Short on time? This page is the recap. For explanations and worked examples, use the full study guide.
Recap
- A metaphor treats one thing as another; a simile does the same with like or as.
- Metaphorical comparisons focus on particular traits, qualities or characteristics, not on the whole objects.
- Comparisons communicate literal meaning and may also convey figurative meaning or transmit a perspective.
- An extended metaphor persists through parts of or a whole text, expanded by further details, similes and images; read it in context.
- Personification assigns a human trait or quality to a nonhuman object, entity or idea, and so characterises it.
- Use four steps: sides, traits, left behind, effect.
Key relationships
| Step | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sides | What is compared with what? | hope and a little bird |
| Traits | Which qualities are transferred? | small, singing, persistent |
| Left behind | Which are not, and why does it matter? | the bird’s hunger is denied: “never… asked a crumb” |
| Effect | What does it suggest about subject and speaker? | hope as a gift; grateful perspective |
| Device | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Metaphor | Transfers particular traits | silence as a locked drawer: closed, private |
| Simile | Same, with like or as | “like a thunderbolt he falls” |
| Extended metaphor | Develops a comparison with further details | hope, the storm, the chilly land |
| Personification | Gives a human trait to a nonhuman thing | autumn “sitting careless” |
Assumptions
- A comparison is partial: only some traits transfer.
- Context decides which traits matter.
- Analysis says what the comparison does, not only what device it is.
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating a metaphor as total identity.
- Naming “metaphor” or “personification” and stopping.
- Ignoring what the comparison leaves out.
- Treating an extended metaphor as a list of similes.
- Assuming a comparison means the same in every poem.
Quick self-check
- In “Hope is the thing with feathers”, name two traits transferred and one left behind.
- What does “sitting careless on a granary floor” do to the season of autumn?
- How does changing “drawer” to “door” change a metaphor?
- What makes a metaphor “extended”?
Answers. (1) Transferred: small and singing, persistent in storms; left behind: the need for a crumb of food. (2) It personifies autumn as a relaxed, unhurried figure, characterising the season as gentle. (3) It changes which traits transfer: a door suggests a barrier and what is kept out, a drawer what is kept inside. (4) The comparison continues through several lines or the whole poem and is expanded with additional details and images.
Sentence frames to adapt
- “By comparing [subject] to [comparison], the poem transfers [trait] and [trait].”
- “The comparison does not carry [trait that is left behind], which makes [effect].”
- “The comparison extends through [stanzas or details], so the poem develops [larger idea].”
- “By giving [thing] the human trait of [trait], the poem characterises it as [character].”
Fill the first frame with traits that the poem’s own details support. Naming what is left behind is often what lifts an answer above description.
Ready for more? Try the practice questions and then the checklist.