<![CDATA[<body>
Welcome to the no frames page for Simile.<p>
<p class="volume_hdr">Simile</p>
<p>Read the following two sentences.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Jamie is <em>sharp as a tack</em>; she always knows the right thing to say.<br>
Elaine, who is always worried about her weight, <em>eats like a bird</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <strong>simile</strong> is an indirect comparison between two ideas that
uses <em>like</em>, <em>as</em>, <em>as if</em>, or <em>as though</em>. The
phrases “sharp as a tack” and “eats like a bird” are
similes. They use the words <em>like</em> and <em>as</em>, which are words of
indirect comparison. Jamie is not a tack, and Elaine is not a bird; instead,
they are discussed in <em>similes</em> as <em>similar</em> to these things.
Perhaps Jamie is compared to a sharp tack because her ideas pierce through to
the main point. Calling Jamie “sharp as a tack” means that Jamie
is smart or quick-minded. Perhaps Elaine’s eating style is compared to
a bird’s because she picks at her food and takes tiny bites of it. Saying
that Elaine “eats like a bird” means that Elaine eats small portions.
Because a simile is a figure of speech that cannot be taken literally, the skilled
reader must interpret the author’s meaning.</p><br>
</body>]]>