Tag Archives: metaphorical response

2/7/2017

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Since I taught you what I wanted on the Metaphorical Response yesterday, today was just a “shut up and work day.”

A few things I noticed today:

  • If you are still working on the Foil Flip Doll, you need to move on! We spent two class days on this, so if you worked on it today as well, that means you have spent over THREE HOURS on this. That is just ONE PART of a four (technically five) part project.
  • Please work on the Metaphorical Response today so that you at least know what you are doing if you have to work on this on your own.
  • Focus on the connection part the most – this is where I can see your thought process.

If you are struggling, please look at the examples that I have posted for you. Remember that I don’t mind if you share characteristics with your table buddies, but I don’t want to just to share the symbols or metaphors. If you have a great idea, don’t just give it away!

2/6/2017

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We started out today by playing a few rounds of Tribond. What do the following three things have in common? (I’ll be asking you about these images in Tuesday!)

Then I went over the Metaphorical Analysis with you guys. Remember – think of UNLIKE symbols or comparisons. Don’t say that Iago is a backstabber because he IS a backstabber. Don’t say that Desdemona is faithful – that’s not a comparison. Try to avoid animals – that’s fairly basic.

If you get stuck, see if this is helpful:

  • If *character name* were food, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a car, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a toy, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a plant, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a technological gadget, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a color, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were an element of nature, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a chemical element, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a medicine, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a candy, what would he/she be?
  • If *character name* were a thing you can buy at Wal-Mart, what would he/she be?

Focus on characteristics of the character – either brainstorm on your own or in your group. I don’t mind you sharing the same characteristics, but I don’t want you to share the same SYMBOL. So you may all use the idea that Iago can’t be trusted, but I don’t want to see 14 papers with “Iago is a snake.” The creative thinking here is coming up with your OWN metaphor, so try to think of something that NO ONE ELSE will think of!

So far, some of my favorite metaphors have come from Shelton!

Here are the Reflection Questions for the Metaphorical Analysis:

Metaphorical Analysis

  • What did you do?
  • What was the purpose behind doing it?
  • What was the most difficult piece of this project? Creating metaphors? Explaining your choices? Finding quotes?
  • Which metaphor are you most proud of?
  • Who is the most realistic character in the play? Who is the least realistic? Use at least one embedded quote (please just use one of the quotes from your project for this) to back this idea up.

9/3/15 – A

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We started out making a foldable – just making it. We will add little bits to it each day after we read. We’ve changed a few topics from the foldable to the left – just check with me and we can get you the right titles.

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Today we started reading Beowulf. We will read just one section a day, so that means if you find the poem boring (I didn’t write it – it doesn’t hurt my feelings!), I won’t commit readicide on you by making you read for all 80 minutes of class. You can thank me later.

Today, we skimmed the background notes and read The Wrath of Grendel.

We spent some time talking about mead, the mead hall, and Bass Shandy soda.

If you weren’t here, you missed watching me jump on desk growling and you missed me harassing students with “Grendel”. Read this on your own and be familiar with it.

For first block, I explained the Metaphorical Response! A metaphor is a comparison between two UNLIKE things.

From Metaphor Examples:

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things not using the word “like” or “as” to make the comparison.  The greater the difference between the two things being compared, the better the metaphor. For example, if one were to say that “Football is baseball,” that would not be a good metaphor, because football and baseball are both sports.  However, if one were to say that “football is chess,” that would generally be considered a better metaphor because there is a greater difference between football and chess than football and baseball.

That webpage has fifty good examples of metaphors, like this: The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area.

So, you’ll be finding a metaphor for the ten elements on the worksheet and explaining it. If you need help, check out the example in BB.

You only need to have ONE quote – not two or three like the example shows.

Just make sure that you use good metaphors.

For example (and don’t use this one), Grendel is nasty. No one likes him. No one wants him around, but no one can stop him.

Column 1:  Grendel is like a SBD (silent but deadly fart).

Column 2: SBD farts are silent and sneak up on you. They are very powerful, and take down everyone within sniffing zone. The only way you can survive a SBD is if you run away! Not only are they silent, but you can’t see them.

