Extended Metaphor, Connotation, and Tone

Extended Metaphor, Connotation, and Tone

Literal -vs- Figurative Language

• Literal language uses words exactly according to their denotation (dictionary definition). Ex: My feet are very cold.

• Figurative language uses words in a way that goes beyond their literal meaning. It is intended to make an image, comparison, or association in the mind of the reader that goes beyond the literal meaning of the words.   

• Ex:  My feet are like ice cubes.

What is a Metaphor?

• Metaphor: figurative language comparing two unlike things without using “like” or “as”

  Ex: The world is a stage

What is an Extended Metaphor?

• Extended Metaphor: a comparison that is continued throughout several sentences or lines of a poem

• Ex. All the world's a stage/ and all the men and women merely players/ They have their exits and their entrances/ And one man in his time plays many parts.

Your Turn

• In each of the following slides, determine what two things are begin compared.

Denotation vs. Connotation

• Denotation is the strict dictionary meaning of a word

  
  

• Connotation is the idea or feeling that a word or phrase carries in addition to its literal meaning. The connotation is usually either positive or negative.

  
  

• On the following slides, choose which word in each pair has a more negative connotation, even though the denotations are nearly the same.

  
  

Multiple Choice

Which word has a more negative connotation?

• Slender

• Skinny

Multiple Choice

Which word has a more negative connotation?

• Pushy

• Assertive

Multiple Choice

Which word has a more negative connotation?

• Unattractive

• Ugly

Multiple Choice

Which word has the most negative connotation?

• Cheap

• Inexpensive

• Affordable

What is Tone?

• Tone is the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself. It is the emotional coloring, or the emotional meaning, of the work and is an extremely important part of the full meaning.

  
  

• When someone says to you, “You need to change your tone!” what they mean is, “You need to change your attitude.”

  
  

Tone Continued

• It is relatively easy to figure out someone’s attitude in a face to face conversation, because you can hear their tone of voice, as well as read their facial expressions and body language.

  
  

• But it is more difficult when all you have is a text to read. When was the last time you had a misunderstanding with someone because all you had was their written or typed words? 

  
  

Tone Continued

• All pieces of literature have a tone of some sort. Authors create tone through diction (word choice) and syntax (sentence structure), and enhance it through imagery and figurative language.

  
  

• Some words to describe tone are uplifting, sarcastic, melancholy, foreboding, or lighthearted

  
  

• Highlight words that seem to show what the speaker is thinking or feeling, and this will give you a good idea of the tone of the text.

  
  

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 chillest land-/ and on the strangest sea-/ yet- never- in Extremity,/ it asked a crumb of me

Multiple Choice

What does the poet describe as “the thing with feathers”?

• Life

• Hope

• Song

• Soul

Multiple Choice

The poet uses the words “gale” and “storm” as metaphors. What might these words represent?

• Times of bad weather

• Hard and painful times

• Pleasant times

• Times of success and growth

Multiple Choice

The poet says that hope “sings the tune without the words”. Why might the poet have written that the tune has no words?

• To emphasize the point that hope does not need to be put into words to be felt

• To point out that it is very difficult for people to express whether they feel hopeful or not

• To suggest that people are usually unable to recognize the feeling of hope

• To indicate that people who are hopeful are also often forgetful

Multiple Choice

Read lines 6-8 from the poem:

“And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -”

What does the word, “abash” most nearly mean based on these lines?

• To confuse

• To support

• To praise

• To silence

Multiple Choice

This poem is an extended metaphor. What two things are being compared throughout the poem?

• Hope and a storm

• A bird and a storm

• Hope and a bird

• A bird and a song

Multiple Choice

The tone of this poem is

HINT: think about word choice and imagery: "perches in the soul", "sings the tune without the word", "I've heard it in the chillest land/ and on the strangest sea"

• Sarcastic

• Sorrowful

• Optimistic

• Celebratory

Read this excerpt and answer the question on the next slide.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”

Multiple Choice

The tone in this passage is mainly:

• Mocking

• Determined

• Pessimistic (negative)

• Angry

To Sum it Up

• An extended metaphor is a metaphor that goes on for multiple lines or stanzas. It makes a comparison and then continues to expand on/ explain that comparison

• Find tone by finding the central idea of the text. Then look at word choice and consider connotation. "Hear" the words in your mind, and determine the author or speaker's tone.