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    Deeperreading Metaphor Analysis Strategies

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    When teaching students to appreciate the richness of metaphor, it night help to begin by looking atthe diferent types of metaphor, as hon below: fi ph loan o cocion Tee wo ie ig Ancor eaened cra orl inm, Wig hrm ape gn My ‘ten orcs ies sragec Lam tng a ‘Satan foc unnc eds e ‘reno the te ide mach ee St lobe ‘he ne psd away othe opr ‘re fine arose ne hy Som sige lizeech tat mes 2 comacon My has he om. Tee ro ie ings By tg ‘Towner asi on Bow ves sneha which orhunon ing or The con hated hin ‘ety wise soos moran Algae cfseeoni whexsomaieg’” Thi prima es ne os "iy cies tos ing watnaed "fade nen och). forte rg me Memb te pei wil Fon baht ee nd bat Seaver foros In Metaphors We Live By, George LakofT and Mark Johnson contend that by teaching students to think in metaphorical terms we are helping them cultivate an "imaginative rationality” When we ak a student 0 ‘think metaphoricly they note, we"permit an understanding of one kind ‘of experience in term of another, creating coherences by virtue of impos ing gestalts that are structored by natural dimensions of experience. New metaphors are capable of creating new understandings, and therefore, ew realities” (p. 235), Ii these new understandings—these new reai- tice-that 1 hope students discover by thinking metaphoriealy while interacting with text. 12 Goad! Helicopters Bad! “The OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University recommends that students be taught the value of metaphorical thinking for a number of reasons Hore ae thee: 1. Metaphors enliven ordinary language. 3 Metphors rete intespretaton (higher vel thinking), 3. Metaphors crate new meanings Late lose lok a cath of thee resons and conser why ect relevant in our casrooms. Metaphors Enliven Ordinary Language One of my favorite contemporary authors is Barbra Kingsolver. ere {he frst two paragraphs of her novel The Boa Ties faerie of arge {he ee ral of puting ain ie sine a actor tie ov yp in throw Newt arbieaherove seo of te Sandad Oba {ie bing He got stuck up thee Abou niceen pape congee nt blow the whist or the volutes fire department Tey see {i come with th ae nd al hi down, and ena ded ae Beating ann anyother way wy nee the se srl id he oerflled he i New! Hardie wasnt my fend he asa ono the big boys ho fad iden deat ls once and swan rail ingow nary ints adn in the back king i wade ceed ito my ai Butte day nw his daddy up theres ne eh oe, Sung over 9 Faces had this etingaboet wh Newt ele Hs Beng to amount oan 1 ft sorry for him, Belore atence ese ont believe thal gen mich though tothe tee That i ret wetng. In fit, that fst sentence may be ny forte ening sentence of any nove ve ever taught. Bt the image tha ae mes the ime tat resonates wth me everytime read that prog “ert of oot old Mi Hazdbine hanging hat Standard Ol sey “ke some old overls sung over a fence” That metaphor enlivers oe Yassige—0 much se that I stl emember it en years afer having vod the novel forthe fs time Song metaphors bring writing alive To ilstrate this presen stu dens with two versin of Gary Soto poem, “Oranges” ace igus? 1) ession Aon the leishas been altered to remove all metaphors Veriog s isthe poem as Soto wrote it ask students to rad both versions of the poem witha highlighter in hand, indicating the exact places where the poems difen The seve ta Inake them aware ofthe thee instances of metaphor in the poem {the ‘candies “ered ike beachers; fog hanging “lke ‘old coats between the ‘Shape /: Using Meaptor to Decpen Comprehension v7 ‘Agog bored "ot Seaceeey ‘fm ole re Saari nanos setae peace {gh in fe Smo se teh inged Poked fie chocloe Nook a a om pa hen oon ‘he coum Wher kd op Bega me ity Spots ea fern tty te Trends i cae ‘peo might howe ean Ee — With ond Without Metephor: Gary Solos “Orange Sa oh cl oon Schon my ote eae sagtoie Seas See ee See se irene en Soseee ease Eo price Aeded wa de won ets seatie, ‘ren fits Acs That cow a - rahe tC Sree noir Sita Fophenging tino Se ot om Sine fr ds, Thanet Here ent meen Tha ne dace nga ay en Lee | twee" the orange looking lke a Fire). Students are then asked to decile ‘hich version ofthe poem they think i better. Without exception, thy sways pick Version B-the one containing the metaphors. | then ask ie students some questions Why is the second version beter? Wy; for example, is it better to describe the fog as “hanging like old ‘coats between the tees"? Why not just sy it wes