Metaphor vs Simile Understanding Figures of Speech

thanks for stopping by this is two minute classroom and today we're learning about metaphors and similes from university english professor dr rixx enjoy in this video will cover the main differences between similes and metaphors and why writers use these literary devices both metaphors and similes compare things however metaphor states that one thing is something else someone might say james is beast if james wins the ultimate beastmaster competition but we all know that in reality james is human being to convert this to simile we could say james is like beast another example of metaphor would be when drive sometimes have lead foot simile compares two things using the words like as or then for example the year 2020 feels like living in science fiction novel to convert this to metaphor we could say 2020 is science fiction novel metaphors often seem technically untrue don't have lead in my foot and as far as know we're not living aside of an actual novel similes often seem more true on technical level both metaphors and assemblies are useful because they can present information in new and memorable way the roots of these terms are also instructive simile is extremely close to the word similar making it very easy to remember that similes compare things and it actually comes from latin root so metaphor can be broken down into its two parts and the meta refers to after with or across as in metacognition which is thinking about thinking or metabolism which is chemical process and an organism that sustains life and the p-h-o-r means to bear or to carry so when you put those two together meta and four you get the idea of transfer or to carry something over from one place to another so metaphor can be thought of as to transfer meaning or information when say james is beast transfer the meaning of beast to the meaning of james now why do we use these literary devices similes and metaphors fall under larger category of tools also called literary devices or figurative language or also figures of speech there are many other kinds of figurative language such as personification or hyperbole which is exaggeration or irony and all of these literary devices or types of figurative language they help writers to be informative persuasive memorable witty artistic things like that now another reason writers may use similes and metaphors is because they tend to help our minds focus on concrete specific images that may be easier to remember and when reading for pleasure it's not necessary to stop and identify similes and metaphors every time but if you are writer be sure to pay attention to how writers use metaphors and similes and other types of figurative language and experiment with using these things yourself so to review metaphors state or suggest that one thing is something else whereas similes say something is like or similar to something else often using like or as and metaphors and similes are just two of the many other kinds of figurative language thanks again for watching will catch you in the next video you