Creative Writing 4-4

Creative Writing

Unit 4-4

Loaded Images and Power Objects

4-1 Due Date 4/2

4-2 Due Date 4/4

4-3 Due Date 4/11

4-4 Due Date 4/16

4.5.2 CST & 4.5.3 TST Due 4/19

​4.4 Overview

​Wow! What an image this conjures!

Obviously there is no real ink.... just someone who eats up on some good poetry!

​Objectives 4.4

​

• Explore how metonymy creates a chain of meaning in loaded images.

• Discover the power of a hint or a nod toward a symbol or an allusion.

• Create a poem that emphasizes language play.

​4.4.1 page 1

​Metonymy

The White House made no official comment.

"Table two wants their check," the waiter said.

In the first example, "White House" is used in place of "president" or "executive branch of government." The physical building we know as the White House of course can't make a comment — a building can't speak! But most readers understand what the writer means.

Similarly, "table two" can be used in place of "customers at table two." The table itself doesn't want the check; it hasn't ordered any food, and it doesn't have any money. But this statement wouldn't confuse most people.

​"White House" in place of "president" and "table two" in place of "customers" are common examples of metonymy.

The word metonymy comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "change of name."

In writing, metonymy means substituting one word for another that is closely related.

Poets use metonymy as a technique for making familiar language seem new and striking.

​4.4.1 pages 2 - 5

​A famous example of metonymy is, "The pen is mightier than the sword" from Edward Bulwer Lytton's play Cardinal Richelieu. This sentence has two metonyms: "Pen" stands for "the written word." "Sword" stands for "military aggression."

​4.4.1 page 6

​What are some examples of synecdoche? Here are some examples of synecdoche: the word hand in "offer your hand in marriage"; mouths in "hungry mouths to feed"; and wheels referring to a car.

​4.4.1 page 12 Contagious emotion

​Our feelings about objects in real life can change depending on the story behind the object.

When you write about an object being from a particular place or having belonged to a particular person, you change the way the reader feels about it.

​4.4.1 page 15 Review

​

• Metonymy is the renaming of an object or idea. The new name is an object closely associated with the original object or idea.

• Synecdoche is a specific kind of metonymy in which a part of something stands in for the whole.

• Using metonymy can help make your language seem new and striking.

• Objects and images can carry lots of associations based on their contexts. Sometimes the context is the cultural or personal associations often connected to an object or image, and sometimes the context comes from within the poem itself.

• You can think of an object's context as having been "contagious" or "rubbing off" on the object itself, creating emotional associations for your reader.

• As a concept, metonymy can be used to load your images with more meaning.

​4.4.3 page 3

​We use and interpret symbols all the time. Whenever we see an image and understand it as having a larger cultural significance, we are interpreting it as a symbol.

Match

Match the following symbols to their significance.

America

Peace

Communism

Good luck

Love

• America

• Peace

• Communism

• Good luck

• Love

​4.4.3 page 4

​Many people would associate an image of a heart with romantic love or friendship. People commonly communicate their feelings by using hearts — you've probably seen a heart icon used in an e-mail message or a heart with people's initials in it carved into a tree.

But these kinds of associations are so common that it wouldn't be very effective to write a poem in which a heart shape was supposed to mean "love" and nothing else.

When poets use symbols in their writing, they often explore those symbols to uncover new aspects of meaning and implication. Rather than simply using a symbol to stand in for an abstract idea, poets pay close attention to the symbolic object itself and sometimes show us that the symbol is more complex than we thought.

​4.4.3 page 7 - 10

​Poets sometimes refer to a well-known story, myth, part of history, or other work of literature to achieve a similar effect. This type of reference is called an allusion.

Prince Charming

"There's no place like home"

"he who shall not be named"

Hakuna Matata

Your nose will start to grow because of that lie

He flew too close to the sun.

She's acting like a Scrooge

4.4.3 Review

​

• Symbols are objects that have come to carry cultural significance.

• Poets often use symbols to charge their language with meaning.

• When poets use a symbol, they often explore it for different aspects of meaning.

• An allusion is when a writer refers to a well-known story, myth, part of history, or work of literature.

• Poets use allusions in a similar way to symbols. Because of cultural context, allusions can say a lot in just a few words.

• When you choose to make an allusion, it's important to think about its effect and make sure it fits the tone and intention of the context.

​4.4.5 Practice 40 points

​Write a poem using sensory detail, vivid images, and figurative language. Use what you have learned about metaphor, simile, metonymy, and allusion to make your words feel new and powerful. Your poem should be at least 10 lines and . . .

• Use at least one metaphor or simile to compare things that are not usually associated.

• Use at least one example of metonymy, substituting one thing with something else that is closely associated with it.

• Use one or more of the following figures of speech:

  • Personification

  • Synesthesia

  • Symbol

  • Allusion

​Respond to ME in the CHAT:

Synecdoche or Metonymy?


"It's Saturday, so I'm going to wash and wax my wheels."

"The Oval Office has no official statement on that policy."