Reading and Writing Poetry

How do you identify and distinguish between simile and metaphor?

To review, simile is a comparison of two unlike things using like or as and metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing.
William Wordsworth's famous comparison "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a simile. If Wordsworth had written "I was a lonely, wandering cloud," it would have been a metaphor.

Try to find metaphors and similes in every day language and make a list of them.
Pick your favorite poet and google his/her poems on the internet. Make a list of simile or metaphors that you came across. Answer the question:"Why do poets use metaphors and similes?"

Create a "self-metaphor" that highlights one of your characteristics. Choose a poetic form in which you want to present yourself, like a crosstick, where you use the letters of your name to begin words that describe yourself.