Aim: how are metaphors used by writers to send a meaning to readers.
Do Now: CLASS DISCUSSION
For today’s do now we had to finish the sentence, “Love is …”. Our classmates said “Love is not effortless”, “Love is family and friends”, “Love is an expression”, “Love is your affection for someone”, and “Love is a battle”. Many people gave actual definitions of what love is and others gave an object to compare love. This gives us a start of what a metaphor is. A metaphor is a comparison where one thing or idea substitutes for each other and instead of telling us, the meaning is implicit which means it is hidden.
After doing the do now, we watched a video on examples of metaphors Red Room Poetry Object Poetic Device #3: Metaphor [2:14]. The video then gives us a formula to form a metaphor. The formula tells you to think of an object or thing and then compare it to something else. Then we talked about an extended metaphor, which is just a metaphor that goes on for several lines.
SPIRIT READING
For spirit reading we read, “Poetry for Everyday Life” by David Brooks
Here’s a clunky but unremarkable sentence that appeared in the British press before the last national election: “Britain’s recovery from the worst recession in decades is gaining traction, but confused economic data and the high risk of hung Parliament could yet snuff out its momentum.”
The sentence is only worth quoting because in 28 words it contains four metaphors. Economies don’t really gain traction, like a tractor. Momentum doesn’t literally get snuffed out, like a cigarette. We just use those metaphors, without even thinking about it, as a way to capture what is going on.
In his fine new book, “I Is an Other,” James Geary reports on linguistic research suggesting that people use a metaphor every 10 to 25 words. Metaphors are not rhetorical frills at the edge of how we think, Geary writes. They are at the very heart of it.
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, two of the leading researchers in this field, have pointed out that we often use food metaphors to describe the world of ideas. We devour a book, try to digest raw facts and attempt to regurgitate other people’s ideas, even though they might be half-baked.
When talking about relationships, we often use health metaphors. A friend might be involved in a sick relationship. Another might have a healthy marriage.
When talking about argument, we use war metaphors. When talking about time, we often use money metaphors. But when talking about money, we rely on liquid metaphors. We dip into savings, sponge off friends or skim funds off the top. Even the job title stockbroker derives from the French word “brocheur”, the tavern worker who tapped the kegs of beer to get the liquidity flowing.
The psychologist Michael Morris points out that when the stock market is going up, we tend to use agent metaphors, implying the market is a living thing with clear intentions. We say the market climbs or soars or fights its way upward. When the market goes down, on the other hand, we use object metaphors, implying it is inanimate. The market falls, plummets or slides.
Most of us, when asked to stop and think about it, are by now aware of the pervasiveness of metaphorical thinking. But in the normal rush of events, we often see straight through metaphors, unaware of how they refract perceptions. So it’s probably important to pause once a month or so to pierce the illusion that we see the world directly. It’s good to pause to appreciate how flexible and tenuous our grip on reality actually is.
Metaphors help compensate for our natural weaknesses. Most of us are not very good at thinking about abstractions or spiritual states, so we rely on concrete or spatial metaphors to (imperfectly) do the job. A lifetime is pictured as a journey across a landscape. A person who is sad is down in the dumps, while a happy fellow is riding high.
Most of us are not good at understanding new things, so we grasp them imperfectly by relating them metaphorically to things that already exist. That’s a “desktop” on your computer screen…
Most important, being aware of metaphors reminds you of the central role that poetic skills play in our thought. If much of our thinking is shaped and driven by metaphor, then the skilled thinker will be able to recognize patterns, blend patterns, apprehend the relationships and pursue unexpected likenesses.
Even the hardest of the sciences depend on a foundation of metaphors. To be aware of metaphors is to be humbled by the complexity of the world, to realize that deep in the undercurrents of thought there are thousands of lenses popping up between us and the world, and that we’re surrounded at all times by what Steven Pinker of Harvard once called “pedestrian poetry.”
CLASS DISCUSSION
We read a poem from Emily Dickinson
Hope is the Thing with Feathers (By Emily Dickinson)
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune – without the words,
And never stops at all,
“And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
“I’ve heard it in the chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.”
Then we had a discussion about what the author was trying to say about the theme using metaphors. Ayah said that Dickinson was using different metaphors to give us feelings of being calm and having hope in life.
GROUP WORK:
For group work we had to read the poem “Mother to Son”
“Mother to Son” By Langston Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been aclimbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair
We were asked to find what metaphors were used in the poem and what they meant. Jerry said the tacks and splinters were a setback in the poem and the stair was a symbol of your life which you had to keep climbing to reach your goals. Mrs. Peterson then said that life was not a crystal staircase since crystal staircases are clear and you can see right through everything, which would be easy in life since you would know what was gonna happen. Ayah said a similar thought like Jerry’s and said life can sometimes be difficult but you have to keep pushing through and to succeed regardless what obstacles are thrown at you.
Then the next group work poem we read was “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”
“The Rose That Grew from Concrete” By Tupac Shakur
Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.
When asked about what the extended metaphor was and what it represented, Asdaq said that the rose refers to a person and the concrete represents an impoverished town. Also points out how walking without feet is a huge setback but they are working hard to succeed despite the difficulties. Mrs. Peterson then said that you have this beautiful rose coming from concrete which it isn’t supposed to come from. Then after analyzing the poems we had to compare both poems to each other on how they used metaphors to express a common theme. Ayah stated that the messages the poems were trying to give was to never give up on hope and to succeed through all challenges.
REFLECTION
From this lesson I learned how to analyze metaphors and what their hidden meanings could be or what their message/theme they are trying to show us. Also I learned how to make metaphors with different objects/ideas. Metaphors often use the form of the verb, “To Be”. (is, am, are, was, were, will be, being, been, could, should, would, has, have, having, had, may, might, must). Metaphors can sometimes compare something that is really obvious like “Love is an emotion” but then it can also be “Love is uphill battle” which is saying that there are tons of challenges when it comes to loving someone. I think learning metaphors can be helpful in life, they are another way to express our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes people who like expressing their feelings with metaphors will be difficult to understand so learning how to understand metaphors can be helpful.
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