A comparison between two usually unlike things, not using like or as. Used to create a vivid picture in the reader s mind.

Transcription

1 A comparison between two usually unlike things, not using like or as. Used to create a vivid picture in the reader s mind.

2 Metaphor Find the metaphor in each of the following sentences. Figure out what the sentence is literally talking about (A) and then what it s being compared to (B). Sometimes it s very straightforward. A = B. Sometimes it s more implied. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor. His cruel words were another link in the chain, locking her spirit inside. The little girls ran home, two cocker spaniels scampering through the field. Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. In lonely silence I search crystal pools of thought for sunken truth. Night sifted down on the city. The sergeant s voice shredded the air.

3 The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor. The road (A) = a ribbon of moonlight (B) His cruel words were another link in the chain, locking her spirit inside. Cruel words (A) = link in the chain (B) The little girls ran home, two cocker spaniels scampering through the field. Little girls (A) = cocker spaniels (B) Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. Hope (A) = a bird (B) In lonely silence I search crystal pools of thought for sunken truth. Searching one s thoughts (A) = finding buried treasure (B) Night sifted down on the city. Darkness coming on (A) = material that can be sifted (B) The sergeant s voice shredded the air. Sergeant s voice (A) something that shreds (B)

4 Metaphors By Syliva Plath I m a riddle in nine syllables An elephant, a ponderous house, A melon strolling on two tendrils. O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers! This loaf s big with its yeasty rising. Money s new-minted in this fat purse. I m a means, a stage, a cow in calf. I ve eaten a bag of green apples, Boarded the train there s no getting off. Figure out what the author is actually talking about. Each of the lines uses a metaphor to give a clue.

5 Hints: There are nine syllables in each line. There are nine lines. Nine must be important. Each of the images gets bigger and bigger, like ripening fruit. Give up?

6 It s pregnancy. Can you see it now?

7 As you know, a metaphor is a comparison between two usually unlike things without using like or as. An extended metaphor is the same thing but rather than using just one image, it keeps the metaphor going throughout the piece of writing. Note the following examples:

8 I Like to See It Lap the Miles By Emily Dickinson What is it and what is the author comparing it to? I like to see it lap the miles, And lick the valleys up, And stop to feed itself at tanks; And then prodigious, step Around a pile of mountains, And, supercilious, peer In shanties by the sides of roads; And then a quarry pare To fit its sides, and crawl between, Complaining all the while In horrid, hooting stanza; Then chase itself down hill And neigh like Boanerges; Then, punctual as a star, Stop docile and omnipotent At its own stable door.

9 It (A) is a train. That s what Dickenson is literally talking about (B) Is a horse. She s comparing a train to a horse, but she never actually uses either word.

10 What is the author comparing hate to? Without a Cloak By Phyllis McGinely Hate has a fashionably cut. It is the garment man agrees on, Snug, colorful, the proper weight For comfort in an icy season. And it is weatherproof, they say Becoming, also, to the spirit. I fetched Hate homeward yesterday, But there it hangs. I cannot wear it. It is a dress that suits me ill, However much the mode sustains me. At once too ample and too small, It trips, bewilders, and confines me. And in my blood do fevers flow, Corruptive, where the fabric presses, Till I must pluck it off as though It were the burning shirt of Nessus Proud walk the people folded warm In Hate. They need not pray for spring. But threadbare do I face the storm Or hug my hearthstone, shivering.

11 What is the author comparing love to? Incarcerated in San Amor By Taylor Fielding I am the Jailer. Everyone enters this prison. no one is ever paroled. Male or female, not that it matters. Here we shackle your heart, not your hands. Some spend all their time, in the yard socializing, others stay in solitary confinement. What is the author comparing speaking to? A Barren Garden Dewdropped roses Slip from other people s mouths, They know what to say. Yet when I open my lips, Thorned dandelions sprout. That s why I don t say much. I ll leave ground barren Rather than chance the weeds A new definition of pain is found here. The newcomers get hurt the most. There are the hardened ones, it doesn t affect them much. No matter who or where you are You are guilty and your only crime is being human. This is a jail. This is love, and you have a life sentence.

12 These letters use both extended metaphor and puns. Dear John, It s over, done, final. Our affair was at best Half-baked. All you ever really wanted was my dough. I kneaded you. I was young and untested, full of sugar and spice. You never buttered me up or even sent me a flour. All you did was mix me up. I was nuts about you. I hated being treated like a tart. I wanted to be more than the frosting on your cake. I measured up. I ve been burned. I need time to sift my emotions. I m putting my heart on the shelf to cool. It may never rise again. So flake off, you crumb, Cupcake Dear John, You have pitched your last fastball to me. No more sliding into home at 3 a.m. You re out, bud. You just get batter every day. This inning is over. Your lies are way out in left field. And if you think this letter is written out of spike, you re right on base. Now I ve balled you out, I feel relieved, Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot. I glove it. I m forcing you out, Willa May

13 Now it s your turn. Create an extended metaphor in either prose (regular paragraph form) or poetry (free verse or rhyming). Figure out what you are really talking about and then choose something to compare it to. Keep up the metaphor throughout the piece. OR Write a Dear John letter using a particular metaphor. You may be as silly as you wish, but keep up the metaphor throughout.