How do similes and metaphors create meaning by comparing one thing to another?
Topic 2.6 Figurative language: identify simile and metaphor and explain the function of the comparison, including what each term of the comparison contributes to the poem's meaning.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Topic 2.6 (skill category FIG), covering simile and metaphor, the difference between literal and figurative meaning, how to read what a comparison contributes, and how to analyze a figure of speech rather than merely label it.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this topic is asking
Topic 2.6 brings the big idea of Figurative Language (FIG) to its central figures: simile and metaphor. The College Board asks you to identify these comparisons and, crucially, to explain what the comparison contributes to the poem's meaning. A figure of speech is not decoration; it interprets one thing through another, and the meaning lives in what the comparison reveals. The exam rewards reading the comparison, never just labelling it.
Simile and metaphor
The difference between simile and metaphor is the small word: a simile keeps the two things distinct ("like a plate"), while a metaphor fuses them ("is a plate"), often making the comparison feel more total. But the label matters far less than the comparison itself.
Literal and figurative meaning
Reading what the comparison contributes
The single most common failure is to name the figure and stop. "This is a metaphor" identifies; it does not analyze. To analyze, ask why this comparison: what does figuring marriage as a worn path say that a different image would not? A path is made by repeated walking, is durable and unspectacular, and can become a rut. Each of those qualities is a meaning the poet imported by choosing that vehicle. Reading the vehicle's qualities into the tenor is the whole skill.
Reading a figure of speech in a poem
Why this matters for the exam
Simile and metaphor appear on the multiple choice section (questions ask you to identify a figure and read its meaning) and are a frequent focus of the poetry analysis essay, which often turns on a central comparison. The difference between a mid and a high score is whether you analyze what the vehicle contributes to the meaning rather than merely naming the device.
Try this
Q1. What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? [Recall]
- Cue. A simile compares two unlike things using "like" or "as"; a metaphor states that one thing is another, without "like" or "as." Both transfer meaning from a vehicle to a tenor.
Q2. A poem calls hope "a small coal kept alive through winter." What does the vehicle contribute? [Short explanation]
- Cue. A coal kept alive is small, fragile, and needs tending, yet holds the promise of warmth and fire, so the metaphor presents hope as something precious and easily lost that must be deliberately protected, with the potential to grow.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2024 (multiple choice, style)1 marksA poet writes that a grieving man's voice was 'a dropped plate, all sharp pieces.' This figure of speech is a (A) simile, comparing using 'like' or 'as' (B) metaphor, comparing the voice to a broken plate to convey sudden, fragmented pain (C) example of rhyme (D) instance of enjambment (E) statement of the speaker's situation only.Show worked answer →
Answer: (B). The skill is identifying the figure and reading what the comparison contributes.
The voice is said to be a dropped plate, with no "like" or "as," so it is a metaphor. The comparison conveys grief as something that shatters suddenly into sharp, fragmented pieces.
Why not the others: (A) there is no "like" or "as," so it is metaphor, not simile; (C) and (D) are formal features, not the comparison; (E) the figure does more than state a situation, it interprets the voice through the image.
Markers reward students who name the figure correctly and, more importantly, explain what the vehicle (the dropped plate) contributes to the meaning.
AP 2021 (poetry analysis, style)6 marksRead carefully the following original poem in which the speaker compares a long marriage to a worn path across a field. Then write a well-developed essay analyzing how the poet uses figurative language to develop the poem's meaning.Show worked answer →
Free Response Question 2 (poetry analysis), 6-point rubric (1 thesis, 4 evidence and commentary, 1 sophistication).
The prompt centers on figurative language, so you must analyze what the central comparison contributes, not paraphrase it.
Thesis (1 point): claim what the comparison reveals, e.g. "By figuring marriage as a worn path, the poet presents long love as something made by repetition - unspectacular, durable, and shaped by the very act of walking it."
Evidence and commentary (4 points): tie the terms of the comparison (the worn path, the field, the walking) to the meaning each contributes, explaining the effect.
Sophistication (1 point): show how the metaphor holds both the comfort and the limitation of a settled life, so the path is both a bond and a rut.
Related dot points
- Topic 2.4 Figurative language: distinguish the literal (denotative) and associative (connotative) meanings of words and explain how a poet's diction and word choice shape tone and meaning.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Topic 2.4 (skill category FIG), covering denotation and connotation, how a poet's diction builds tone and meaning, and how to analyze a single word's effect rather than paraphrase a poem.
- Topic 2.5 Figurative language: identify imagery (sensory detail) in a poem and explain its function in creating mood, conveying the speaker's attitude, and shaping meaning.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Topic 2.5 (skill category FIG), covering sensory imagery beyond the visual, how imagery builds mood and conveys attitude, and how to analyze the function of an image rather than just identify it.
- Topic 2.7 Close reading of poetry: read a poem closely, integrating speaker, structure, diction, imagery, and figurative language to interpret its meaning rather than paraphrase it.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Unit 2's culminating close-reading skill: a method that integrates speaker, structure, contrast, diction, imagery, and figurative language into a single interpretation of a poem, the foundation of the poetry analysis essay.
- Topic 2.1 Character in poetry: identify the speaker of a poem and explain how the speaker's voice, perspective, and situation shape the poem's meaning.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Topic 2.1 (skill category CHR applied to poetry), covering the speaker as a constructed voice distinct from the poet, how to infer the speaker's situation and attitude, and how this reading anchors the poetry analysis essay.
- Topic 2.8 Literary argumentation: apply close reading of speaker, structure, and figurative language to write the poetry analysis essay (Free Response Question 2) against the 6-point rubric.
A focused answer to AP English Literature Unit 2's culminating skill: how the poetry analysis essay (Free Response Question 2) works, how the 6-point rubric is scored, and how to plan a response that reads a poem's elements into a defensible interpretation.
Sources & how we know this
- AP English Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description — College Board (2024)