In the movie "Il Postino," which depicts Pablo Neruda's time in exile on an Italian island, his mailman Mario becomes fascinated by poetry because he wants to use it to get a woman to fall for him. The path to poetry takes him through metaphors, and it takes Neruda some time before Mario can begin to write his own. Then Mario asks Neruda a question which the famous poet cannot answer on the spot; he tells Mario he will think about it and give him an answer tomorrow.
That question was, paraphrased from my memory, "Can anything be used as a metaphor for something else?" I love that question, but it's taken me some thought to come to an answer. I am, first of all, interested in your response as a reader to that question, and then in the discussion that may arise from comparing answers.
I've come to the realization in the past two years that metaphors matter a great deal more than I ever realized when I was in school, and so I've tried to understand why I feel that way. Teaching the concept to students has helped me figure out what to say about metaphors too, and I'm encouraged that my students are beginning to write some fascinating metaphors, in part because they seem to feel free to try anything out as a possible metaphor.
I know from the book The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher that metaphor is one of the principal engines that drives change in language, as we seek ways to put into words abstract concepts or just to give new power to ideas. I've tried to convince students that learning to create metaphors is a ticket to being able to communicate ideas to other people, by creating new word combinations that capture the human imagination. I've explained to them how languages are littered with the skeletons of dead metaphors that no longer hold any fresh meaning and so go unnoticed as we use them. But I don't think this will really mean that much until they hear other people's ideas about this.
And so I give to you some of the best metaphors from my seventh/eighth grade Advanced Languages class and we would appreciate your honest feedback (not just praise).
Languages are....
a flying bird
thunder
mixed-up fruit
swift water
wild onions
thorny flowers
rising dough
herbs and spices
complicated ice skating
a full cup of water
a puzzle collection
information on a silver platter
mind bubbling
a deluxe puzzle
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 45
Your students are so lucky to have a teacher involved, as you are, in the arts: music, writing, painting all enhance the understanding and illuminate the mental processes. Studies show that students who write creatively do better in math and science as well.
1. Most of our common speech is metaphor. For example, we say we want a cup of coffee, instead of saying we want the coffee put inside the cup. We walk the dog is another one. If you look at the actual syntax, it is pretty funny.
2. Metaphor is used to express an emotion to place, event or time. This is often surreal in poetry. For example, The stars smiled as they whispered punch Gerry in the nose.
3. Metaphor is sometimes comical or nonsensical. Need I give an example?
4. There is metaphor with a metaphor. For example, The leaves lay lazily on the ground quite busy is preparations for Spring. Lazily could mean deteriorating or just lying on the ground. This gives the felling and awareness of no movement as they deterirate, but then the word busy is a metaphor to the word lazily.
5. A metaphor can be innuendo. In my birthday story about Donald, in the third paragraph, Tom was the name of the bull, but everyone reading this understood (or should have understood) I was talking about the recent Gather downgrade.
I hope this is in line with the question you asked. (In line is a duble metaphor because it means of compliance, or can mean of an orderly procession.)
6. Idioms and two word verbs are also often metaphors. The word run can be used as a two word verb with 869 different meanings.
I especially loved swift water and mind bubbling...I find most metaphors from me arise from a combination of images and feelings, and the metaphor arises out of that.
Your article is Featured in the Triple Name Club.
I love that one, and that you really engage the minds of your students, not just have them memorize test answers. Thanks Gerry.
I think anything can be used as a metaphor (Kathryn's now infamous metaphor about an unlikely subject comes to mind). The art, however, is in making the relationship works for all readers. I hope your students will supply more of these for you to share with us.
As to your metaphors, I think they could be taken, one by one, "Language is rising dough..." and so forth, and lead into some really interesting sharing.
And that's the point of language: to commune with each other: to overcome the isolation of our most splendid possession, selfhood, so that our constant little deaths become fruitful for us and for others.
Sandy--we like your simile. Your kind of breakfast is like ice cream on a pancake!
William--we beg to differ. In point number 2, your metaphor is actually personification, but we like the idea of punching the teacher in the nose. The "double" metaphor you provided has been laid to rest, as in a dead metaphor, because no one recognizes it as a metaphor, as is the case with "laid to rest."
