Hello, everyone, and welcome to this lesson on considering and emulating the use of similes in non-fiction writing.

My name's Dr.

Clayton.

I'm going to guide you through your learning journey today.

Today's lesson is all about similes.

So we're going to start off by just reminding ourselves that what a simile is and why they might be useful in non-fiction writing.

Then, we're going to identify and analyse the use of similes in Cara Reedy's "My life as a little person" before breaking down why those similes are effective and emulating their use.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you're using with this lesson, and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to identify and analyse the use of similes in a non-fiction text and then emulate the writer's craft.

So we have five words today we'll be using as our keywords.

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

Our first keyword is simile, which means a figure of speech that involves comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.

This is the focal point of our lesson today because we're identifying, analysing, and then emulating the use of similes.

Our second keyword is connotation, which means a feeling or idea that's suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning.

We're going to be thinking about how we can analyse similes by considering the connotation of the comparative image.

Our third keyword is paparazzi, which means a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them.

Now paparazzi is specifically associated with doing whatever's necessary to get their photographs, which will be important later in the lesson when we think about why the writer was using that particular comparative image.

Our fourth keyword is scrutiny.

If a person or thing is under scrutiny, they're being studied or observed very carefully.

We're going to be thinking about how this simile is used in Reedy's "My life as a little person" creates a sense of scrutiny and being watched all the time.

Finally, our fifth keyword is justification, which means the action of showing something to be right or reasonable.

Once we've created our similes at the end of the lesson, I'm going to ask you to justify your comparative image.

So why was your comparative image a reasonable one? So, I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video.

Write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to take a few minutes to think about what a simile is and why writers might use them in non-fiction writing.

Then, we're going to read Cara Reedy's article, identify, and analyse the similes that she's used.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to break down how Reedy's use of similes was effective and use that as a toolkit to create our own similes.

So as I said, similes are our main focus today.

So I just want to spend a couple of minutes defining them and considering why they might be useful in non-fiction writing.

So a simile is a figure of speech that involves comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.

So an example might be, "I wandered lonely as a cloud." So we're comparing the speaker to a cloud to give ideas of wandering aimlessly through life and not connecting to anything.

Now, I think we typically associate similes with fiction writing.

I know my first thought when it comes to similes is always to go to poetry.

So what I'd like us to start off by thinking about is why might a writer choose to use a simile in non-fiction writing? Remember that non-fiction writing is writing designed to be informative or factual.

Now, if you went through this with someone else, you might talk of your ideas with them.

If you went through this by yourself, you might just think of your ideas.

So, pause the video.

Consider why a writer might choose to use similes in non-fiction writing.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now similes are all about communicating an idea or an emotion to the audience.

As our Oak pupil Izzy says, "I think similes help a writer to communicate an idea or a feeling to the audience, which is just as important in non-fiction as it is in fiction." So, when we're looking at similes later on in the lesson, keep in mind this idea they're all about communicating an idea to you as the audience.

Now for a quick check for understanding before we move on to the article.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? That similes are a type of figurative language that should only be used in fictional writing.

Pause the video.

Make your selection now.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, the purpose of a simile is to communicate an idea or image, and this can be helpful in non-fiction writing to help the audience understand what the writer is trying to express.

So very well done if you got that right.

So now that we've taken a few moments to consider similes more broadly, we're going to look at an article that uses similes to great effect.

That article is Cara Reedy's "My life as a little person," and you'll find a link to the article in the additional materials.

What I'd like you to do is pause the video and read the article now.

So pause the video.

Read the article.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now before we move on to the similes themselves, let's just take a moment to reflect on the article.

I think it's incredibly powerful.

We want to make sure we understand what Reedy wants to communicate to the audience before we start analysing how she's done that.

So, I'd like you to pause the video.

Consider what the key message of Reedy's article is.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great discussions there.

As I said, it's a really powerful article and I think it really helps you to see the world through someone else's eyes.

Often when we think of non-fiction, we think of factual or informative articles, but they can be just as powerful as fiction because they're talking about someone's real life rather than life that's been imagined.

As our Oak pupil Izzy says, "I think Reedy is trying to communicate how people's reaction to her dwarfism make her feel uncomfortable and belittled.