really foggy? How does the use of metaphor add o the poem? For homework, students are asked to bring one example of written metaphor to clas the next day. They can take ther example fom ter ‘re, music, newspapers, magazines, the Internet—anyohere they war. ‘These examples are then shared in class, and we discuss how the ‘taphors found in these examples enliven ordinary language Metaphors Require Interpretation Imagine a world in which there are only literal statements. This the Premise of Peggy Parish children’s book cris featuring Amelia Baten, ‘hapless maid who goes to work for an affluent family, Amelia’ inabiliy to think beyond the literal gets her int repeated trouble. When she is tod to draw the drapes, she gets out asktchpad and begins drawing, She 3 reltant to dust the forniture, because t strikes her as od she'd rather tut the furniture. When her exasperated employe ells her to hit he ‘oad, she grabs stick and does just that, Driving ava, Amelia mises he turnoff when she is preoccupied trying to ind a fork—an eating utensil in the road My students sad tos, havea ite too much Amelia Beli in thers ‘They ofen take what they read at face value and have a dificult time interpreting the underiying meaning. They are competent at answering literal “What does ise?” questions, but when the reading require inter pretation, they begin to struggle. Interpretation is hard work, particule ‘when rich metaphor is involved, The ony way to help students develop ‘his higher lve of thinkingiso provide them with opportunities to prac. ‘ie interpretive thinking Interpreting rich metaphor usually requires second draft reading, To ilstate this with teachers, have them read one of my ‘Walker Gibson's "Billiards" vote poems, lager 7: Using Metaphor ta Deepen Comprehension 129 ae ofthe jungle wld and din, Sled from he ephant’s ord, Pale, poled ee thee spheres Rehan hi cine carers Trapped in geomet tl Exhibit impact and eo Politely ina fee offre, Andes have no sur emore, Bat pris the comple plan Inputs 50 superb syed Lo henge ane wl “Biliards” i difficult poor to interpet after a single read. When | ‘use this with adults in workshops I tel them that although this poem i entitled "Biliards” it really isnot about billiards. challenge them o read ita aumber of times in onder to deepen their understanding, to discuss the poems in sll groups, and to share what they think the poem i realy about. [After afew minutes of struggle and some give and tke, most pati pants begin to see Walker’ poem asan extended metaphor: e is compar ing billoed balls withthe human condition. Once this metaphor is iden tied, we chart the comparisons: Billo Bots ‘owe hy cane Fon phat Soy Bs Bion Balto “ow fhe gi” hr bale escape They og amon binge “pied on pied Ty ie so ay cone tom Tey er ios acti yoo ay tuo ba re opp pom mon bongo he geomet poten fda ed bats “sh ingot nd ac” Hon geet mpl ord ns” Trev patra be mcagnaed mb Th fe perm mb ecg nile Bhogal tom sehen the wid bot Gycresog tan eu, omar wil got ‘eon ands estes med ond a ‘A Nonlin dort tcd ncgonaing bass “compte on = inal een pce no bho ok in edo Walker uses metaphor to give his poem much richer meaning than i ‘would have ha he chosen to expres is thought literally. Ther i com Plevty herein the use of bilisds, a complexity that offers depth and intellectual reward tothe reader, ‘To help students discover the rewards of mtaphor, | use easier ps sage lke the fllowing poem by Edgar Lee Masters 130 ren Reads Gcorge Gray have tied many times ‘The marble which was chiseled forme ‘bot with fired i at et inthe arbor. In rath pictures not my Gsination Bur my te For love ws ofered mean I shank from ts dtliasionment Sotrw knocked on my door bt {wa af Ambition ald vo me, bu I dead the chances ‘etal the while hangers for meaning in my ‘And now t know that we mst if heal ‘And catch the winds of etn Wherever they drive the st To put meaning inane ie my end in madness, Bult ie without meaning he torture Of estsnes and vague desir nica bon longing forthe en ad yet fid ‘The extended metaphor inthis paseage—com paring your life ta sl boat—is one that students can easly identify, and it serves asa spring board o discussing metaphor general It enables mie o extend student" thinking by asking Why do you think the author used a sallboat 3s the central metaphor? Why sailboat? Why nota rowboat? Ora motorvoat? Isitan effective metaphor? Why? Why not? Instead ofa sailboat, could the author have used diferent metaphor to effectively ake his same point? ‘After students get thee fet wet (srry) | ge