http://www.englishforums.com/English/GeneralEnglishGrammarQuestions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here.enCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/Metaphors/mbhv/post.htm#59368Sun, 05 Dec 2004 01:10:42 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:59368MrPedantic0http://www.englishforums.com/English/Metaphors/mbhv/post.htm#59368http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-59368.xmlHello Guest <br /> <br />'Like going from crayons to perfume' would be a simile, unfortunately, not a metaphor. <br /> <br />It would be a very strange simile, moreover, as it's difficult to imagine a process that involved crayons at one end, and perfume at the other; unless you were thinking of 'crayons' = 'child at nursery school' and 'perfume' = 'sophisticated adolescent female'. <br /> <br />However, that doesn't mean you couldn't use the phrase. You could for example: <br /> <br />1. Give your opening sentence as above. <br />2. Explain why it's not a metaphor, but a simile. <br />3. Explain why it's a slightly strange simile. <br />4. Improve it step by step until you had a less strange simile for your 'educational growth'. <br />5. Change it into an appropriate metaphor with one last grandiloquent metamorphosis. <br /> <br />You would then find that not only had you illustrated your growth with a metaphor, you had also illustrated it by the very structure of your essay! <br /> <br />I'm curious by the way as to why your math class discusses metaphor. <br /> <br />('Pi in the Sky'?) <br /> <br />MrPhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/Metaphors/mbhr/post.htmSun, 05 Dec 2004 00:48:16 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:59364Guest1http://www.englishforums.com/English/Metaphors/mbhr/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-59364.xmlI have to write a paper for a math class that is based upon the use of a metaphor to show my growth in knowledge as a result of my enrollment in the class. I was thinking about using the phrase "From crayons to perfume." My idea is to begin the paper with the following sentence: <br /> <br />My growth that has occurred as a result of this class is like going from crayons to perfume. <br /> <br />Is this proper use of a metaphor??? If not, could you please make suggestions?