She wants people to understand she's a normal human being too." Now, what we're going to do is think about how Reedy has used similes in order to try to help the reader understand how she feels and what she's experienced.

So before we try to understand the similes, we need to identify them.

Remember, a simile is a figure of speech that involves comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.

So what I'd like you to do is return to the article and identify the similes.

So pause the video.

Identify the similes now.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have identified, "like being the main attraction at the circus every day of my life," "like being a celebrity, and the whole world is my paparazzi," and "like a kick in the chest." Now, we're going to spend some time analysing what the effect of those similes is.

So, in order to analyse the simile, we might consider the following two things.

What the connotations of the comparative image are.

Now connotations is one of our keywords.

It means the feeling or idea that's suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning.

So what ideas or feelings do you get from the comparative image? Then we also want to think about how they link to the idea or image the writer is trying to communicate.

Remember, this is at the core of why a writer uses a simile.

They're using it to communicate something to their reader.

So, let's consider the first simile together, "like being the main attraction at the circus every day of my life." So here, Reedy is comparing her life to a circus.

What I'd like you to do is think about what the connotations are of a circus.

So what ideas or feelings does the word circus give you? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's talk through you might have said.

Now the literal definition of a circus is a group of travelling entertainers including acrobats, clowns, and trained animals, or a performance by such a group, often in a tent.

So you might think of words as performance, entertainment or spectacle in association with a circus because all about public interest and the public's enjoyment.

However, some of you also might have considered the circus can have darker undertones as well.

Previously, a circus was thought of as a place for people who had something about them that made them stand out.

You might have heard of acts such as the bearded lady or the elephant man.

People being looked at because they differed from what was considered normal.

Therefore, you might have associated something strange or exploitive about the circus, particularly when it comes to animals of the circus who have no choice but to participate in the acts.

You also might have thought of clowns when thinking about a circus.

And I think clowns are particularly evocative because primarily they're designed to make us laugh, but they typically paint their face with tears.

So we get the sense that the person who's entertaining us is actually saddened to do so.

Now, we always want to come back to this idea of communication and what message the writer is trying to communicate through the comparative image.

So what I'd like you to do is think about how the comparison to a circus links to Reedy's key message in her article.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

I think the comparative image of a circus really links to Reedy's message, about how she feels if she's considered entertainment to other people.

As Oak pupil Sofia says, "Reedy presents the negative challenges she faces on a daily basis.

The simile, 'like being the main attraction at the circus,' effectively highlights the negative and invasive treatment she often receives from strangers and how they view her as a source of amusement." I think the choice of circus is so evocative because of the dark undertones and how people found entertainment in watching those.

They're considered different for some reason.

I think that really speaks to what Reedy wants us to understand about her life.

People have viewed her as an amusement, rather than a human being.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So which of these following three images do you think best represents how Reedy feels about her daily life and experience? So we have image A, which is a picture of the late Queen at her Silver Jubilee.

We have image B, which is a picture of someone getting out of the car to waiting photographers.

And we have image C, which is of someone browsing for a book and not being bothered by anyone.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about how the images of A and B seem to connect to the idea of feelings if you're on show for people, how they see you as entertainment.

However, you might have noticed the Queen is smiling in image A, whereas the person in image B has her sunglasses on.

They seem to be trying to not interact with the photographers.

This is why image B best represents Reedy's experience.

She's told us she doesn't like the attention she gets from others.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work so far, everyone, for the first task of the lesson.

So, now we've gone through the first simile together, because of the connotations of circus and how it relates to Reedy's overall message, I'd like you to do the same thing for the other two similes.

So we have, "like a celebrity, and the whole world is my paparazzi." Now paparazzi is one of our keywords.

It means a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them.

But as I said earlier, it's particularly associated with a ruthlessness to get a picture no matter the cost.

And we have, "like a kick in the chest." Now in order to analyse the similes, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So what connotations do the words celebrity and paparazzi have? So what ideas or feelings do the words celebrity and paparazzi give you? Number two.

What do you think Reedy is trying to communicate about her experience through this simile? Number three.

What are the connotations of kick? So what ideas or feelings does kick give you? And finally, what do you think Reedy is trying to communicate about her experience through the simile, "like a kick in the chest"? So, pause the video.