Column 3: Grendel is very strong, and no one can defeat him. No one likes him, no one wants him around, but no one can figure out how to deal with him or get rid of him. Anyone who goes up against him, is destroyed. Just like a SBD, the only way you can survive an attack with Grendel is if you run away. Because Grendel hunts at night and the only survivors are those who flee, no one has ever seen Grendel, either!

Column 4: One quote that proves your comparison. Since we used a PDF file for Beowulf, you can’t copy and paste, so you’ll need to type it manually.

We ran out of time in second block because we talked about ticks so much, so I’ll go over that with you guys (and play the game!) tomorrow!

 

2/11/2015 – A

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We finished Beowulf today  The Spoils and The Farewell. Things we discussed in detail:

  • Wiglaf was Beowulf’s cousin – B-wulf never got married, or had kids, so he gave the kingdom to his next-of-kin, who proved himself
  • Beowulf’s dying request was the tower, so that people could remember him
  • He was cremated and buried with the treasure
  • The monks tried to compare him to Jesus, but we poo-pooed that idea. Beowulf isn’t MILD. He’s not a Ghost Chile Pepper, but he’s definitely at least a jalapeno. We realized that Vistas lost a lot our spicier teachers from last year.

I gave you time to work on the Metaphorical Response, which is due today.

2/10/15 – A

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Today, we watched Legowulf Part 2 to review The Battle with Grendel’s Mother and then we added to our foldable.

We will finish Beowulf tomorrow and we will also finish the foldable tomorrow as well.

We then talked about how after Beowulf defeated Grendel’s Mother, he went back home to Geatland and eventually became king of the Geats. He ruled for 50 years when he had to defend his kingdom against a dragon. But it’s been a long time. Beowulf has gotten OLD. But even though he’s an elderly man, he can still kick butt and take names. Like Hub in Secondhand Lions.

I love this clip (and movie) because it shows not only can Hub still be dangerous, it shows his values. He even boasts!

I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I’ve seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I’ve won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED MANY MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That’s who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!

Wow. I get goosebumps. Every. Single. Time.

Afterward we watched that, we read The Last Battle. Things we discussed:

  • Beowulf knows he’s old and takes precautions
  • This isn’t a suicide mission
  • His first thought is still of his people – it’s always been about his people
  • He knows fate is against him, YET he still stays to fight the dragon
  • We can’t all be Beowulf, but we can be Wiglaf

I then gave you time to work on the Metaphorical Response. This is due tomorrow!

MR instructionsMR Grendel

9/8/14 – A

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Today we started reading Beowulf. We will read just one section a day, so that means if you find the poem boring (I didn’t write it – it doesn’t hurt my feelings!), I won’t commit readicide on you by making you read for all 80 minutes of class. You can thank me later.

Today, we skimmed the background notes and read The Wrath of Grendel. If you weren’t here, you missed watching me jump on desk growling and you missed me harassing students with “Grendel”. Read this on your own and be familiar with it.

Then, we played a game called Tribond. We were given 3 different pictures of unrelated objects and we had to figure out what they all three had in common. If you liked playing this game, here is a new puzzle for each day!

Then, I explained why we played that game: the Metaphorical Response! A metaphor is a comparison between two UNLIKE things.

From Metaphor Examples:

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things not using the word “like” or “as” to make the comparison.  The greater the difference between the two things being compared, the better the metaphor. For example, if one were to say that “Football is baseball,” that would not be a good metaphor, because football and baseball are both sports.  However, if one were to say that “football is chess,” that would generally be considered a better metaphor because there is a greater difference between football and chess than football and baseball.

That webpage has fifty good examples of metaphors, like this: The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area.

So, you’ll be finding a metaphor for the ten elements on the worksheet and explaining it. If you need help, check out the example in LMS.

You only need to have ONE quote – not two or three like the example shows.

Just make sure that you use good metaphors.

For example (and don’t use this one), Grendel is nasty. No one likes him. No one wants him around, but no one can stop him.

