Extended Metaphors and Six word memoirs

Extended metaphor

What is a metaphor and an extended metaphor and why do we use them?

An extended metaphor is a metaphor in literary work, such as a novel or poem, that isn't just used in one line but is extended over multiple lines or throughout the entire work.

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A metaphor is a comparison by directly relating one thing to another unrelated thing. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use words such as 'like' or 'as' to make comparisons. The writer or speaker relates the two unrelated things that are not actually the same, and the audience understands that it is a comparison, not a literal equation.

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Writers use metaphors to add colour and emphasis to whatever they are trying to express. For instance, if you say someone has a 'sea of knowledge' you are using a metaphor to express how smart or educated they are. 'Knowledge' and 'the sea' are not literally related, but they are figuratively related because they are both immense things that are difficult to measure.

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Extended metaphors allow writers to draw a larger comparison between two things or ideas. In rhetoric, they allow the audience to visualise a complex in a memorable way. They highlight a comparison in a more intense way than simple metaphors or similes.

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Extended metaphor examples

'Strange Fruit' sung by Billie Holiday

This song has the extended metaphor referring to bodies being lynched, most likely due to racism at the time. Billie Holiday uses constant connotations of nature in order to highlight the devastation of the situation she is singing about. An example of this is referring to the dead bodies as 'strange fruit'. This song conveys a clear message regarding the devastating lynching of black people in America.

'Hope is the thing with feathers' by Emily Dickinson

Initial thoughts:

The first thing that I found noticeable about this poem was the overall abstract concept, specifically the comparison of hope to a bird. This speaks to me as I understand that Dickinson is trying to convey the idea that freedom is being able to fly - like a bird. One of my favourite lines includes ''And sings the tune - without the words, and never stops at all.'' This line speaks to me as I like the idea that she is portraying by referring to the continuous tweet of the bird, implying that hope is always there and will never stop calling out to you.

Why is this so powerful and how does it manage to paint a picture with the images she writes?

This extended metaphor is powerful as it continuously compares the idea of hope to a little bird, which indicates the permanent presence of hope. Dickinson has created the idea that hope is all about freedom, and the importance of freedom is being able to fly - like a bird.

Write about hope using nature or a creature

Hope is a butterfly

An ever-so-enticing lullaby

Blanketing me in its harlequin wings

Carrying me to a land of assurance where virtue sings

Hope is always there, perched on a marigold

Patiently waiting for my wings to unfold

Examples in literature 

'Seize the Night by Dean Koontz'

In this piece of writing, it can be seen that the 'circus' has been compared to the author's imagination. This may imply that the author feels as if his mind is chaotic, or in a constant state of make-believe.

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What would you use to describe your imagination or a character's imagination?

My imagination is a battle of waves, crashing against each other in a fight to surface the shore of my mind, to be washed up and spoken out loud.

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'The Yiddish Policeman's Union' by Michael Chabon

Throughout this piece, the author makes the comparison between being shipwrecked on an island to interacting with his family. This idea sets the tone of a dysfunctional family and gives off the impression that he does not want to be there. In the line ''Like a party marooned by a shipwreck'', the word 'marooned' portrays the idea that he is stuck in the situation, whilst the use of the word 'shipwreck' conveys a chaotic tone within his family.

Extended metaphor in Martin Luther King 'I Have a Dream' speech

The quote that we evaluated from Martin Luther King builds upon the initial metaphor of 'cashing a check' in each successive sentence. The line ''America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which had come back marked 'insufficient funds''' stands out to me as the connotations of money when discussing the inequality between black and white people portrays the harsh stereotypes towards black people, and how the state of America was only pushing this narrative further. Martin Luther King also conveys the idea that America is not willing to change its ways and ideas, portrayed in the line ''We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this nation.''

'Another Brick in the Wall' music video by Pink Floyd

This song and music video by Pink Floyd immediately jumped out to me as a running commentary of the British public school system at the time. The song conveys the idea that the school system is a method of producing clones of each other, leaving no room for imagination or creativity. This is portrayed in the music video as the children are seen to be in a factory setting and being churned out like meat. This also highlights the brutal aspect of the school system and the idea that the teachers at the time had to exercise brute force to subjugate the students to their will. The title 'Another Brick in the Wall' references the lack of individuality of students at the time, and shows how the writer of the song felt forced to fit in and comply with what was 'expected' of him.

