Metaphorically Speaking
Matt Leggat
7th Grade
Competency Goal
6: The learner will apply conventions of
application
of
grammar and language usage.
6.01: Model an
understanding of conventional written and spoken
expression
by:
§
experimenting with figurative language and speech patterns.
§
using a
variety of sentences correctly,
punctuating them properly, and avoiding fragments and
run-ons.
Materials Needed:
Dictionary
Pen and paper
Copy of poem
Imagination
Classroom poster
explaining metaphors
Time Required: 40 min.
“What
is a metaphor? Why do you use
metaphors? How do you use a
metaphor? What styles of writing lend
themselves to the use of metaphors especially well? Can someone give us an example of a
metaphor? What kind of writing would
work well with a metaphor?”
At this point the
teacher refers the class to poster hanging on the wall that gives examples of
metaphors. The teacher explains the
poster and gives more examples of metaphors.
The teacher then
asks for other examples of metaphors from the class. These examples are discussed and analyzed (20
min).
“One of my favorite
poems is “Song of Myself,” by Walt Whitman. Whitman’s writing is packed full of colorful
and inviting metaphors. Here are a few
stanzas from “Song of Myself” that illustrate his use of metaphors.”
Lesson: After the poem has been read ask students to
underline and then explain, to the class, the metaphors they find (10
min). Once the class has discussed the
use of metaphors, have them all write a two to three sentence paragraph using
two different metaphors. Have the
students choose the subjects themselves (10 min).
From: LEAVES OF GRASS: Song Of Myself
By: Walt Whitman
26. A child said,
What is the grass ?
fetching it to me
with
full hands;
How could I answer the child ? I do not know what
it
is, any more than he.
27. I guess it must be the
flag of my disposition, out of
hopeful
green stuff woven.
28. Or I guess it is the
handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer, designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name
someway in the corners,
that
we may see and remark, and say Whose ?
29. Or I guess the grass is
itself a child, the produced
babe
of the vegetation.
30. Or I guess it is a uniform
hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting
alike in broad zones and
narrow
zones,
Growing among black folks
as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe,
Congressman, Cuff, I give them
the
same, I receive them the same.
31. And now it seems to me
the beautiful uncut hair of
graves.
32. Tenderly will I use you,
curling grass,
It may be you transpire
from the breasts of young
men,
It may be if I had known
them I would have loved
them,
It may be you are from
old people, and from women,
and
from offspring taken soon out of their
mothers'
laps,
And here you are the mothers' laps.
33. This grass is very dark
to be from the white heads of
old
mothers,
Darker than the colorless
beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the
faint red roofs of
mouths.
34. O I perceive after all so
many uttering tongues !
And I perceive they do
not come from the roofs of
mouths
for nothing.
35. I wish I could translate
the hints about the dead
young
men and women,
And the hints about old
men and mothers, and the
offspring
taken soon out of their laps.
36. What do you think has
become of the young and
old
men ?
And what do you think has
become of the women
and
children ?
37. They are alive and well
somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows
there is really no death,
And if ever there was, it led
forward life, and does
not
wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment
life appeared.
38. All goes onward and outward—nothing
collapses,
And to die is different
from what any one supposed,
and
luckier.