th ‘more challenging, ike Syvia Pat's poem "Metaphor" something abit Lama idle in nin ables, ‘A clephant 3 ponderous ose ‘Amelon stoling onto tenis (0 ed rit ory ine tmbes! “Ti a's ign yeasty sng, ‘Mone’ ee mint thi at purse. ina means 3 age cow in ll We eaten 3 bg of green apples Board the ein there maging of 4m this poem Plath stings a number of metaphors together to describe Pregnancy. This is an excellent pocm to use with tudents to discus the Chapter 7 Using Metapho o Despen Comtphensor 131 132 power and richness of metaphor. Afterall which rsonites more with the Feader: to writ imply thatthe natrator fl morning dckness orto write thatthe narrators morning sickness fl like she has exten a bag of green apples? Students have fun trying to interpret each metephor inthe poem, Having such discussions about metaphor helps adolescents to move beyond an “Amelia Bedelia” reading mentality and enables them to sharpen tei interpretive skills ‘Metaphors Create New Meanings Not long2gp I coached my daughter's softball eam-< team made up of cight-year-ld girl is a Fun age to coach because the players, many of them new io the game, often arrive atthe beginning of the season unskilled. Its a joy watching them develop as the seas progresses. Early inthe season it became apparent we needed much practice on the skill of fieding ground balls. How did come to this conclusion? ‘Because half the ground balls hit in practice went through our infielders legs. There is perhaps no cuter sight in thi world than an eight year-old who gets he: glove down on the ground fraction ofa second too late ‘only to track the ball with her head asi rolls between her legs. She ends up seeing the outfielders upside down ‘Though his was cute i practice, wasnt sure it weuld be as endear ing in a gam, so Ise aside time to practice Reding grounder. ase ‘bed the girlsand told them the reason they were havingso many ball ll between thei legs was because they were ite bit ate getting tei gloves oven to the ball. The problem, I explained, vas that they weve placing thir gloves down on the ground at the same momen’ the bell areved instead, they needed to have thie gloves touching the cirt bore the ball, rived so that their gloves would be awaiting the ball Tis would prevent ‘he ball rom olling between thet legs. From now on told them, every. body needs to et their gloves down sooner. asked them if they under stood. Tey solemnly nodded and practice resumed, You might guess what happened next: the First two ground balls hit fer my talk went right through the fielders legs. Beyond the realization 1 that moment that 1d never be given the opportunity to manage the ‘Los Angeles Dodger ls realized the players had not taken my instru tion to heart They were still making the same errors they were before my Pep talk | reassembled them for another attempt, knewing this time 1 ‘would have o take adilferent angle. Our net exchange went something Be this rate Rendon Geach Kelly: O.K, girs who can tell me how a helicopter lands? Ashley: Hue Cac Kelly: Who can tell me how a helicopter lands? Astley: lands straight, ‘Coach Kelly: What do you meany"I lands straight"? Asily: It lowers itself straight down othe ground {Coach Kelly: Right! Now who an tell me how an irae ans? Bt swooshes down (she artes her hand and snes a airplane approaching rasa, Coach Kelly: Right again! So whats the diference between how 3 hnlcopter lands and how an airplane lands? Anna: Helicopters land straight dwn Aitplanes swoosh in (Goich Kelly: Exactly! Now [want you to remember thi when you are Fielding ground balls Some of you are fielding prounders like helicopets—you ae lowering your gloves stright down to meet the bull Tis snot good. When we Feld ground balls we do not want to be eticoptrs. What do we want tobe like? Melinda (heszaay): Airplanes? (Coach Kelly: Yes! We want tobe like agplanes, We want to approsch te ball lke an airplane that is landing. We want to swoosh low to the _yound, moving our lows along the ground toward the ball. (demon ‘tate the ference to them as another dad hit me few ground bal) From now on, want to se airplanes only out there—no helicopters 3efore resuming practice, briely considered instituting anew term ‘ant based on the rantings ofthe animals in Aina Farm (-Four legs good! To legs bad!” In our cas, it would be“Airplanes good! Helicopters bad”), but I decided that my eight-year-old members of the Big Bue ‘rocking Crew werent quite ready for that. What happened next, however, was a pleasant surprise, The gis immeiatly