figures of speech Images such as similes and metaphors that suggest a comparison between objects that are generally unlike each other.
simile A direct comparison that uses like or as.
metaphor An indirect comparison that refers to or describes one thing as if it were the other.
Figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, can express comparisons, make a complex idea easier to understand, or bring a scene or character to life for your readers.
| SIMILE | To Sam, high school was like a nursing home. |
| METAPHOR | Tupac was the Beethoven of his age. |
Make sure that any figure of speech that you use is clear, appropriate, and consistent.
| INACCURATE METAPHOR | The children would jump from car to car as if they were mushrooms. [Mushrooms cannot jump.] |
mixed metaphor An inconsistent metaphor, one that mixes several images rather than completing one.
Also avoid mixed metaphors, as in the following example, in which the soul is compared to both a criminal defendant and a plant.
| MIXED METAPHOR | Karma is an inorganic process of development in which the soul not only pays the price for its misdeeds but also bears the fruit of the seeds sown in former lives. |