Transcript Simile and Metaphor Lesson 3 “Mind” Mind in its purest play is like some bat That beats about in caverns all alone, Contriving by a.

Simile and Metaphor
Lesson 3
“Mind”
Mind in its purest play is like some bat
That beats about in caverns all alone,
Contriving by a kind of senseless wit
Not to conclude against a wall of stone.
It has no need to falter or explore;
Darkly it knows what obstacles are there,
And so may weave and flitter, dip and soar
In perfect courses through the blackest air.
And has this simile a like perfection?
The mind is like a bat. Precisely. Save
That in the very happiest intellection
A graceful error may correct the cave.
-by Richard Wilbur
Simile
• A comparison between two things that
initially seem quite different, but are shown to
have a significant resemblance
• Employs connective words, including like,
than, as, similar to, resembles or seems
• Example: Her eyes shone like the sun.
Metaphor
• Also compares two seemingly different things.
But in metaphor, the comparison is not
expressed but is created when a figurative
term is substituted for or identified with the
literal term
• Employs words such as is and are.
• Example: Talent is a cistern; genius is a
fountain.
Four Metaphor Forms
• 1st Form: Like simile, both the literal and
figurative terms are named.
• Example:
Life the hound
Equivocal
Comes at a bound
Either to rend me
Or to befriend me.
Four Metaphor Forms
• 2nd Form: The literal term is named and the figurative term is
implied.
• Example:
Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Somber clouds in the west were massed.
Out in the porch’s sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed
Blinding struck at my knee and missed…
Four Metaphor Forms
• 3rd Form: The literal term is implied and the
figurative term is named.
• 4th Form: Both the literal and the figurative
terms are implied.
Example of 3rd and 4th Forms
It sifts from Leaden Sieves—
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road—
It deals Celestial Veil
To Stump, and Stack—and Stem–
A Summer’s empty Room—
Acres of Joints, where Harvests
were,
Recordless, but for them—
It makes an Even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain—
Unbroken Forehead from the East
It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
Unto the East again—
As Ankles of a Queen—
Then stills its Artisans—like
It reaches to the Fence—
Ghosts—
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Denying they have been-Till it is lost in Fleeces—
Now you try…
• Identify opening comparison in
– “Hope’ is the thing with feathers—”
– “There is no Frigate like a book”
• What similarities exists between hope and
something with feathers in the first poem, and
between a ship and a book in the second?
• What other metaphors can you find?
Before you try…Definitions to know
• Gale, n. A very strong wind
• Abash, v. Cause to feel embarrassed,
disconcerted, ashamed
• Frigate, n. A warship with a mixed armament,
generally lighter than a destroyer
• Courser, n. A swift horse
• Traverse, n. A route or path to cross over
• Frugal, adj. Economical; thrifty
“There is no Frigate like a book”
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
By Emily Dickinson
“Hope’ is the thing with feathers”
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
- #254 By Emily Dickinson
Discuss
In the following poem, Hughes uses five strong
similes in this short poem. What are they?
Do they seem positive or negative to you?
How do you think Hughes felt about having his
dream deferred?
“Harlem”
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
By Langston Hughes
WRITING EXERCISE!
Activity 1: The following is a list of clichés. Try
rewriting each overused phrase, making it into
an original simile:
As hungry as a horse; Bright like the sun; As fast
as lightning; As slow as a turtle; Dark like night;
Quiet as a mouse; Red as a rose; and White as
snow.
Activity 2: Taking turns, pick an emotion and an
object provided by the teacher and make an
unexpected metaphor. For example, if you pick
“happiness” and “car,” your poem would start
“Happiness is a car…” To continue the thought,
use description and imagery to create an eightline poem.
Type this up and bring to class next period.
Homework
• Circle all instances of simile and underline all instances of
metaphor in your poem.
• You are now ready to discuss how the author’s use of
poetic techniques, like simile, metaphor, and
personification, make the poem stronger. What other
poetic techniques does the poet use (read the sheet in your
handout)?
To turn in:
• Your marked up poem highlighting simile and metaphor
• Turn in a screen shot of your “Poetic Techniques” section of
your Prezi
• Emotion/Object Metaphor poem