began to grasp the concep, and though I can't sy we did not have any more ground balls go through the les of our infielders, lean y ‘the numberof times they committed ths eror diminished drastically. ‘rating dhe insrucion in the aupianeshelicopter metaphor (instead oF sing literal language) made the instruction more understandable. The ipane metaphor clicked in their minds, and a a result, their Seng improved. (Now if only I could have thought of a metaphor that would havehelped them to stop swinging at pitches out of the strike zone!) ists using helicopters and airplanes helped my players etter under ‘stand how to play softball, metaphor can be used to help student beter ‘Chaper7 Using Metaphor to Despen Comprehension 133 tnderstand how to read challenging text. Ihave learned mich ofthe value ‘ictaphor plays in reading comprehension from John Powers fiend aid mentor of mine. Currently a profesior of English at California Stee University Fulerton, fon has taught both junior bigh schoo and high school English, and in his years of teaching adolescents he created wed implemented metaphorical graphic organizer 0 hep them bul intce Dretative sil For example, he uses one cll the iceberg" to help at ent get a deper understnding ofa specifi character The hebery s simply drawn on the board as shown in Figure 7.2 Sometimes asthe captain ofthe Titanic learned there is more «© an ‘ccherg than meets the ee. In many eases, what you see above the water ‘may only bea small pioce ofthe entice iceberg, Often, most af the ne berg—the dangerous part—remain under water out of sigh An iceberg ia good metaphor to use when studying a spviic charac {er Like an iceberg, part ofa characteris easily visible; but at the some time there might bea part sometimes a lrg part, of the cheracer tea remains unseen. Consider the following examples Ses, api wend tenor! mere devas ops ening vcppeniin Ronang wag Scns ‘Aone wenn nth oscad igen rah ‘Wey wy apse Sconce coe Os ed tone how cong pie All characters reveal something about themselves to others, but some times its more interesting to have students analye what a character dona revel others. Using the itberg as an analytical tool produced deeper thinking in my students when I aked them to analyze theseen ond uneeng Bree Rea Pres Tohono’ aber for me | Hamver | recisin ; eazy Hest TANT chatactristics ofa character Figure 73, for example, i an iceberg anno. tated by Yohana, age seventeen, forthe character of Hamlet Above the su face Hamlet is seen a5 both decisive and crazy. Bat Below the surface Yohsna ses him as both sane (he is pretending to be crazy) and hesitant (he delays taking revenge afer learning of his father’s morder). In addition tothe iceberg, Powers has developed other metaphorical _rophic organizers to help students analyze character plo, and structure, and setting. In ths chapter I describe several providing brief explana tions of how each one works, ways to apply each one, and vatations worth considering Square Peg, Round Hole Explanation: square pe doesnot na round hole. Sometimes, when 4 character eons not“ ne oF she fel ike 9 equate peg in around hole In this organize, students are asked to consider both society’ eC ‘expectations on a character (the tound hole) and the character’ needs (equate peg). Chapter Using Metaphor to Despen Comprehension 135 Application: Square Peg, Round Hole works well in any novel where a characte is going agaist he grain of ior her ime or pace, ‘Variation: ‘This organizer can also be used to analyze the conflict between \whata character wants to do and what the character “shoul do Brake Pedal, Accelerator Pedal Explanation: In the Brake Pel, Aceerator Pedal organize, students are ‘asked to consider the forces (people, places, things) that slow» horse down as wellasthe forces that accelerates characerthinking or behevig Application: Brake Pedal, Accleator Pedal works well in any novel wterea character tries to resist others or where a character gts set wp in the ation of others, Yariation: Sometimes “braking” a character turns out to be a postive development. Discuss why “slowing down’ a character precplated a positive turn of events. Ingredients Listing Explanation: When you purchase fod inthe market, thee re ingredient abel on the packaging. These labels not only ist the ingredients ends the product they alo fist the ingredients in the order af amount thane mos 0 lest). In this organizer, students are asked to list the sharscree {ineedients” (ras), with the most important Rest and the lec Important