TACHS: Comparisons in a personal story: what the object gives the narrator
Learn to read a narrator's comparison by asking what the second thing provides and what the narrator is going through, then follow that comparison to the story's later scenes and central insight.
When a narrator says an ordinary object is like something else, how do you tell what that means?
Short answer
Name the two things compared and what the second thing does or provides. Then connect that to what the narrator is going through at that moment. The meaning is that same quality, felt rather than literal.
Know first: What a simile is, Following a narrator's feelings in a personal story
Step 1 of 5
The comparison tells you how the narrator feels about the object
In a personal story, a narrator may compare an everyday object to something else. A key opens a door. A coat keeps you warm. A bridge joins two sides. The quality the two things share is the meaning.
The comparison is never a literal fact. If a choice involves a real key, coat or bridge, it's almost certainly a trap.
| Question | How the comparison helps |
|---|---|
| What does another character suggest? | Their odd or playful line usually points to the same quality the comparison named. |
| How does a later scene develop the story? | It often shows the suggestion in action, with people and events. |
| What is the central insight? | The early comparison usually points straight to it. |
| What exactly happened in a scene? | Detail questions still need the exact words, so check the scene. |
Understanding the comparison early makes the later questions on the same passage easier.
Step 2 of 5
Combine what the thing provides with the narrator's situation
A borrowed room
When my brother left for college1, his room stayed exactly as he had arranged it: the lamp bent low, the chair turned toward the window. I started doing my homework at his desk.2 The room felt like a coat he had left behind for me to borrow3, a little too big, but warm4.
- The situation: someone close has gone.
- The narrator chooses to spend time in his space.
- A borrowed coat gives warmth and a link to its owner.
- Comfort, without taking his place.
Worked example: What does the coat mean?
What does the narrator mean by saying the room felt “like a coat he had left behind for me to borrow”?
- AThe brother forgot to pack his winter coat.
- BThe room gives the narrator comfort and a feeling of closeness to the brother.
- CThe room is cold, so the narrator wears a coat while studying.
- DThe narrator plans to move into the room for good.
- 1
Two things
The brother's room and a borrowed coat.
- 2
What the second thing provides
Warmth and comfort, and, since it's borrowed, a link to its owner.
- 3
The situation
The brother has just left, and the narrator chooses to work in his room.
- 4
See why the other choices are there
A and C treat the coat as a real coat. D stretches borrow into a permanent move. Borrowing is temporary, and a little too big shows the narrator isn't taking his place.
Answer
The room gives the narrator comfort and a feeling of closeness to the brother.
Wrong: The room is like a coat because it keeps the narrator physically warm.
Right: The room is like a coat because it comforts the narrator after the brother leaves.
Both start from warmth, but only the second connects it to the narrator's situation. Comparison questions want the feeling.
Step 3 of 5
Read the comparison yourself
Read this excerpt
After my best friend moved across the country, we started a shared notebook. Each of us wrote a few pages and mailed it back. The notebook became a hallway between our two houses, and every few weeks a door at the end of it opened. When the newest pages arrived, I read them on the porch steps where we used to sit and talk.
Check yourself · Question 1
What does the narrator mean by calling the notebook “a hallway between our two houses”?
Answer: B
A hallway joins two places so you can pass between them. The friend has moved far away, and the notebook lets their words pass back and forth.
Trap answer: The two friends now live next door to each other.
Taking the comparison literally
- Why it looks right
- A hallway between two houses really would mean the houses are close.
- Why it's wrong
- The first sentence says the friend moved across the country. The hallway is a way of describing the connection, not the distance.
- The right answer
- The notebook keeps the friends connected across the distance.
Check yourself · Question 2
In the same excerpt, what does “a door at the end of it opened” stand for?
Answer: A
The door opens every few weeks, and the next sentence describes the newest pages arriving. The door opening is a new delivery of the notebook.
Common mistake
I chose a meaning that fit the comparison but ignored what was happening to the narrator.
- Why it's tempting
- A choice can describe a coat, key or hallway accurately and still seem to match.
- Do this instead
- Tie the comparison to the narrator's situation at that moment, such as someone leaving or something being missed. The meaning is what the object gives the narrator then.
Step 4 of 5
What to remember
Remember
- Name the two things compared and what the second thing provides.
- Connect that quality to what the narrator is going through, and reject literal readings.
- The early comparison often points to what later scenes show and to the story's central insight.
Step 5 of 5
Practice on a real question
Use what you just learned on this question, then check the explanation.
In your own words
In the practice question, what does the second thing in the comparison provide, and how does that connect to what the narrator is going through?