Tag Archives: metaphors

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.

20140911_093132[1]

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!

 

1/29/2015 – 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.

20140911_093132[1]

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.

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 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 also talked a little about what the name Beowulf means. This is what I found:

IV – 9/12/2012

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Beowulf is an old man. We watched a clip from Secondhand Lions to understand that just because he’s old, that doesn’t mean that he is weak.

We read “The Last Battle” and “The Spoils” and we worked on the Metaphorical Response.

Remember – choose METAPHORS – that means objects that are UNLIKE the thing you are describing. Don’t say that Grendel is like a monster because he IS a monster. Think of the following comparisons:

  • car
  • plant
  • bodily function
  • food/soda/drink
  • machine
  • medical condition/disease
  • article of clothing
  • school/office supply
  • weather condition
  • Weapon
  • Toiletry

2/7/2012

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Progress reports came out today, and if you have leveled to a Cabin Boy, you got a share of the booty. Also, if you were passing on the progress report, you were given the chance to choose a SUPER POWER! Remember – The Riley giveth and the Riley taketh away.

After all that noise, we worked on the Beowulf Metaphorical Reponse in LMS. It’s a Word document, and if you look at the Hamlet example, it can show you what she is looking for. Also, check out the rubric to see how she is grading it.

HINT: Choose inanimate objects to be your symbol rather than animals. Also, make sure you aren’t choosing other like objects – a metaphor is a comparison between two UNLIKE things. Beowulf and a frog. Mrs. Ekster and a stick of butter. Vistas High School Program and a watermelon.

Make sure that you have two quotes from Beowulf!

We will finish this tomorrow. 🙂