In the excerpt below from Mississippi Solo, Eddy Harris uses similes to help readers visualize his experience of rafting on a river at the beginning of a dramatic storm. A simile compares one object or idea to another using “like” or “as”.

Question

Read the text in NRI. As you read, look out for similes. Here’s one: “Clouds rolled overhead in wild swirls like batter in a bowl.”

List two new similes you found in the text. Taken together, what do these comparisons help readers understand about the weather?
Think of a time in your life when you experienced serious weather conditions, such as a rainstorm, snow, or extreme heat. Explain what you would want readers to understand about the experience.
Finally, write a paragraph describing that weather, using at least three similes to help readers visualize your experience.

Mississippi Solo by Eddy Harris

The day turned gray and strange. Clouds rolled overhead in wild swirls like batter in a bowl. I could see the rainstorm forming off in the distance but swirling rapidly toward me like a dark gray avalanche. I felt the river dip down and up—a shallow dale in the water. I passed from the cool moisture surrounding me and into a pocket of thin air hot and dry. It was as though a gap had opened in the clouds and the sun streamed through to boil the water and heat up this isolated patch of river a scant thirty yards long. My first thought was to shed a shirt and stay cool, but when I passed through the far curtain of the insulated air, I knew I had better do just the opposite. I drifted and donned my yellow rain suit and hood. The sky above grew serious and advanced in my direction with the speed of a hurricane. Looking for a place to land, I scanned the shore. . . . I looked across to the other side of the river half a mile away. No way could I have made it over there. Halfway across and the wind would have kicked up and trapped me in the middle.

The leading edge of the storm came, and the first sprinkles passed over like army scouts. The wooded area lasted only another hundred yards or so, and I thought I could easily get there before the rains arrived. I could then turn left and find ground to pull out and wait out the storm.

Answer 1

In the excerpt from Mississippi Solo, two new similes I found are:

1. “The sky above grew serious and advanced in my direction with the speed of a hurricane.”
2. “The first sprinkles passed over like army scouts.”

Taken together, these comparisons help readers understand that the weather is rapidly changing and becoming increasingly threatening. The mention of "speed of a hurricane" conveys an urgency and intensity, suggesting that the storm is powerful and relentless. The simile "like army scouts" implies an ominous approach, as if the raindrops are heralding the arrival of a dangerous situation.

Reflecting on my own experience with serious weather conditions, I remember a particularly harsh winter storm. The snow fell thick and fast, transforming the landscape into a quiet, white wonderland that soon became treacherous. I would want readers to understand the beauty of the snowfall and the simultaneous peril it posed, as well as the sense of isolation it brought.

Here’s a paragraph describing that experience, using similes:
As the snow fell, it blanketed the ground like a soft, white quilt, muffling the sounds of the world around me. The flakes danced through the air like tiny ballerinas, swirling gracefully before landing with a gentle thud. Each gust of wind sent the snow spiraling up into the air like a whirlwind of feathers, only to settle down and cover everything in its path. The once vibrant streets turned into a frozen river, and the trees stood tall and stoic, their branches draped with shimmering white like lace chandeliers, creating a breathtaking yet eerie landscape.