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UNIT 2

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Comparisons WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
Similes and Metaphors FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE This workshop introduces students to the
technique of comparison. Authors frequently use
figurative devices such as similes and metaphors
AP Enduring Understanding (FIG-1) as a way to set up comparisons between two
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Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the unlike things to emphasize a trait, characteristics,
figurative and invite readers to interpret a text. or values. By making the literal and concrete
comparison, an author transfers figurative
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
meaning.
When telling stories or even in everyday conversations, people rely on compari-
sons to make a story juicier. For example, when your friend says, “That statistics
test was an absolute monster!,” he or she isn’t saying that the Scantron literally had KEY POINT COMMON MISCONCEPTION
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
razor-sharp teeth, venomous pinchers, and a lust for blood. Rather, you know that More literal readers often mistake merely
your friend really means that taking the test felt like a standoff with something Authors compare identifying literary devices as analytical reading.
scary, dangerous, and unknown. Your friend could have just said, “That statistics concrete objects In the case of similes and metaphors, it is
test was really hard,” but by comparing it to a monster, your friend communicated with ideas about the important for students to ask, “Why did the
a more vivid and visceral sense of his or her experience. human experience
to emphasize, clar- author choose to compare these two things
ify, or explain these and—more importantly—what are the specific
Comparisons Create Associations ideas in a way that traits or aspects that are being highlighted? What
connects to an audi-
values and ideas are being suggested or revealed
Effective comparisons draw on the experiences and associations that are already ence’s emotions. by this comparison?”
familiar to readers. By using figurative language, writers invite the audience to
join in the act of meaning making; in the process, the readers access information
about something that they already know and transfer that knowledge to a new LITERARY CONCEPTS
thing. For many readers, these fresh ways of seeing, connecting, and understand-
ing are a source of aesthetic pleasure and interest. But striking comparisons also Comparison
provide a deeper, richer understanding of the two subjects being compared. Association
As with any kind of interpretation, understanding the context in which a com- Figurative Language
parison is made is key to understanding its significance. Comparisons made at the Simile
beginning of a text might take on new meaning after the resolution of a story or Metaphor
poem’s conflict. The circumstances in the text may affect the comparison.
In any comparison, the thing being compared is referred to as the main sub-
ject; the thing to which it is being compared is the comparison subject.
Writers use comparisons to connect with an audience too. In other words, the
author expects the reader to understand the comparison. But readers should also
ask, Why did the author make this comparison? Did the readers at the time a text
was written understand it differently than readers today? For example, a literary
comparison written in Shakespeare’s time may now have different meanings than
it did for its original audience. In fact, comparisons can lose their meaning when
readers change or a time passes. When reading stories, poems, and plays from dif-
ferent cultures and historical periods, close readers ask, Does this comparison still
hold meaning for this audience?

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AP Big Idea: Figurative Language AP Key Questions
Enduring Understanding: FIG-1 Which two elements are being compared in a particular simile?
How does a comparison through a simile contribute to meaning in the text?
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AP Skills: 6.A, 6.B Essential Knowledge: Which two elements are being compared in a particular metaphor?
FIG-1.E, FIG-1.F, What is significant about the selection of the objects being compared and their particular traits,
FIG-1.G, FIG-1.H, qualities, or characteristics?*
FIG-1.I, FIG-1.J,
FIG-1.K How does a comparison through a metaphor contribute to meaning in the text?
How might the figurative meaning of a metaphor depend on the context in which it is presented?
How does a metaphorical comparison contribute to the figurative meaning of a character, conflict,
setting, theme, etc.?
*Strike-through content is introduced in a subsequent unit.

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