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How to use an extended metaphor

Three subjects:

• Religion

• Factory 

• Education

For each subject, create a mind map, listing as many descriptive words as you can that have to do with that subject.​

My mind map:

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Write about the one subject that you are most passionate about using the terminology of the words from one of the other topics.

I chose to use factory terminology to write about education:

Thirty odd adolescents stood in line, name tags stapled on, an unstinting reminder of the inhumane morsels they were painted to be, churned like meat from rows of machines. Metal slicers removing any inch of creativity from them, as soon as they sat in the classroom, sanguine aspirations bulldozed into cold, hard, metal facts of life.

One by one, the conveyer belt took them into a standard of learning that even unsettled the stomach of pervious cogs, head to toe in identical attire, grieving from papers upon papers of grading and captivity.

Six Word Memoir

Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

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What is the writer doing when he/she uses specific words in their writing?

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​ - Trying to affect the reader by setting a mood/tone

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 - To portray specific emotions with their words

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 - To portray a certain perspective

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Ernest Hemmingway's short story

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''For sale: Baby shoes, never worn''

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What is this about?

I got the idea that this is about a baby that perhaps never had the chance to wear these shoes due to it passing away before it was born. I also get the sense that this is about a grieving parent attempting to move on or bury any negative memories by selling the things that could remind them of the baby.

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How does the writer's powerful imagery and choice of words affect the reader?

The writer is portraying a story with a highly emotive meaning, though the emotion seems to be taken out of the words by the short, blunt language. The use of punctuation also adds to the emotion as it resembles what you might see in a shop window, which adds a sense of reality to the piece.

What is a memoir?

A memoir is a special kind of autobiography, usually involving a public portion of the author's life as it relates to a person, historical event, or thing. The text is about the personal knowledge and/or experiences of the author. I

In contrast, an autobiography covers the author's entire life to the present and is expected to include details about his or her public and private life

More examples of six-word memoirs

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''Nixon childhood, Reagan teenager, hope finally.'' - Tonia Mohammed-Madejczyk

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''Facebook has ruined my entire life.'' - Jeanie Engleke

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'Nobody cared. Then they did. Why?'

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'Born bald. Grew hair. Bald again.'

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'Started small, grew, peaked, shrunk, vanished.' - George Saunders

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Writing our own six-word memoirs

• ​Make your six-word memoir personal and honest

• Use the six-word limitation to inspire creativity

• Think about the emotion/tone you wish to express through your writing

• Put the best words in the best order to express exactly what you want to communicate

• Consider where you will place capital letters and punctuation marks.

My six-word memoirs

-Home: Four walls and a heart

-Paper House destroyed with one breath

-Sewed a smile. Ripped the stitches

I chose 'Sewed a smile. Ripped the stitches' to be the six-word memoir that I shared with the class. The whole class shared their feedback and I did the same for everybody else.

Greg's feedback: ''Clever word choice and word order. I also like the drama of the full stop.''

Evaluation​

During this week of sessions, I feel like I have learnt a great amount involving six word memoirs and extended metaphors, and effectively understood how these skills can improve my writing. In particular, the analysis of famous six word memoirs helped me to overall grasp the concept of what a six word memoir is, but also how to write them myself using inspiration from famous writers. Although I initially struggled with the six word limitation, after writing own some ideas and practicing, I was able to write multiple memoirs. This has also effectively impacted my writing as it has reminded me of the importance of word choice, and how specific words can affect the tone and theme of any piece of writing.

The extended metaphor session was also impactful to me as a writer, due to learning about the power of a continuous message/meaning throughout a piece of work and how it can bring emotion into a piece of writing. I found the exercise of analysing extended metaphors particularly useful, as it helped me understand how other writers present certain skills. The task that I struggled with the most involving extended metaphors was the mind map task, as Factories, Religion and Education are not something that I would usually write about, so it pushed me out of my comfort zone slightly. I resolved this struggle by looking back at previous examples of extended metaphors and took inspiration from them.

Overall, I found this week to have covered a range of writing tools and have helped me to craft my writing by paying attention to word choice and specificity within my writing, as well as understanding and creating extended metaphors in my work.

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