The first thing to discuss with students is the difference between well-developed similes and cliches. Place the following statements on the chalkboard: As hard as a; As blue as; and As green as. Then ask the students to share with the class ways they have heard these phrases completed. In most cases you will get responses such as As hard as a rock, As blue as the sky, and As green as the grass.
With these examples on the chalkboard, ask the students to choose one of the statements and brainstorm on scratch paper as many ways that they could complete the statement, unique as well as cliche. Ask for some volunteers to share their ideas, and to see if there is any duplication of originals. Write some of these ideas on the board.
Explain to the students that these are only half-similes. It is now necessary to determine what is being compared. Ask the students to identify the first half of the simile. What is as hard as a rock, as blue as the sky, and as green as the grass?
For example, "The chair was as hard as a rock." "The girl's sweater was as blue as the sky." and "The paint on the side of the house was as green as the grass."
In another step to getting students to understand similes, give them a post-it note for each half-simile that you have written on large sheets of butcher paper. On each post-it, the student must create a completion of the half-simile and then place it on the correct sheet of butcher paper.
Finally, I give the students a sheet of half-similes to complete as homework. I have learned to place no more than 10 statements on the paper, but the students must be completely original in completing them and they need to add the beginning of the simile as well.
When it comes to identifying and explaining the similes in poetry or prose selections, the students have participated in completing, explaining, and creating similes. This understanding can help the students identify similes in an author's diction and explain what and why the author used that comparison.
Beka Kojetin rachelwilson@suite101.com high school English teacher
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