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ELA 5: Analogies 218 Views


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Description:

Learning about analogies with Shmoop is like eating a delicious cake. It's easy as pie.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

You know how your mom is always telling you that you and your little sister have much [Brother playing guitar hero and sister appears]

00:17

more in common than you realize?

00:18

And you know how it always makes you roll your eyes? Well guess what?

00:22

That doesn’t just apply to siblings. It can apply to words, too!

00:25

And we bet that won't make you roll your…

00:28

…Okay, fine, whatever, roll away…

00:30

Anyway. That's where analogies come in, [Coop talking about analogies]

00:33

Analogies are comparisons of two things that seem different.

00:36

The analogy’s job is to highlight what they actually have in common. [Brother playing guitar and mother gives sister a guitar]

00:40

So analogies are like the moms of the word world...

00:43

And that, right there, was also an analogy. Analogy-ception. [A couple watching a film at the theater]

00:47

Sounds like a fun movie…someone see if Leo is available to film it…

00:51

Anyway, a classic simple analogy would be something like this: Cold is to winter…

00:56

… as hot is to summer.

00:57

You’ll commonly see analogies written in the format of

01:00

"one blank" is to "one blank" – -- as "another blank" is to "another blank."

01:05

And, yes, Taylor Swift did write a song about this very concept. [Taylor Swift sitting in a chair]

01:09

I’ve got a blank space, baby…and I'll write an analogy.

01:13

Something like that, anyway.

01:15

So simple analogies are pretty straightforward, like this:

01:17

Earrings are to ears as bracelets are to wrists.

01:20

Unless you're trying to look super rebellious, or something... [Man wearing bracelets on his ears and earrings on his wrists]

01:23

Or turkey is to Thanksgiving as candy is to Halloween.

01:26

Or cats are to witches as dragons are to evil wizards.

01:30

There are also complex analogies which are, well…more complex. [Dino discussing complex analogies]

01:33

For example, we might make a complex analogy by saying that losing a friend…

01:37

… is like being struck by a ball of fire.

01:40

They both burn. Heh. Get it? Complex analogies are pretty fun, and a great way to pass the [Two women driving in a car]

01:45

time on a long road trip.

01:46

In literature, writers use analogies to give readers a clear mental image of an idea that

01:50

might be complicated or unfamiliar. Comparing the unfamiliar thing to something more common [Man thinking about a golfer]

01:55

helps the reader understand what the author is saying.

01:58

In this sense, analogies work a lot like metaphors and similes,

02:02

though analogies tend to be more complex.

02:04

So “analogies” are to “similes and metaphors”…

02:06

… as “smartphones” are to “tin cans.” [A smart phone beside two tin cans]

02:09

Because…people used to use tin cans to communicate…

02:13

No? Man…we're feeling pretty prehistoric right about now… [Man stood with tin-can]

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