Blogger #7 - Jason Chiu - Period 1 - 11/13/2020 - Day A - Freshmen 2021

Blogger #7 - Jason Chiu - Period 1 - 11/13/2020 - Day A - Freshmen 2021

Aim: How are metaphors used by writers to send meaning to readers?


Do Now: Complete the following: Love is .


At the beginning of class, everyone was tasked with filling in the blank provided by the teacher in the Do Now question. Each person’s answer was a unique metaphor for what they perceived love to be. We then explored the concept of what a metaphor is (definition below).


Metaphor: The distinct comparison where one thing or idea substitutes for another.

It’s a figure of speech that develops a comparison which is different from a simile.


We then watched the following video about metaphors to further our understanding on the topic. The video begins with an example of a poem that makes great use of metaphors. After the example is shown, the definition of metaphor is provided and what feelings a metaphor may invoke. Later in the video, an explanation of why metaphors are used is given.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4gMKZKU3lE&ab_channel=TheRedRoomCompany


We were then given the definition of an extended metaphor (definition below). We then read the article “Poetry for Everyday Life” by David Brooks. The article discusses how metaphors are used in communication between people on a daily basis. He gives the example of food metaphors being used to describe the world of ideas, health metaphors being used to describe relationships, war metaphors being used to describe arguments, and agent metaphors to describe the stock market. Brooks mentions how we use metaphors to make up for natural weaknesses of thinking about abstractions.


http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html

Extended Metaphor: A metaphor that is developed over several lines or throughout a poem.


After reading the article, we read “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson. We then discussed how she uses an extended metaphor to describe hope in her poem. We then moved on to discussing two other poems within our groups. These being the poems, “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” By Tupac Shakur. My group came to the conclusion that while both poems used different extended metaphors they were both able to express the same idea of growing up in a troubled place.


Reflection:

In class today, I learned a more in depth analysis of what a metaphor is and why it is used in poetry. I also learned that metaphors can be common phrases that people use in everyday scenarios, such as, in small talk and day to day conversation. Another thing I learned was how poets use extended metaphors to express and idea over a few lines or an entire poem. I now have the knowledge of metaphors and when to use them in my own poetry or writing moving forward.