Simile
Similes make a direct comparison between two things that are alike in a certain
way. Similes tend to use “like” or “as.”
Complete this simile with a color: “I am like the color (blank.)
Metaphor
Closely related to similes, metaphors immediately identify one object or idea with
another, in one or more aspects. They tend to use some version of “be.”
Complete this metaphor with an animal: “I am a (animal).”
Why are you like this animal? What characteristics do you share?
What's the best metaphor to describe you? Who are you, metaphorically?
Complete the following line:
I am...
You can try to tell you life story in six words. Rather than just picking six
words, try to explain your life in either phrases or a complete sentence. This also
requires students to focus on their lives and think about the most important aspects
thereof.
Examples:
Found on Craigslist: table, apartment, fiance.
Met wife at her bachelorette party.
Family portrait: everyone smiles but me.
Students can also use the six-word format to summarize a story, poem, or
essay that they have read. Again, for purposes of summary, ask them to make one
or two sentences. If you want to register reactions and basic impressions, you can
ask for six separate words and then talk about what specifically in the text elicited
those responses (e.g. difficult, confusing, boring or easy, clear, interesting).
Another purpose is to use the six-word format as a micro outline for an essay.
What are the six most important words that come to mind? Or, what is one word
that summarizes each paragraph (of course, you may have more or fewer than six
words).
Haiku is a type of ancient poetry from Japan. Here are the rules or technical
considerations for the form:
1) It consists of three lines.
2) The first line has five syllables. The second line has seven syllables. The third
line has five syllables. Haiku not originally written in English may not follow the
syllable count because the words are different in translation.
3) Usually the poem presents a very simple and clear image of nature such as a
frog jumping into a pond or rain falling on a roof.
4) Often the haiku is set in a certain season. This corresponds to a state of life.
Spring is newness, plentitude, and youth. Summer may be adulthood. Fall
becomes decay and gradual weakening. Winter is old age, death, and sickness.
The two plum trees—
I love their blooming!
one early, one later.
John F. Kennedy
Top down, Kennedy.
No chance of rain in Dallas.
Goodbye, Camelot.
Cover my head
or my feet?
the winter quilt.
Here are some questions to ask when formulating thesis statements:
1. Does my thesis statement sum up in a single sentence what my speech is about?
2. Does it cover a single idea or two or three ideas that are related to a single idea?
3. Is it in the form of a complete declarative sentence? In other words is it a
complete sentence (not a fragment) that makes a statement?
4. Does it make the claim I intend to make about my topic? Does it relate to the
rest of my speech?
5. Is it stated in a way that is understandable to the audience?
The correct answer to all of these questions should be “yes.” If the answer is “no”
to one or more of these questions, you should continue working on the thesis
statement.
This is another exercise that I have students complete:
There are problems with all of these thesis statements; what is each problem?
[Complete the exercise]
1. Thesis statement: There are a lot of fun places to go in Orlando. One of these
places is Disney World.
2. Thesis statement: Have you ever wondered whether we should pay fewer
taxes?
3. Speech purpose: To inform my audience about flying on an airliner.
Thesis statement: The airlines are unsafe and it is much better to drive.
4. Thesis statement: While Marxist theories of historical materialism do have a
certain degree of pragmatism, post-capitalist hyper-Marxist theories of
deconstructive dialecticalism proffer accelerated decay of a bifurcated global
culture.
5. Thesis statement: War, drug use, police violence, global warming, the plight of
the panda bear as well as the Australian dingo, and people playing their music too
loud are big problems.