Why It Matters
Extended metaphors show sophistication and control. They demonstrate to the examiner that you can sustain an idea and develop it creatively, rather than just dropping in a one-off comparison.
Examples
“The crowd moved like a river — eddying around bargains, pooling at popular corners, occasionally spilling into the road.”
-- Water metaphor sustained across three phases“The journey was an elastic band, stretching thinner and thinner with every mile until, at last, it snapped.”
-- Physical metaphor for emotional connectionTo write an extended metaphor, choose your comparison and then ask: what else about this comparison is true? If the crowd is a river, what are the banks? The rocks? The current? Develop two or three aspects of the comparison.
Practice Exercises
Try these exercises to practise using extended metaphor in your own writing. Click "Show Suggestions" to see example answers.
1
Write an extended metaphor comparing a school day to a journey (3 sentences).
The school day was a long road with no shortcuts. Each lesson was a hill to climb — some gentle slopes, others steep enough to make your legs burn. By three o'clock, the road levelled out, and the view from the top — home, freedom, the weekend ahead — made every step worth it.
Related Techniques
Metaphor
A direct comparison that says something IS something else, without using "like" or "as".
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Simile
A comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as".
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Personification
Giving human qualities, feelings, or actions to something that is not human — an object, an animal, or an idea.
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