grade, and I put an extra "t" in monument. dawg day Nov 2019 #38

Why remove them from the curriculum? They are what they are, parts of.... brush Nov 2019 #8

Knowing how to write cursive is like knowing how to use an astrolabe. DavidDvorkin Nov 2019 #12

Maybe, but what about knowing how to read it? E.g., parents/grandparents letters? nt LAS14 Nov 2019 #15

I'm a grandparent DavidDvorkin Nov 2019 #17

And you think no other grandparents write letters in cursive? nt LAS14 Nov 2019 #20

I assume so DavidDvorkin Nov 2019 #21

For me what matters these days is that a person can learn anything they want to online. abqtommy Nov 2019 #14

Without schooling, how do they know what to wonder about? nt LAS14 Nov 2019 #16

Wonder and curiosity are not the provenance of any educaitonal system. I used to irritate abqtommy Nov 2019 #34

I look at it this way: It's like.... lagomorph777 Nov 2019 #19

Pretty sure I learned it in 7th grade (or earlier) Ms. Toad Nov 2019 #24

Yeah, but "educated." That still is true in this country. We were being given... LAS14 Nov 2019 #25

Say what? Goodheart Nov 2019 #27

I'm a writer too and there can be vast differences. nolabear Nov 2019 #29

I just taught it to my seventh graders last week ProudLib72 Nov 2019 #35

It's such a simple distinction. High school teachers make much of it. skip fox Nov 2019 #37

A simile is like a smile, but MineralMan Nov 2019 #40