ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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

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more in common than you realize?

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

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

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

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…Okay, fine, whatever, roll away…

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

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Analogies are comparisons of two things that seem different.

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

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

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

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

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

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… as hot is to summer.

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You’ll commonly see analogies written in the format of

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

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

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

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Something like that, anyway.

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So simple analogies are pretty straightforward, like this:

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Earrings are to ears as bracelets are to wrists.

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

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Or turkey is to Thanksgiving as candy is to Halloween.

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

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

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

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… is like being struck by a ball of fire.

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

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time on a long road trip.

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

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

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helps the reader understand what the author is saying.

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

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though analogies tend to be more complex.

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

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

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Because…people used to use tin cans to communicate…

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

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