Are you looking to impress the IGCSE examiners with your descriptive & creative writing?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 Frequently, we seek to explain the unknown with the known. Constantly, we are meeting new people, developing new ideas. We use language creatively to describe what we experience, see and feel.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 A simile is a figure of speech involving a comparison between two entities. Usually a simile announces itself with words such as “like” or “as”.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 Many ancient similes originated from the natural world and the surrounding environment: “𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑖𝑔” “𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟” However, as language evolves, the origins and consequently the power of some similes is lost: “𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑙”

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 Great writers have an ability to create original similes that place powerful images in the reader’s mind. The three opening lines of TS Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” begin with a simile that continues to shock over a century after it was written: “𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼, 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑦 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒”

𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 Using an original and striking simile in a piece of creative or descriptive writing will impress examiners. A powerful simile in the opening paragraph alerts examiners to the fact that they are marking the work of a candidate who can effectively adapt language to their purpose.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚 𝐓𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 & 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐆𝐂𝐒𝐄, 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 / 𝐈𝐁𝐃𝐏 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲-𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝.

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