Column 1:  Grendel is like a SBD (silent but deadly fart).

Column 2: SBD farts are silent and sneak up on you. They are very powerful, and take down everyone within sniffing zone.

Column 3: Grendel is very strong, and no one can defeat him. No one likes him, no one wants him around, but no one can figure out how to deal with him or get rid of him. Anyone who goes up against him, is destroyed.

Column 4: One quote that proves your comparison. Since we used a PDF file for Beowulf, you can’t copy and paste, so you’ll need to type it manually.

Note: We are going to shorten this assignment!

2/7/2014

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Today,we did a light yellow Post-It and read The Battle with Grendel’s Mother. If you weren’t here, make sure you get the highlights from the book. The highlights really helps when you are doing the Metaphorical Response.

After we read, you have about an hour to work on assignments.

Fair warning: I have a doctor’s appointment today, so I’ll be leaving campus around 1:15. You can still turn work AFTER this and you can still stay after school to get assignments in, but I won’t be here.

If you turn in work over the weekend, it won’t be counted late.

Make sure that you are finding QUOTES for your Metaphorical Response, not just summaries of what happened. A few people are leaving out the pages numbers, so make you you put those in for full credit.

Progress Reports come out on Tuesday! Whatever grade you have Monday morning is what will be printed!

Have a good weekend and keep your fingers crossed that I’m not sick on Monday! 🙂

2/6/14

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Today, we read The Battle with Grendel and The Monsters’ Lair. If you missed this, please make sure that you get the highlights from the Yellow Folder.

Beowulf NotesWe also created a question for each of the two headings –

The Battle with Grendel is on the BRIGHT YELLOW post-it and The  Monsters’ Lair is on the ORANGE post-it.

Then, instead of making you guys work on Sell This Swamp (which my classes usually do), I decided to be nice and exclude this assignment, and that gives you guys time to work on your Beo-Boast and/or your Metaphorical Response (this is the third day that I have given to you to work on the MR).

These are both major grades and will be due tomorrow at the end of the school day. Remember – progress reports will be printed on Monday morning, so if you don’t want a zero for a major grade (or two), you’ll need to turn these assignments in. If you turn something in over the weekend AFTER I’ve graded, just let me know on Monday and I can take the zero away for the progress report.

shelden

1/30/2014

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I started out today with an apology: Normally, I only read one section a day. BUT, because we have missed two days due to weather, I’ve had to compress two days of reading into one.

So understand that we are going to read WAY more than I usually ask you to do.

While we read, we take notes. Whatever I have highlighted or written down, I want you to write down or highlight. If you miss a day of reading, the best way to get caught up is by getting the notes from my hard copy in the classroom:

Beowulf NotesToday, we read The Wrath of Grendel and The Coming of Beowulf. For each of those headings, you should have turned the heading into a QUESTION on a Post-It Note. You will save these until the end of Beowulf and then you will turn them in. Please don’t give me your random Post-It Notes.

questions

Siria, since you missed today, you’ll need to make sure that you understand what happened. Get the notes, read on your own, and if you help, you can read this and this.

Lastly, I explained the Metaphorical Response. You will come up with ten metaphors from Beowulf. Make sure that your metaphors are real metaphors: don’t describe Beowulf as a soldier because he IS a soldier. Don’t describe Grendel as a monster because he IS a monster. Try to stick with inanimate objects.

You should have gotten the metaphor for Beowulf completed today. We will work a little each day on this, but you will need to keep up with the work. This will be due by Friday, February 7th.

When we finished reading, we

2/7/2012

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Even though Beowulf is an old man, he can still kick butt and take names. Like Huff in Secondhand Lions.

We read the Last Battle, The Spoils, and The Farewell today.

Watch the Legowulf movies in LMS – it’s a really good review, I promise!

And lastly, make sure you work on that Metaphorical Response – it’s due today!

Also, if you are a highlighting freak like me and want to be able to use this on the final exam and you missed a day, I now have a printout of all of my notes that you can use when you need to get caught up. This is not a replacement for reading – you still need to understand what was read, but it can help. 🙂