Take a few minutes to answer the questions.

Welcome back, everyone.

I heard some fantastic ideas there.

I'm going to share the ideas of one of our Oak pupils, Izzy.

I'd like you to consider how well they align with your ideas.

So question one.

What connotations do the words celebrity and paparazzi have? And Izzy said, "The words celebrity and paparazzi suggest ideas of constant, unwanted attention and scrutiny from strangers." Now scrutiny is one of our keywords.

It means someone being studied or observed very carefully.

So everybody's drawing on this idea she has no privacy when she's in public.

Just as celebrities don't either.

Question two.

What do you think Reedy is trying to communicate about her experience through the simile? "I think it links to the idea that she feels the constant watchfulness and scrutiny from other people, but also perhaps the idea that people feel she is removed from them and therefore they can make comments, just as we often do with celebrities." Question three.

What are the connotations of kick? And Izzy said, "Kick has connotations of a sudden, forceful movement, particularly with undertones of violence." And number four.

What do you think Reedy is trying to communicate about her experience through the simile? And Izzy said, "I think the image of a 'kick in the chest' really suggests how people's reactions negatively affect Reedy and perhaps hints she doesn't always feel safe because of those reactions." So, pause the video.

Consider how well Izzy's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people really building on those earlier ideas we had about a circus and how there are links to being seen as entertainment by other people, but also these dark undertones of entitlement and violence, especially from the word kick.

People feel entitled to be entertained by her.

Just as arguably sometimes, we feel entitled to be entertained by celebrities.

We forget they're people with feelings.

I think that's really what Reedy wants us to understand through these similes.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now on to our second learning cycle where we're going to break down Reedy's similes and turn them into a toolkit that we can then use to create our own similes.

So as I said, now that we've analysed Reedy's use of similes, we're going to think about how we can emulate her work.

So how can we imitate the effectiveness of her similes? So, let's start thinking about what the first step to creating an effective simile is.

Now remember, a simile is designed to communicate an idea or an image to the audience.

If that's the case, what do you think the first step in creating a simile might be? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people really zooming in on this idea of communication.

As our Oak pupil Laura says, "that means we need to have the idea or image we want to communicate in mind as our first step to creating an effective simile." So now we have our first step of thinking about what the idea or image it is we want to communicate, we then need to think of our second step.

Now just a reminder, the definition of a simile is a figure of speech that involves comparing two unlike things, using the words like or as.

So, once we have our initial idea we want to communicate to the audience, what do you think the next step is? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now given that a simile is a comparison, to create an effective simile, "We need to decide on our comparative image that will help us communicate our idea to the audience." So let's return to one of Reedy's examples and think about what is so effective about her simile.

So the first simile we looked at was, "like being the main attraction at the circus every day of my life." In this example, Reedy chose to compare her experience of getting unwanted attention and scrutiny from the general public through the comparison to a circus.

So, we have our idea, the communication of unwanted attention, and we have our comparative image, the circus.

What I'd like to think about is what has Reedy done here to create an effective simile? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now as our Oak pupil Laura says, "She's added extra details to really ensure the audience understands the level of scrutiny and constant invasion of her privacy." By suggesting she's the main attraction, Reedy highlights just how much she's expected to entertain other people and how much attention she gets.

By telling us it happens every day of her life, it really drives home to the reader just how little privacy she has, how draining and exhausting this constant observation and attention is.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So what did Reedy add to her simile to enhance its effectiveness? Was it A, a second comparative image? B, extra details? Or C, an anecdote? Pause the video.

Make your selection now.

The correct answer is B.

She added details of being a main attraction, that it happens every day of her life to really emphasise just how much unwanted attention and observation she gets.

So very well done if you got that right.

So, in order to emulate Reedy's use of similes, we might use the following steps.

Number one.

Consider what our initial idea or image is we want to communicate to the audience.

Number two.

Decide on a comparative image that has connotations similar to what we want to communicate to the audience.

And number three.

Add extra details to our comparative image to really help the audience understand our idea.

So, before we put our toolkit into action, let's just do a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is fill in the missing words to complete our steps to creating an effective simile.

So number one, consider what our is that we want to communicate to the audience.

Number two, decide on a that has connotations similar to what we want to communicate to the audience.

