OBJECTIVE:
Writing similes and / or metaphors is a great way to interact creatively with the photographs on piclits.com. We hope to better understand the object being compared by comparing it to something else.

Definitions of Metaphor and Simile:
A simile is an explicit comparison between two unlike things which uses “like,” “as,” “seems,” or “resembles” to make the comparison.

For example, there is a simile in Richard Wilbur’s poem “Mind” in which the mind is compared to a bat.

He writes, “Mind in its purest play is like a bat /That beats about in caverns all alone.”

The mind that is playing, creating, imagining is like a bat that uses its sonar to navigate unknown territory.

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two unlike things. For example, in Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”-a poem about the positive and negative qualities of nature’s short-lived beauty- he develops a metaphor.

The first line is “Nature’s first green is gold.” (line 1).

In essence, the reader is presented with a metaphor that green is gold. Green is obviously not gold, but it works because it is not saying the green is the color gold or a gold stone; it is saying that the bright green of early spring is precious.

So, we will select an amazing photo, think creatively, and generate either a simile or a metaphor in the FREESTYLE mode on piclits.com.

MODEL PICLIT SIMILE:

MODEL PICLIT METAPHOR:

GUIDED PRACTICE WRITING PROMPT:

1. Go to piclits.com
2. Sign in with your e-mail and password
3. Select a picture from the gallery of pictures
4. In FREESTYLE mode, write a simile or metaphor to enhance the viewer’s understanding of the object being compared.