lst. Application: Ingredients Listing works well with any novel that depicts complex characters Variation: If you could add one ingredient to ths character, what would you add? Why? Ifyou could remove one ingredient from this ehaneres \what would you remove? Why? How would have the story turned cat ferenty had that ingredient been addedidroppedt Archery Target Explanation: The goal in archery i wo hit the center circle, Characters may have specific goals as well. Inthe organize, students ae sake ny fiermine how close a character cme fo eachng hor her gel (hing his Application: Archery Target works well with any novel that depicts @ character working toward «gol. Variation: Students could identify the main gol in the center of the target and list minor goals in the outer cireles, or students could Wdentify a character's long term and short-term goals. Ether way, students could analyze what prevents the character from hitting a bll-ee Wallet/Purse Explanation: You would learn a great dsl about « person if you were Permitted to examine the contents of her purse ofthe contents of his, wallet. OF course, some characters—for example, Frankenstein’s monster—do not have 2 purse oF wallet. But assuming they did, what ‘would be in And what could we lear about a given character from the items found in that character's wallet or purse? Application: Wallet Purse works well with any novel Variation: What would we find in this characters locker? Room? Backpack? Metaphorical Gnapliie Organizers That Help Students Analyze Plot and Structure Pencil, Eraser Explanation: A pencil has two ends, one for writing andthe other for erasing. Students ake a copy of the image and write acharacter’s name on ‘he lal uf dhe pen. On the writing end ofthe pen students note the actions that character wishes he or she had done. On the eraser ends students consder what actions the character wishes he ar she could erase Application: Pencil, Eraser works well with any nove, Variation: On the writing end of the pencil studen's could note what & sharacer actually did in the book. On the eraser end, students ery to determine if any of thes ations could be completely erased, What steps would the character have todo to erase hisor her actions? total erasure even posible? (Chapter 7 Using Metaphor Despen Comprehension ar 198. Proof Sheets Explanation: On a trip to the Grand Canyon, you might shoot aro of film chronicing your journey. When the film is developed you would v8 a proof sheet containing twenty-four exposures. These twenty. our Pictures do not capture every moment of your vacation: eaten they capture the highlights of your trip. When having students analyze hey Plot points they canbe given dummy proof sheets nd asked to identify the twenty-four key plot points. Students must identify exactly twenty. four points, not twenty-two or twenty-five. This requiement Wil spur deep discussions about what is important, and what is, in terms ofthe Plot. Application: Proof Sheet works well wth any novel that has a complex plot Variation: When students have completed their proof sheets, ask them wich four “photographs” from their rll they would print and display. Which four pictures are the highlights ofthe “rip”? Have them explain their sections, Billiards Table Explanation: For a billiard ball to drop into side pocket, a chain reaction must occur. A player must strike a eve against a cue bel, The ue ball must travel and hit the target bal. The target ball is steuck. and then propelled toward the packet. Sometimes, when the cue ball is not struck properly, balls ricochet off one another or off bumpers, ‘using unexpected turns of events. When having students anslyze plot events, have students identify which character(s} represent the ool cue, the cue ball the target ball, che other balls on the table, and the bumpers, Application Bliss Table works well with any novel containing chain of events that leads to the climax ofthe story Variation: In bland player who accidentally knocks the eight ball into «8 pocket ssid to have “scratched” and is declared the loser, Deseribe a ‘character wi hes “scratched” and analyze the chain of evens that led to this character beingeliminated fromthe game Prater Reading Metaphonrical Graphie Organizers What Help Students Analyze Setting Snow Globe Explanation: | havea snow globe of Nev York City that is five inches acToss. Because ofthe vstnes of New York representing the city ina fie inch sphere presents challenge. To captute the esense ofthe Big Appl iy globe has miniature epresentations of