A McLesson in McWords

Today's word is Simile.  

Dictionary.com defines a Simile as.... 

sim·i·le   [sim-uh-lee] 

noun

1.

a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” Compare metaphor.

2.

an instance of such a figure of speech or a use of words exemplifying it.

The BFF and I enjoy this ad. 

I decided it had to get on the blog.  In case you are wondering... the video will give you a better idea of what a simile is.  

Source: McDonald's YouTube channel

Who’d have thought that even McDonald’s can teach you something?  I knew Ronald McDonald was good for me.  This video gives both examples and non-examples of similes in a context that would be familiar to nearly everyone. Oh yeah, the other word of the day is desseverage! 

Applications for Education

1.         Use the video to “hook” your students at the beginning of a lesson about literary devices. Talk about examples and non-examples of similes and then compare and contrast these to metaphors.

2.      Revise the concept of similes.  Watch the video as a class.  Give students a transcript of the ad and ask students to highlight the similes.  They could also mark (with a different colour) the non-examples of similes.

3.      Making this into a bigger project: you could ask students to write a script in the same style as the video.  Students could choose a familiar product to write about in pairs and then act out to the class.

4.      After watching the video, ask students to choose a familiar topic to write a list of similes about and to keep their product a secret.  When finished students could read their lists of similes to each other in small groups and see if their group can guess what the product is.

5.      Extend your students.  After learning about all the literary devices, watch the video and ask students what literary device is being used.  Then, ask students to write a script to advertise the product using literary devices other than similes. 

6.      More extension. After watching the video, and writing similar texts, discuss WHY the advertisers chose this literary device.  Discuss the purpose, audience and structure of the ad.  Work together to analyse and deconstruct the choices made by the “authors” of the video

There is so much that can be done with a two minute advertisement in the classroom.  I haven’t even got started on comparing advertising over time (you can access McDonald’s advert videos from 1970-present on YouTube).

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!