Analogies

Analogies

•“Fish is to water as bird is to air.” That’s an analogy. It shows a parallel relationship. Analogies can build your vocabulary and reasoning skills. When you understand the relationship on one side of the analogy, you can apply that to the words or ideas on the other side. In this case, if you know that a fish moves through water, you can determine that a bird moves through air.

Multiple Choice

•Based on the analogy below, what can you determine about the phrase “a bed of clams”?

•Bed is to clams as pack is to wolves.

• “A bed of clams” refers to the furniture clams sleep on.

• . “A bed of clams” refers to a group of clams.

• “A bed of clams” refers to what clams eat.

• “A bed of clams” refers to a meal with clams in it.

Analogies

•Analogies are similar to similes and metaphors. However, similes and metaphors compare one thing to another directly. Analogies, on the other hand, show a parallel relationship between words or ideas.

•They also have different purposes; similes and metaphors can create vivid imagery and add poetry to your writing. Analogies can clarify a relationship and make your writing more persuasive. 

Multiple Choice

Read the following passage.

After Maria left me, I felt hollow and weak. I held onto her letter, the only trace of her that remained, but I was afraid to read it. For three weeks, I walked around the house like a lost soul, that letter folded up into a square in my shirt pocket. They say that just as the sword is the weapon of the warrior, a pen is the weapon of the writer. And it’s true. When I opened that letter, her words bruised my heart. Two rivers streaked down my cheeks and leaked onto the carpet.

Which detail from the passage includes the best example of an analogy?

• “...just as the sword is the weapon of the warrior, a pen is the weapon of the writer.”

  •B

• “I held onto her letter, the only trace of her that remained, but I was afraid to read it.”

• “...I walked around the house like a lost soul...”

• “...her words bruised my heart.

Multiple Choice

Sometimes, you’ll see analogies written in a specific way. A double colon (::) separates the two sides of the analogy and means “as.” The words or phrases to the left and right are both separated by a single colon (:), which means “is to.”

The relationship between the words and phrases to the left of the double colon is the same as the relationship between the words and phrases to the right. You might be asked to complete the analogy by determining what that relationship is.Based on the passage, which of the following would correctly show the analogy “cobbler is to shoes as mason is to stones”?

• COBBLER ::: SHOES = MASON ::: STONES

• COBBLER’S SHOES = MASON’S STONES

• COBBLER : SHOES :: MASON : STONES

• COBBLER : SHOES :: MASON ::: STONES

Multiple Choice

Analogies can show different kinds of relationships between words and phrases. Some examples include: antonym, synonym, part to wholes, user to tool and producer to product.

If you understand the relationship between words on one side of the analogy, you can use that to complete the relationship on the other side.Complete the analogy below.

BEE is to HONEY as COW is to

• bull

• steak

• milk

• horns

Multiple Choice

“It’s important that we make clear at this point what definition is and what can be obtained by means of it. It seems frequently to be credited with a creative power, but all it accomplishes is that something is marked out…and designated by a name. Just as the geographer does not create a sea when he draws boundary lines… so too the mathematician cannot really create anything by his defining.”

How does the author of this passage make an argument by analogy?

• The author draws an analogy between a mathematician’s definitions and a geographer’s maps to make the point

  that both have a creative power.

• The author draws an analogy between the images on a map and the words of a definition to make the point

  that both can be read and represent the world.

  •

• The author draws an analogy between a mathematician’s skill and a geographer’s knowledge to make the point

  that both require imagination.

• The author draws an analogy between writing definitions in mathematics and making maps in geography to make the

  point that neither task is creative.

Multiple Choice

Read the following advertisement.

The new novel by best-selling author Virginia Phillips is sure to become a classic. Set in 1980s Idaho, Easton's follows Daria Garcia on a night that will change her life forever. The Ridgefield Reporter calls it the “Book of the Summer.” Critic Jillian Martinez says Easton’s Daria is “the kind of character you recognize and root for, the Cinderella of new fiction.” Now available in paperback, Easton's is a book you don’t want to miss!

Which of the following best restates the analogy in this advertisement?

• Just as Cinderella is a recognizable and relatable character in fairy tales, Daria Garcia will be a recognizable and relatable character in contemporary fiction.

• Daria Garcia is to Easton's as Cinderella is to the prince.

• Just as Daria Garcia is a character made famous by Virginia Phillips, Cinderella is a character made famous by Disney. D

• Just as Cinderella struggles before she meets her prince, Daria Garcia struggles in the first chapter of the novel.

Multiple Choice

Dr. King used this analogy to clarify two abstract ideas: love and hate. He also used it to persuade his listeners that responding to hate with hate would be useless, like fighting darkness with darkness.

King states that the only way to drive out darkness is to introduce light. This is a point his listeners cannot argue with. Dr. King draws the analogy to make his point that the only way to drive out hatred is to introduce love.

Based on this passage, Dr. King used an analogy in a speech about love and hate in order to

• entertain his listeners.

• clarify something abstract and persuade his listeners.

• clarify something abstract and entertain his listeners.

• clarify something abstract only.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following sentences uses an analogy?

• Geologists are scientists who study Earth’s processes.

• Rock layers tell the story of Earth’s past.

• Geologists use rocks the way detectives use clues.

• To Dr. Sanchez, finding a fossil is like winning a prize.

Multiple Choice

Based on the analogy below, what must be true about a carpenter and a vise?

PAINTER is to BRUSH as CARPENTER is to VISE

• A carpenter creates a vise.

• A carpenter wears a vise.

• A vise is a tool for a carpenter.

• A vise is a type of carpenter.

Multiple Choice

Based on the analogy below, what must be true about the word “notifying"?

NOTIFYING is to INFORMING as SLEEPING is to SLUMBERING

• Notifying is a part of informing.

• Notifying means informing.

• Notifying is the opposite of informing.

• Notifying causes informing.

Multiple Choice

Based on the analogy below, what must be true about the word “triviality"?

TRIVIALITY is to VALUE as SERIOUSNESS is to HUMOR

• A triviality lacks value.

• A triviality is a type of value.

• A triviality causes value.

• A triviality has value.

Multiple Choice

What does the analogy in this excerpt imply?

“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.”

• Like stones, science can be used to build great things, but those things can be destroyed.

• Like a house, a stone can contain life, but life can exist elsewhere.

• Like an architect, a scientist must use both imagination and logic.

• Like a house, science is constructed from building blocks that are used in a specific way.

Multiple Choice

"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience."

What does the analogy in this quote imply?

• Like lamps, the speaker’s feet will lead the way for others to follow.

• Like a light, the speaker will help those who are lost.

• Like a lamp, the past has helped the speaker find his way.

• Like a light, the past has helped the speaker drive out darkness.