Analogies Are to Writing as Cheese Is to Burgers!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Take a look at these two images.

• How would you compare these two pictures?
• Do they have anything in common?

Write down all the comparisons that you can make on a piece of paper.

You may have noticed that the roses and the strawberries were red and smelled good!

To make writing interesting and more relatable, some authors use analogies to show these comparisons.

For example, you could say that a strawberry was as red as a bouquet of roses or that a strawberry smelled as sweet as roses.

This type of comparison is called an analogy.

• What is an analogy?

Analogies make connections between two things. The two things can have many similarities or be vastly different.

Analogies usually make a point or create a vivid image.

Analogies can look like full sentences or be word patterns. Take a look at these examples!

Word-Pattern Analogies

The pattern-styled analogies are written like this.

frog is to water as bird is to tree

In this case, you can see that each object has a relationship with the other.

The frog lives in the water.

A bird can be compared to a frog since they are both animals that live in different environments.

The natural habitat for the frog is the water and the natural environment for the bird is a tree.

There are several different ways to make these types of analogies, including with the following.

synonyms

• Each part of the comparison consists of words with the same meaning.
• Example: big is too gigantic as short is too diminutive

antonyms

• Each comparison part consists of words with opposite meanings.
• Example: happy is to sad as depressed is to ecstatic

cause and effect

• Each part of the comparison consists of one word that is the source of some action and one word that is the result or consequence.
• Example: spark is to fire as rain is to flood

function

• Each part of the comparison consists of one word that is an object and one word that is the function related to that object.
• Example: strum is to guitar as type is to keyboard

parts of a whole

• Each part of the comparison consists of a word that is part of a word that is its whole.
• Example: leaves are to trees as clouds are to the sky

Sentence Analogies

The analogies written as sentences compare two things that may not seem alike. We call them metaphors and similes.

metaphors

• A sentence that compares two things without using the words like or as.
• Example: You are a shining star.

similes

• A sentence that compares two things using the words like or as.
• Example: You are as bright as a lightbulb.

Review everything you just learned as you watch the video below.

When you are ready to test your knowledge, head over to the Got It? section!