Griffin,+Mike-Final+Project

= The purpose of this Wiki is to provide a foundation for understanding and analyzing figurative language. = These concepts will be assessed in 3 ways (click the link for the assignment): 1. Completing the Poetry Project; 2. Writing an Original Poem demonstrating use of the 5 figures of speech below, as well as a rhyme scheme; 3. Passing a Poetry Test where you demonstrate an understanding of each poem's theme and how the main images/figures of speech develop and elaborate on the theme. We will cover these GLE's in the unit : GLE

= Chapter 1 Figurative Language: Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Symbol =


 * Figurative Language** ** is the comparison of two different things: one is the thing you are describing, the literal term while the other is used only for comparison, the figurative term. We use figurative language all the time, indeed communication would be virtually impossible without the ability to compare one thing to another. The following humorous illustration points out the difficulty of communicating without using any figures of speech. 

media type="youtube" key="biNLVYj4EaY" height="344" width="425" ** Since we use figurative language in everyday speech, we will start with a simple, everyday example: if I ask, "what do frog legs taste like?", you would probably reply, "like chicken," instinctively using a [|simile]. Any attempt to describe the flavor of frog legs without referencing another food will likely lead to vague descriptions like, it taste mild, smooth, or slick. None of these descriptions can impart to us the experience of frog legs with anything approaching the accuracy and sensory detail of a simple simile. // __Frog legs__ taste like __chicken__ // At its most fundemental level, a figure of speech is the comparison of a **literal term //(frog legs)//** to a **figurative term //(chicken)//.** To understand a figure of speech we must first be certain of what is meant literally and what is meant figuratively. Some times this is easy to do, as in the example above, because the literal and figurative are unmistakeable; however, the two terms are not always so clear.

Each term may be **stated** or **implied**. When the term is implied, it means that the reader must use inference. In the above example the two terms are clearly stated but not so in this familiar figure of speech:

// Get your **paws out of the cookie jar. ** // Now we all know that the speaker really means //hands//, not //paws//, but hands are never mentioned, they are implied and the reader must make the connection between hands and paws.

are like

This is a good time to stop and ask why anyone would want to make a figure of speech more complicated. What is gained? Why don't we just say what we mean: "Get your hands that are like paws out of the cookie jar" or better yet "Don't eat the cookies."

What these two statements gain in clarity they lose in meaning. We can either dispense with the figure of speech and have just a bare command or we can use figurative language to create an inference about the lack of civility and good manners in the owner of those hands.

When we ask the question, "why did the poet do this?" of "what is gained by this figure of speech?", we have begun to [|analyze] the figure of speech and discover the deeper, richer meanings of poetic language.

First Steps to Understanding and Analyzing A Figure of Speech
The process of analyzing a figure of speech may be broken into three fundemental steps Now let's analyze an example of figurative language from Robert Frost's poem [|Bereft]
 * 1) Identify the literal term
 * 2) Ask what the literal is compared to
 * 3) Explain what meaning is added by the comparison

 //** leaves got up in a coil and hissed, blindly struck at my knee and missed. **//

1. **Literal**: The literal term //__leaves__// is clearly **stated**

2. **Figurative**: The figurative term //__snake__// is **implied**. Rather than simply say "leaves got up like a snake," which communicates little meaning, Frost connects leaves to snake by describing the sound and movement that the two share.

3. **Meaning**: We know that leaves //coil and hiss// when blowing in the wind and scraping the ground; we also know that snakes coil and hiss when preparing to strike. The meaning added by the lines is found in the tone, a sense of impending doom or danger, a feeling that the natural forces of nature are gathering to strike the speaker. Not suprisingly, the poem is, at its heart, an expression of isolation, fear, and sorrow.



Now that we have covered the concept of literal and figurative terms, we can move on to the different ways in which these terms may be compared

Four Fundamental Figures of Speech
The way in which the comparison of literal and figurative is made defines the particular figure of speech, and there are over two hundred different ways of making comparisons. To keep thing simple we will start with four basic ways of making comparisons, then try identifying them in several lines of poetry.

=**[|Metaphors]** and **[|Similes]**= are much the same as they both involve **a comparison between two things essentially unalike. In a metaphor the comparison is implied while in the simile the comparison is stated, usually with the word //like or //as. ** //Example// Metaphor: Life the hound. Simile: Life is like a hound.

//Analysis// Both compare life to a dog, the simile simply makes the comparison clearer. Presumably the full poem would apply dog qualities (barking, biting, befriending) to life in general. Listen to the poem and decide how the comparison is used: media type="custom" key="4124593" Life the hound Equivocal Comes at a bound Either to rend me Or to befriend me. I cannot tell The hound's intent Till he has sprung At my bare hand With teeth or tongue. Meanwhile I stand And wait the event.

=[|Personification]=

Is the comparison of human to non-human; that is, human qualities are given to something non-human like a plant, animal, or object. // Example 1: In the following line, decide if the linked word is a personification, then click the link to see if you are correct. // The //angry wind //howled. // Example 2 : In the following line, decide if the linked word is a personification, then click the link to see if you are correct. // The angry dog howled. Clearly, identifying personification is not always easy. When analyzing a possible personification, always ask yourself if the quality is exclusive to humans or shared by non-human things as well.

=**[|Synecdoche]**= Is the comparison of a part to the whole; that is, a part of the thing you want to describe is used in place of the thing itself.

While conceptually difficult, we use synecdoche in everyday speech, particularly in insults. If you refer to someone as a //bigmouth//, you don't mean a disembodied mouth, you mean a loud person. Since the mouth makes the noise, you call them a //bigmouth. // //And common phrasings of synecdoches:// "Hey, nice //wheels [//car]." "Let's play //hoops [//basketball]." "Look at that cute //redhead [//person with red hair]" //" All hands [//crew members//] on deck!" "Use your head [think about your actions] The meal is $10 a head [per person]. //

Tip: When deciding if a synecdoche for a person is being used, look for body parts.

=**[|Symbol] **=

A symbol is a unique and powerful figure of speech where something (literally anything living or nonliving) comes to represent more than just itself. For instance, in Shakespeare, darkness often symbolizes death. It is perhaps the only figure of speech which is both literally true and figuratively true at the same time. Thus when a character in Shakespeare, comments on what a dark night it is, we know that there will be a death soon.

Symbols can be complex because they are arbitrary; often there is no way of knowing what a symbol means unless you are told. This means symbols are interpreted differently depending on the cultural contex. For example the color white means purity and peace in most Western cultures but it tends to mean death in Eastern colors. In fact, you have been taught the symbolic meaning of many colors and objects through holidays:

Color--Meaning--Holiday
Red---passion, love, joy -Christmas, Valentines day Greenlife, rebirth ---Christmas, St. Patrick's day, Easter BlackDeath, rebellion -Halloween

The following video gives an overview of the meaning of symbols and common examples in Western culture. media type="youtube" key="pNfHfIAQoQk" height="525" width="660"

PRACTICE. For each of the following quoted lines of poetry. Identify the figure of speech used and explain what the line means. Click on the hint if you are having trouble understanding the line

1. "O tenderly the haughty day fills his blue urn with fire." Hint

2. "Cuckoo, cuckoo, O word of fear Unpleasing to the married ear." Hint 2

3. The hippocratic eye will see in nakedness, anatomy. [|Hint 3]

4. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships. [|Hint 4]

=Chapter 2 Imagery=

under construction.