“Fresh as a Daisy… Quiet as a Mouse….
Mean as a Rattlesnake”
A Tutorial all about Similes!
8th
By: Jennifer Pritchard
Grade English Language Arts
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Introduction
Welcome! You are about to enter a world of cliché’s and “pick-up lines.” Has
anyone ever called you “crazy as a loon” or told you “your eyes are like
diamonds?” These are similes, and you hear them everyday, whether you
realize it or not.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to identify similes in poetry, musical lyrics,
newspaper articles, and even magazines.
So what are you waiting for? “Let’s get busy as bees!”
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Simile Definition
In order to understand what a simile is, we
must first define it.
Similes compare two things in order to make one of those things
clearer and easier for your audience to visualize. Similes use the
terms “like” or “as” to make these comparisons.
For example: Suzy swims like a fish.

If you will notice, Suzy’s swimming technique is being
compared to that of a fish. And because we know that fish
swim really fast, we can assume that Suzy does too!
Another simile we often hear is “run like the wind.”
Even though we cannot “see” the wind running, we
understand that the wind can
blow very quickly at times. Usually, you will find
someone telling you do to this
right before you get caught doing something you
shouldn’t!
So what does all it mean?
You may be asking yourself why you need similes in writing.
Well, let’s look at this example below.
You determine if there is a difference…
Close your eyes and think about this sentence: “Johnny eats a lot.”
Ok, now close your eyes and think about this sentence: “Johnny eats
like a pig!”
Did you notice any difference?
Did you picture a pig with the second sentence?
You see, similes give us a sort visual image to show us the
extremity of the situation!
Johnny must be a hungry boy!
Now, let’s see how well you can make a simile
out of the pictures provided below:
Answer choices: click on the your answer choice below.
Button-up
Cute as a button
Buttons are cute
SORRY
Wrong Answer!
You Got It!!
Now that you are the master of identifying similes, try a few
more here!
Match the following pictures with the similes you think they
represent.
 Dumb as a rock
 Smart as fox
 Bald as an eagle
How Did You Do?
 Dumb as a rock:
 Smart as a fox:
 Bald as an eagle:
Now we come to the fun
part!
You are going to design a poem
using similes of your own.
Remember, be creative and have a
ball!
Come along….
Directions: Fill in the blanks with fresh similes as you read the
prompts below. You can do this on your own paper or even in your
mind! Using fresh similes makes you sound fresh and witty!
As poor as a ______
As strong as a ______
As cute as a ______
As smart as a ______
As thin as a ______
As white as a _____
As fit as a _____
As dumb as a _____
As bald as an _____
As neat as a _____
As proud as a ______
So, how did you do? Look below for some of the traditional similes that
generally go with the prompts that were provided for you on the
previous slide.
As poor as a church mouse
As fit as a fiddle
As strong as a ox
As dumb as a rock
As cute as a button
As bald as an eagle
As smart as a whip
As neat as a pin
As thin as a toothpick
As white as a ghost
As proud as a peacock
Let’s change gears for just a minute. You know how I told you
earlier that you can find similes in everyday writings? Look at
the statement below.
"A Picture Is Not Always Pretty," Los Angeles Times. November 20, 1992.
Section B, p. 6, col. 3.
Which simile do you think that this statement matches best?
The grass is greener
A picture is worth a thousand words
Pretty as a picture
Right On!
You are on fire now!
Sorry!
Wrong Answer- Try Again
You can even find similes in musical lyrics
like the ones below…
“In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Smell like I sound I'm lost in a crowd.
And I'm hungry like the wolf.
Straddle the line in discord and rhyme
I'm on the hunt I'm after you.
Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the wolf.
Step into any local karaoke bar and you are likely to hear
someone singing this oldie but goody!
Similes often appear in the newspapers you read!
When its damp and windy, crossing what he calls
"the cheese grater" on the old lift bridge is "a
death-defying feat," complains the Portsmouth
design engineer and avid cyclist. His only other
choice - hobbling in cleated shoes with his bike
across the bridge's wooden sidewalk - is "as
slippery as a balance beam“-Southeast Area
Bicycle Routes
Now, let’s see if you find the simile in this
newspaper article…
“The list of problems these islands face
is as long as a child’s Christmas list to
Santa. The Virgin Islands are in dire
need of some upkeep.”
Did you guess correctly?
“The list of problems these islands
face is as long as a child’s Christmas
list to Santa. The Virgin Islands are
in dire need of some upkeep.”
Below you will find a bunch of pictures just “lounging”
around waiting to be discovered. Since you seem to be
an expert, I thought maybe you could figure out what
similes can be made out of the pictures below.
(**Hint-each picture makes one simile)
A
B
C
E
D
You really are becoming an expert on this
whole simile thing!
Even though there are several similes that can be derived from
these pictures, here are few common ones.
How do yours compare?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
“Clear as a bell”
“Light as a feather”
“Straight as an arrow”
“Sharp as a tack”
“Snug as a bug in a rug”
Time to go…
It looks like that is all the time we have
got. It’s so hard to say goodbye isn’t it?
NOT!!
So, get out of here why don’t you?
Yeah, make like a tree and LEAVE!!