Because it provides students with a strategy for the transfer of attributes from a familiar to an unfamiliar topic, the use of analogies can improve memory, increase specific knowledge, and encourage more critical evaluation of information. Analogies have been used to help students understand health and science materials, improve their vocabulary, and develop concepts in the content areas. To teach students to reason analytically, teachers can show them analogies of many types and help them discover and analyze the different kinds of relationships that can be expressed through the use of analogies. Once students have mastered the technique, teachers can ask them to write analogies relating to a passage they have read or have them discuss the relevance of a given analogy. Teachers can use discussions of differences between analogies to show that interpretation of a written text is subject to the reader's background of knowledge. Analogies can be used for literature as well. Through the strategy AEIOU and Sometimes Y (Analyze relationships, Explain, Instruct, Organize, Use, and sometimes You) instructors can provide structure and encouragement to students in using analogies and developing critical reading and thinking skills. (Appended are several instructional sheets that can be used to guide students through the instructional use of analogies.) (HOD)