Kathryn--thanks for featuring our article and passing it on to your group. Your Triple Name Club is fish on a mountain, which was a brain blurt we just had.
Richard--languages are pots and pans flipping spicy words in the air!
Sa dy--Yes, we did enjoy this and thank you for reading it. Here's another metaphor. Languages are "meglio tardi che mai" or better late than never. That's Italian, which is what we study in this class when we're not goofing off with metaphors. Some of us don't get why we're spending time on metaphors but five of us do.
John--Thank you for reading our article. We enjoyed your poetry immensly! We were able to apply your poetry to our metaphors.
Any metaphor that we love,
anyone else could love
can any metaphor turn the world the right way around
could they learn to forget what is right or wrong?
We agree that you are right about the point of language. Will you share your metaphors with us?
CLASSROOM DUCKS
I don't know the ducks on your pond
Do they fly away to Africa when times get hard?
Are they like the ugly duckling, unlike all the rest?
Will you clip your wings, or share flight with the world?
The robber with a gun says, 'Your money or your life.'
Jack just stands there in a thinker's pose and the robber says this again. Jack replies, 'I'm thinking.'
This is metaphor because it goes beyond just the process or action, but says something about Jack Benny: That he's cheap. You could call this personification, but because it is much more because of the situational humor element, it becomes metaphor.
Please publish this to Gather Essentials: Writing. I will feature it on the group. It is wonderful.
I responsded two days ago that the participents were on two different pages. Hiam responded that was because he had to cut out much of the conversation in order to post in limited words.
An illustration that what is accepted in one culture as metaphore is taken literally by other cultures. After a little conversation we straightened out the misunderstanding.
Swift water, poetry all by itself.
Gerry, your students sound wonderful. I wish I could be there.
I think that metaphors are useful not only in artistic writing but also in other ways. Jesus got quite a bit of mileage out of his parables- explaining religious concepts in terms that related to the daily experiences of farmers and herders. I tend to use metaphors here on Gather when I am trying to explain social or political issues in ways that are meaningful to all of us- for example that climate combat/grocery store bit that you so thougtfully commented upon.
Metaphors are effective because of the way that the human mind works- not just in literature but also in analyzing a problem. But metaphors can also be tricky or misleading if used dishonestly. How is Iraq like world war II? How is it NOT like world war II?
Gerry thanks for sharing this and kicking off this discussion.
Simile makes me smile
Grammar is just plain ridiculous
I prefer Huck's broad style
love the students retorts,
glad with wings unclipped they're finding
language as the greatest sport.
grammar is pancakes with liver and onions,
grammar is make-up on an ugly lady,
grammar is a future language,
grammar is a Chuck Norris kick in the face,
grammar is fur on a fish,
grammar is "Gather" in the water,
grammar is a class of monkeys,
grammar is lotion on rough skin,
grammar is fully loaded Russian roulette,
grammar is jumping into an empty pool,
grammar is an unlike simile,
Thank you for reading our metaphors and coming back to our site and goodbye!!! booyah from Sr. Wass's class
I´ve been reading Palmer´s The Courage To Teach and your different approaches evinced in your articles on Gather toward encouraging and motivating students remind me of his paradigm of a first rate educator.
I think if you look at George Lakoff and Mark Johnson´s classic ON METAPHOR (1980) and their follow up now that they´ve established the field of cognitive linguistics, PHILOSOPHY IN THE FLESH, you will find even more inspiration and awareness about how fundamental metaphor is to human thinking, even preceding language as a proto-thought form.
Great examples from your students both in the article and the last one before mine on the comment thread.
Gerry, have you ever heard of the Webot program that is doing research into the global consciousness through Prolog? It searches the internet for keywords, then extracts a snippet of surrounding text, which is sent to a database, filtered and diciphered to find the meaning in terms of global consciousness, or what people are taling about all over the world. They have said that the language of the masses has brought on certain events. In other words, we are what we speak, and what we speak is what happens. It's very interesting. It reminds me of Jesus saying the tongue is a double edge sword. So, in terms of talking, we must be careful what we wish for.
A gift to myself, perhaps for Mother's Day. See what you inspire!
Nameste
Great work by the students and you!