the Empire State Building, he State of Liberty, The Chrysler Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge. IF students were ‘0 make a snow globe fr the novel they are reading, what ‘would they indude to help capture the esence of thenovel? Application: Snow Globe works wel with any novel where setting pla key role Variation: Hare your students rank the settings fount in the noel from ‘most important eat important Which single stig is most cial to the development ofthe novel? Have them defend thei rankings, Or have students eeate snow globes to represent the lives of specific characters, Time Capsule Explanation: Inthe year 2000, my schoo! buried a time capsule with artifacts to help future generations to understand what ile was lke as we entered the new millennium. If we were to fll time caps £9 give readers a sense of time and place fora specific novel what would we pot in i? Which atfets would we choose to give 2 prospective reader an accurate sense af the setting? Application: Time Capsule works well with any novel where setting plays ake tle ‘Variation: Have your stadens rank the arises ound in their time capsule from most important o least important. Have them decnd thet rankings. Backdrop, Props Explanation: Potting on a play requires the art decor to carefully Consider what 2e or she will seas backdrops forthe staging of sens, [Because tis ne practical to have more than three or four sets fora single ‘Chaprer 7 Usng Metaphor to Deepen Comprehension 139 play both backdrops and props have tobe versatile. f we were to stage the novel we are reading, which thre or four backdrops would you use to give the audience a true sense ofthe setting” What props would you use? Application: Backdrops, Props works well with any nove where setting, Phys key ole Variation: If you had a budget of $300, what would you purchase tobe used a8 props inthe performance ofthis novel? Could any ofthese props bbe used for more than one purpose? Five Considerations 140 Alf thes: metphorical graphic organizers are designed tstetch stents knowleg by starting them off with what they ar fama with and having them apply what they know to create new meaning. Like any clasroom activity, metaphorical graphic organizes need tobe sed with careful con sideration To achieve maximum effectiveness, consider the following ‘Use Metaphor to Interpret Metaphor When asking students to complete 2 metaphorical graphic organize, ‘make sure they do so in metapharical terms. Remember Yohans iceberg for Hamlet (Figure 737 Her responses, while good are literal. Yohanas thinking could be ratcheted up a notch by requiring all of her responses to be metiphorical in nature. When | asked Yohana to do another def, With the new draft depicting her ideas metaphorically, she produced Wwina’s shown in Figure 7.4. Then {asked her to explain the rationale bind cach of her metaphors, which he did, as shown in Figure 75, especialy like Yohan’s comparing Hamlet toa calculator because he “alculates how to soe the murder by staging a play and by faking his insanity The problem with calculator however” she continues," that its battery may eventually wind down. By introducing the battery idea, shes adding a meaphor io her metaphor. Asking Yohana to interpret Hamlet by respancling in metaphorical trms tok er thinking ow ne eel Don’t Turn Graphic Organizers into Worksheets {In 1987, John Powers invented a wonderful graphic organizer called the ‘Open Mind was simply a drawing ofan outline ofa head with nothing ase ety eae] HAMLET in ie infact, his initial name for it as the Empty Head). I this graphic ‘organizer, students were to fill inthe head with the character's thoughts, preferably in metaphorical terms. Using this organiza teacher could determine ats glance a student’ level of character analy ‘The problen with the Open Mind (lik so many good ideas) was that it was misinterpreted and overused. Rather than using it fora speci complex characker, teachers started signing it repately for any and all characters. Some teachers misinterpreted the orginal dea and had stu dents write dove their own thoughts about the character rather than ep. ‘ure the character’ thinking. Others required students record the char acters thoughts literally and hence superficially. Becatse ofits overuse, students soon came tose the Open Mind as jus another workshec. ‘Though the graphic organizers described inthis chapter have proven Valuable in helping students analyze literature, ovenisng them will

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