ELA8_SB_U4_L1_LC
Lesson Construction Template
Introduction and Objective
Read the following excerpt from “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes:
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
How would you describe the night? How does this excerpt make you feel? How would you describe the mood? What figurative language does the author use to help you envision the scene?
Today, we’re going to talk about similes and metaphors.
Today's lesson objective is:
Students will write poetry that includes similes and/or
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Now that you understand what a simile is, let’s take a look at metaphors. Like similes, metaphors compare two dissimilar things; however, metaphors do not use either like or as to make the comparison.
Consider the excerpt from the introduction of this lesson. The first three lines are metaphors:
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
The author directly compares the wind to a torrent of darkness, the moon to a ghostly galleon, and the road to a ribbon of moonlight.
Keep in mind that metaphors can also be much more subtle than the above examples demonstrate. Consider the following excerpt from “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou:
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to
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If you are describing an object, ask yourself the following: How does it look, taste, smell, feel, or sound? What does this object make me think of? If you are describing an idea (like love or courage), ask yourself the following: How does this idea make me feel? How might others react to this idea? What does this idea make me think of? Jot down your ideas and allow your thought process to lead you to a simile or metaphor that captures the moment – the tone, the mood, the character, the scene, etc.
Consider the excerpt from “The Highwayman.” In the first stanza, the author sets the stage using metaphors:
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
The night is dark, dangerous, and foreboding. Can you imagine the moon looking like a ghostly galleon (ship), lost amidst black, rolling waves (clouds)? It might not be your first thought. It probably never even occurred to you to compare the moon to a ghostly ship; however, consider how the author’s use of metaphor contributes to the poem – to the tone (dangerous, foreboding) and to the image. How does it make you feel? Anxious? Unnerved? Do you feel a sense of
Metaphors are considered to be one of the most important forms of figurative languages used in everyday speech, prose, fiction, and poetry. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, a metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison” (Van Engen, 2008). Metaphors are used to enhance imagination of the reader when reading stories and poems. Metaphors make imaginative comparisons between two completely different objects; one object said to be another. For instance, in the poem Casey at the Bat, the author uses a metaphor to compare players to objects by stating the players are those actual
Metaphors are used to present hidden similarities between two concepts to help understand a more distinct description of a setting, conflict and other entities in a story. “Rainsford stood blinking in the river of flaring gold light” (64). The metaphor “… the river of flaring gold light” implies that the river is reflecting a glow, like a flare of gold light. The quote helps present part of the setting and helps the reader imagine a
The author begins the story by using metaphors to describe the people in the story. When explaining people the
Metaphors and similes are comparing two unlike objects, and should have nothing to do with the action of a living thing.
Two lambs without a shepherd, free for taking”(Wiesel 59). This example of a metaphor compares the two pots of soup to lamb and everyone else to wolves. It impacts the reader by making you feel bad for them because they're starving and can't get the food. It impacts the reading experience by making you stop and think about how wolves would react to lambs out in the open and ready to eat. Wiesel made this choice because it's a perfect description of what it's like.
In chapter one of the novel, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the author incorporates figurative language to develop the characters and the setting. The first example that portrays figurative language is, “The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without sound, black and glistening as blood.” This example uses a metaphor to compare the water on the walls to glistening blood. In return, the readers can get a visual of the rooms setting and what the walls look like. Another example from chapter one is, “Their hair was white and their faces were cracked as the clay of a dry river bed.”
The imagery in the poem, specifically natural imagery, helps use the reader’s senses to develop a vivid depiction of the speaker’s connection to nature and dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality. The speaker’s continued use of the “moon” reflects her attribution of feminine identity and idolistic character to the moon. As opposed to referencing herself and her personal insomnia, she uses the imagery of the moon “beyond sleep” to convey her internal struggles with insomnia and her reality. Throughout the poem, the speaker also refers to shining, reflective surfaces, such as “a body of water or a mirror”, to describe the inverted reality in which the speaker experiences reciprocated love. Reflective surfaces often invert the image that is projected into them, seemingly distorting the true nature and reality of the projected image. The speaker’s reference to this reflective imagery highlights her desire to escape the burden of a patriarchal society and assume an independent and free feminine identity. Specifically, the use of natural imagery from the references to the “moon” and “a body of water” convey the speaker’s desire to take refuge within the Earth or in the feminine identity of the Earth, Mother Earth. Feminine identities are often related and associated with aspects of nature due to the natural cycle of the menstrual period and the natural process of procreation. The speaker takes advantage of these connotations to suggest Earth and natural imagery as an escape from the man-made terrors of male dominated society. In the second stanza, the speaker uses extensive imagery to develop metaphors conveying the speaker’s experience of jealousy of the moon
According to Merriam-Webster, Metaphor is defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them. Hayes begins his poem with a
In the famous single,“Fireflies”, there were many uses of similes and metaphors to show his vivid dreams when he was young. In stanza 6, Adam Young sang “Cause I feel like such an insomniac”. This is an example of simile, Adam Young is comparing himself to a person who is regularly unable to sleep. In the last stanza, Adam Young sang “Because my dreams are bursting at the seams”. This shows an example of metaphor, because he is comparing two thoughts without using like or as. In stanza 7, Adam Young sang “I got misty eyes as they said farewell”. This is another example of metaphor, Adam Young is trying to convey the idea that he is going to cry as the fireflies said a farewell. By using many
The author uses imagery in the poem to enable the reader to see what the speaker sees. For example, in lines 4-11 the speaker describes to us the
Today 's lesson objective is: Students will explain how the author’s use of similes and/or metaphors contributes to the meaning and tone of the poem.
Metaphor: a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar.
The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.
Generally, people see metaphors as a device of the poetic or literary imagination: a figure of speech or a rhetorical flourish. However, metaphors are so much more. First, they form a kind of conceptual system, influencing both cognition and emotion. They frame how people think about difficult or complex problems. “The importance of metaphors to language in general, and rhetoric in particular, cannot be overstated. Metaphors are the foundational element of language through which our concepts and meanings are formed” (Cox). Second, they provide insight into the rhetor’s thoughts, opinions, and attitudes. The metaphors one chooses to employ act like an ideological footprint, identifying how the person truly feels or thinks.
What differentiates poem from other works of writing? What makes you realize that what you read is a poem but not a short story? Bearing in mind that the answer might differ from person to person, I believe that the crucial difference is that the underlying message is generally not obvious in the poem, and it forces the readers to think about it for a while to understand its deeper meaning. The fact that the message is not apparent in the poem, is often attributed to the usage of metaphors in the poetry. According to Oxford Dictionary, metaphors are the “figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable”. Even though they are used for different reasons