Extended Metaphors- In Class #2

Extended Metaphors

What are they + How to write them! :)

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.

Open Ended

From “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In a sense, we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” ... 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."

Constitutional promises are begin compared to...

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

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

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

​More extended metaphor examples

1. How do the pieces differ?

2. How/why is the word choice important? (Think denotation vs. connotation)

3. How would you describe the author's style?

1. How do the pieces differ?

2. How/why is the word choice important? (Think denotation vs. connotation)

3. How would you describe the author's style?

Extended Metaphors-

• Word choice is extremely important in your creation of an extended metaphor!

• Again, think about the FEELING you are trying to create for your reader.

• Experiment with blending different comparisons!

• Write your own poem with extended metaphors!