Craft Lesson: Simile & Metaphor

Materials: Acceleration by Graham McNamee

Purpose: Authors use simile and metaphor to develop images and convey messages to readers. These are powerful literary tools and it is imperative that students learn to recognize them and understand their significance in reading and writing. The images created in this way allow students to literally see what is going on in the story, because they are able to equate what the author is discussing with something familiar and tangible.

How to Teach It:
In the book Acceleration, the author uses simile and metaphor to help us create comparisons and images in order to better understand the meaning of the words. To help us understand the difference between these two let’s define simile (a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”) and metaphor (a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”). ( www.dictionary.reference.com ) (Allow class to discuss and define the terms) Can anyone point out a simile in the first chapter? (Pg. 1 – “a political prisoner of the capitalist overlord otherwise known as Dad”) What about a metaphor? (Pg. 2 – “If you think of a half-deflated soccer ball with two of the hairiest ears you’ve ever seen attached to it”) How do these descriptions add to our understanding of this part of the story?

Now that we know what we are looking for, Let’s take a deeper look at the book. In groups of three find some examples in the book and explain how the comparison helps you understand what the author is trying to convey to the reader.

After the students have had time to find a few examples, come back together as a large group and ask the students to share some of the examples they have found and ask them to explain how those examples helped give them a clearer picture of the book.  

Bibliography: McNamee, Graham. Acceleration.  New York: Random House Children's Books, 2003.

TEKS: Subject chapter 110: English Language Arts and Reading
Subchapter: High School
Grade 110.42: English I (one Credit)
Standard 11: Reading/literary concepts. The student analyzes literary elements for their contributions to meaning in literary texts.