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The notes, and some of the exercises were taken from a now unknown source on the internet.

Intro:

Using a fractal image for the cover of our logbook on Poetry, I asked:

"What does it look like?" "Not what is it, what is it like"?
 
 

Teacher's Notes
used for filling in the first blanks in the student logbook sheets

(used to fill in the boxes and blanks on the student sheets)
The Simile is a great comparison tool. The key words are "like" and "as". For instance, "You are as beautiful as a star". "You are really slow, like a turtle." And this great tool is also the most abused when used with clichés. How many times have you seen the same old tired cliché used over and over and over again, until you are totally sick of it. This is one of the keys for writing good poetry-namely to find fresh language. So here's an exercise for you to fill in the simile with fresh, original language. This exercise will help you to see how boring clichés are and help you on the eternal quest for fresh language. Notice how you immediately wanted to put in a cliché. Stop and consider again and look for fresh language for your simile. The simile, like the metaphor, is a tool that adds depth and deeper meaning to your poetry.

Definition:
A simile is a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison of two dissimilar things, and usually begins with like or as.
 

For instance, say you were writing about your cat, and wrote:

My cat purred contentedly.

The lines OK, but let's spice it up a bit by adding a simile:

My cat purred contentedly, like Buddha meditating.

Now we have added a whole new flavor and meaning to the cat purring. We've added spiritual content to the cat and equated purring with meditation. With a little 3 line simile, we've changed a mundane line to something with several other meanings. Lets try another example:

The drunk stumbled on the stairs.

Yawn! Now lets add a simile:

The drunk stumbled on the stairs, like a dying bird, falling and getting up, over and over again.
This simile has added the picture of a dying bird being equated with the drunk.

THere's a few examples of similes from my poetry class:

In her pregnancy, she was as big as a camel's hump.
Our love affair was as dead as dried buffalo dung.
The neighbors, sounding like muffled morons.
Cold as a fundamentalist preacher's stare.
Quiet, like the desert in the shimmering noonday heat.
Smooth as a slicing samurai sword.
 

Logbook page 1

Simile Definition:
______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

1. a) A descriptive line in a poem or speech:

______________________________________________________________________________

b) The same line with a simile added.

______________________________________________________________________________

2. a) A line with action already expressed
______________________________________________________________________________

b) The same line with an effective simile that is expanded and described.

______________________________________________________________________________

Now, practice by saying what this surrealist picture by Salvador Dali is like.

 
 

3. The painting is like

Practice Exercise 1
 

LANGSTON HUGHES    (1902-1967)
                ~Dream Deferred~

                            What happens to a dream deferred?

                            Does it dry up
                            like a raisin in the sun?

                            Or fester like a sore--
                            and then run?

                            Does it stink like rotten meat?
                            Or crust and sugar over--
                            like a syrupy sweet?

                            Maybe it just sags
                            like a heavy load

                             Or does it just explode?
 
 

1. Write the list of similes used to describe a "dream deferred"  ( a dream put off until later)

__________________________

__________________________

__________________________

__________________________

__________________________

2.   Based on the similes Hughes uses to describe a dream deferred, what do you think he is trying to say about putting off your dreams until later? 

page 3
 

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with a creative simile.   (unknown source) She was as talkative as __________.   The bird sang like __________.   The car was as fast as __________.   While dancing, his body was as loose as __________.   The picture was as sad as __________.   She can really rap, like __________.    The cat purred, like __________.  Big Ben bonged, like __________.   It smelled familiar, like __________.   Everyone was as warm as __________.	The clowns frolicked, like __________.   He's as crazy as __________.   My depression is as dark as __________.   My anguish pours of me like a __________.   His leaving me hit me like a __________.   The tingle of her kiss was as good as __________.   You're good-bye was as hard as __________.   Your fingers in my hair are like __________.   I feel alone as a __________.    It tasted as good as __________.   His desk was as messed up as __________.
Exercise 3 Read the instructions carefully.   After we have taken up some of the class's examples, construct a three stanza poem based on one of the above lines.  Proceed as follows:  1.  Choose an example from above to begin the first stanza.  2.  Finish the stanza, trying to keep the lines of similar length  3.  Start the second stanza, using the same line, but with a different simile.  4.  Finish the stanza by expanding on that simile.  5.  Use the same technique for the 3rd stanza		Example by Rombough  using number 11 from above          He's as crazy as a bat  flying around all night  bumping into walls  hiding in dark corners.  He's as crazy as a butterfly  dressing in bright colours  bursting into the day  flying into open nets  He's as crazy as a thief  trying to take everything,  leaving nothing behind,  emptying even his mind

Good copy of Simile Poem follows.