And number three, add to our comparative image to really help the audience understand our idea.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

The correct answers are, consider what our initial image or idea is we want to communicate to the audience.

Decide on a comparative image that has connotations similar to what we want to communicate to the audience.

And add extra details to our comparative image to really help the audience understand our idea.

So very well done if you got those right.

You're all doing fantastically well, everyone.

On to the final task of the lesson.

We're going to bring everything together to create our own similes.

Now, we're focusing on emulating Reedy's use of similes, which means we're taking what we've learned from Reedy's similes and applying them to our own.

Now Reedy's article showed the reader her experience of feeling like a spectacle with constant, unwanted attention.

So in order to emulate rather than simply copy Reedy's similes, we're going to use our toolkit to create a different emotion.

So we're going to craft a simile that shows the opposite idea to the audience, the idea of feeling invisible.

Now, before we get into the crafting, I'd like you to take a moment to generate some ideas about what you think that would feel like.

Because remember, the idea you're communicating is at the core of creating an effective simile.

So what are your initial thoughts and feelings about the notion of being invisible? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone, and some fantastic discussions there.

I think it was amazing to see the different reactions to being invisible.

Some people interpret it as positive because you can focus on yourself and your life and not be distracted by the outside influence of others, whereas other people interpret it in a more negative way, and feeling that sense of loneliness and separation from others.

Whichever ideas you had about that feeling of being invisible, I want you to hold onto those and channel those into your simile to really communicate that idea to the audience.

So, now I want to use your ideas from your discussions to craft your own simile.

So remember to use a comparative image that has connotations similar to what you want to communicate to the audience, and to add extra details to enhance your message to the audience.

So pause the video.

Create your simile now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now we're going to take a look at one of our Oak pupils' similes and think about what it's trying to communicate.

I think it's a great idea to look at someone else's work and see how you respond to it.

I'm excited to see how you can take those ideas and apply them to your own writing.

So, I'd like you to read Izzy's simile, and think about what it is you think she's trying to communicate to the audience.

So Izzy's simile was, "I felt like a thought that kept receding away back into my subconscious mind." So pause the video.

Consider what it is you think Izzy's trying to communicate? Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people recognising that Izzy was trying to communicate that feeling of loneliness and trying to connect with others yet failing.

Now, Izzy wrote a justification for her simile, and justification is one of our keywords.

It means the action of showing something to be right or reasonable.

So Izzy has written about why her extra details are reasonable in trying to convey that idea of wanting to connect yet failing.

So Izzy wrote, "I wanted to communicate the idea of not only being invisible but also the idea that I was trying to come to the forefront of someone's mind to be present and physical, but I kept somehow slipping back into invisibility and obscurity." So, what I'd like you to do is pause the video.

Consider whether Izzy's justification helps you understand her simile? Welcome back, everyone.

So Izzy started with this initial idea of a thought, which is invisible and untouchable as it is.

But she then extended that by creating this impression of a thought that cannot actually stay in someone's mind.

I think that really creates a sensation of being forgettable, even though you're desperately trying to make an impact.

Now, I'd like you to return to your own similes and write a justification for your extra details.

How do they enhance your simile? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

I think this idea of going back over your work and really trying to think about why you did something is really useful because that's when you really interrogate what your thought process was and whether it's translated on the page.

So whenever you're crafting your writing, always try to keep that in mind, to take a moment to pause and consider what effect do you want to have on the reader? And how what you're doing is trying to create that effect.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

A simile might be useful in non-fiction writing to explain an idea to a reader.

Reedy's use of similes highlights the level of scrutiny and unwanted attention she endures.

To create a simile, we might start with deciding on what idea it is we want to communicate.

So in Reedy's example, she started with this idea of communicating how unpleasant the unwanted attention she gets in public is.

Then we might decide on a comparative image which has connotations that match our idea.

So in Reedy's example, she chose the image of a circus to communicate those ideas of feelings that people see you as entertainment rather than a real person.

Finally, we might add extra details to enhance the reader's understanding.

So in Reedy's example, she actually felt like a main attraction at a circus.

She felt like that every day.

To really enhance the invasive nature of the unwelcome attention that she receives.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope the toolkit we created will be useful in future writing for when you want to use similes to communicate an idea.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye!.