Literature+&+Figurative+Language

== = = = = = = =Literature and Figurative Language= Figurative Language is a cornerstone of literature - it is what keeps the reading interesting. Poets are credited with using the most figurative language as "figures of speech" - a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words.

Using the three literary excerpts below, investigate the figurative language the author has used. In the right hand column you will see notes n red, (the first one has been started for you). Each literary excerpt has questions for you to answer. Click on the link to post your discussion.


 * < =**Literary Excerpt**= ||< =**So What? Figuratively?**= ||
 * < Poets also make use of the journey metaphor, as in this well-known work by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken":

//Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,// //And sorry I could not travel both// //And be one traveler, long I stood// //And looked down one as far as I could// //To where it bent in the undergrowth.//

//Then took the other, as just as fair,// //And having perhaps the better claim,// //Because it was grassy and wanted wear;// //Though as for that the passing there// //Had worn them really about the same.//

//And both that morning equally lay// //In leaves no step had trodden black.// //Oh, I kept the first for another day!// //Yet knowing how way leads on to way,// //I doubted if I should ever come back.//

//I shall be telling this with a sigh// //Somewhere ages and ages hence:// //Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--// //I took the one less traveled by,// //And that has made all the difference.// || We typically read this poem as discussing options for how to live life, and as claiming that the subject chose to do things differently than most other people do.

To Frost, figurative language is what poetry is all about. He is notably a poet of metaphors more than anything else. Frost said,"Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, 'grace metaphors,' and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. People say, 'Why don't you say what you mean?' We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets. We like to talk in parables and in hints and in indirections - whether from diffidence or from some other instinct"....  Excerpt from an essay entitled "Education by Poetry" by Robert Frost.

This understanding comes from our implicit knowledge of the structure of the LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor. In other words, we think metaphorically--whether we're aware of it or not.


 * Based on the descriptions of each path, h****ow do the roads compare?** **What do you infer the possible LIFE JOURNEY would be like for the traveler based on this metaphor?** [|Join the discussion] ||
 * Poets also make use of the metaphor along with personification, as in Edgar Allen Poe's poem, "The Bells":

Hear the sledges with the bells - Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells - From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. Hear the sledges with the bells - Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells - From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.... complete poem || "The Bells" brings out the meaning behind the symbols of various bells. He incorporates musical and sound devices as well as auditory and visual imagery to describe different dispositions associated with four different types of bells.

Like life, the meaning of "The Bells" depends on where you find yourself. "The Bells", is a great example of Personification Poetry as each bell speaks of a different theme and, like Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken", metaphorically represents LIFE's journey.


 * In this sample of "The Bells", how are the bells themselves, as well as other**
 * objects in the poem, personified? What human, living characteristics have they been given?** [|Join the discussion] ||
 * Metaphor, simile, personification and hyperbole all work together for the poet as we see here in Maya Angelou's, "The Lesson":

//I keep on dying again.// //Veins collapse, opening like the// //Small fists of sleeping// //Children.// //Memory of old tombs,// //Rotting flesh and worms do// //Not convince me against// //The challenge. The years// //And cold defeat live deep in// //Lines along my face.// //They dull my eyes, yet// //I keep on dying,// //Because I love to live.// || Like both of the poems above, this poem reflects on LIFE.


 * Identify the figurative language in "The Lesson", and distinguish between metaphor, simile, personification and hyperbole.**


 * Reflect how the author of the poem feels about their life and why they say they, "keep on dying."**

[|Join the discussion] ||
 * Compare all three poems and discuss how LIFE is interpreted by the author through figurative language.**

=Follow Up Discussion=

**Step 1**
When you are ready to post your response, use the **Discussion Tab** located at the top of this page to enter a "post" containing your answers.
 * Be prepared to:**
 * Share and discuss your thoughts about figurative language. Be sure to **//refer specifically//** to what you have read and viewed.
 * Answer these questions:**
 * How has the advent of the Internet changed the way teachers can think about teaching literary genres?
 * Identify two activities or resources you have read about or reviewed and discuss how they could be facilitated in a 1:1 setting? Consider any drivers and/or barriers.

Step 2
include component="comments" page="Literature & Figurative Language" limit="10"
 * Read the responses of all your peers:**
 * Respond to and build on the ideas of **//at least three//** of your classmates.

**How you will be evaluated:**
Successful completion of this activity will be based on the Forum Participation Rubric.

What To Do Next
Complete this assignment, then go to: Tackle Figurative Language with Toondoo (On day 2 or when given permission)

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