Metaphors · Grade 6
In Grade 6 you learn: the effect of a comparison and extended metaphors.
A metaphor says one thing is another, with no like or as: Time is a thief. The test was a breeze. It isn't meant literally: it gives a picture that helps us feel or understand something. An extended metaphor carries the same picture on through several sentences.
Key facts
- Metaphor: Time is a thief. The test was a breeze. (no like, no as).
- The effect: a strong picture in a few words. The playground was an oven makes us feel the heat more than it was very hot.
- An extended metaphor keeps the same comparison going: The classroom was a zoo: monkeys swung from chairs and parrots shrieked.
Worked examples
Example 1
Simile or metaphor? Her words were daggers.
Answer: metaphor
Example 2
What does The test was a breeze. mean?
Answer: The test was very easy.
Example 3
Find the metaphor: The classroom was a fridge this morning.
Answer: The classroom was a fridge: the room was very cold.
Example 4
Explain the effect of the metaphor: The playground was an oven.
Answer: It makes us feel how hot it was, more strongly than it was very hot.
Example 5
Explain the extended metaphor: The classroom was a zoo: monkeys swung from chairs, parrots shrieked, and the teacher was a weary keeper.
Answer: The class is a zoo all the way through: noisy children are animals and the teacher looks after them, which shows chaos.
Example 6
Extend this metaphor over two more sentences: Her mind was a busy station.
Answer: Thoughts arrived and departed every minute. Worries waited on the platform, delayed.
Example 7
Which comparison works better, and why? A The sea was like water. B The sea was a grey wolf, snapping at the rocks.
Answer: B: it compares the sea to something unexpected and fierce, so we picture its danger; A tells us nothing new.