Ministry of higher and secondary special education of republic of uzbekistan

Panoramic (Background) Similes

Panoramic (background) similes are used to designate different natural phenomena, events, or situations against the background of which the plot of the narrative develops. The main peculiarity of these similes lies in the fact that the subject matter in them is represented by, so-called, “argument-elementive” indicating an unanimate active doer of some action, or a thing in some state, such as natural forces or phenomena, celestial bodies, parts of the universe, etc. (e.g., the sun, the moon, the sky, rivers, oceans). Accordingly, the TO in this kind of similes is expressed either by astronyms, hydronyms, floronyms or phenomonyms (i.e., names, denoting different natural phenomena). We differentiate this type of similes into dynamic and static subtypes, the former being realized with the help of verbs denoting action, whereas the latter is based on the qualitative adjectival or verbal static predication.

Example
Dynamic background similes: The sun bounced like a ball against the clouds and the park
seemed ready to jump and take off. The creeks crook their way down into the little river that crawls through the woods like a green alligator.
Example
Static background similes: It was a feathery rain fine as gauze curtain. The Montana sunset lay between two mountains like a gigantic bruise from which dark arteries spread themselves over a poisoned sky.
Generalizing Similes

Generalizing similes semantically proceed from the fore-text, logically summing up the described situations and events via their generalization and subjective evaluation. Hence, the TO in generalizing similes is semantically polypropositional represented by the indexical it which refers anaphorically to the chain of described situations and events, previously identified in the text.

Example
I thought Catherine was dead. She looked dead. Her face was grey, the part of it that I could see. Down below, under the light, the doctor was sewing up the great long forceps-spread, thick-edged wound. Another doctor in a mask gave the anaesthetic. Two nurses in masks handed things. It looked like a drawing of the Inquisition. In this textual fragment from Hemingway’s novel Farewell to Arms (1997), the indexical it refers back to the described situation as a whole rather than one specific situation conveyed in each sentence, constituting the microtext. While a simile approximates a thing to another, metaphor treats one as a substitute for another. A metaphor is complete in itself and does not need an explanation. However, you can use one after other similes to explain your meaning. If I say a great book is like a good meal, I am using a simile to let people think that the book is as delicious as a meal. On the other hand, I can use a metaphor to have the same effect when I say that the book is a food for thought. Here, I am using a metaphor as I am not directly comparing a book with a delicious meal but suggesting that the book is great to satiate the hunger of those who read books for this purpose. If I come across a friend who is a voracious reader, the book is not like a meal to him, it is food for him.

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