LessonsClassification of Simile by Its Two Terms: Sensory, Intellectual, Imagined, and SupposedQuiz

One purpose of simile is to bring a meaning closer to understanding. A perceivable object often supplies a more immediate reference, so intellectual-to-sensory comparisons are especially useful for clarification.

“Death pounces like a predator” gives an image of attack to convey the effect of an abstract event. “Perfume is like virtue” requires one first to grasp the moral concept in order to see the intended likeness.

This is a general explanatory tendency, not an absolute prohibition on comparing a sensory thing with an intellectual one. Context may reverse the expected explanatory direction.

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Why an intellectual-to-sensory comparison is often clearer

Classification of Simile by Its Two Terms: Sensory, Intellectual, Imagined, and Supposed

One purpose of simile is to bring a meaning closer to understanding. A perceivable object often supplies a more immediate reference, so intellectual-to-sensory comparisons are especially useful for clarification.

“Death pounces like a predator” gives an image of attack to convey the effect of an abstract event. “Perfume is like virtue” requires one first to grasp the moral concept in order to see the intended likeness.

This is a general explanatory tendency, not an absolute prohibition on comparing a sensory thing with an intellectual one. Context may reverse the expected explanatory direction.