1. Metaphors
A poetic introduction

2. Metaphor
Metaphors are comparisons that show how two different things are similar in one important way (e.g. the moon and a ball are both round).
Writers use metaphors to help them describe something more clearly and in a more original way.
Metaphors state that something is something else.

3. Metaphor
Some of these phrases are metaphors and some are just nice descriptions. Can you spot the difference?
The sea is …
a lion's roar
a shark's restaurant
a quilt of blue
a surfer's paradise
a leaking ink cartridge
the eyes of a fair haired child
the sound of the crashing waves
a blue lagoon
God's tears
a mermaid's kingdom
a flooded land
a fish's home
a bowl of salty water
liquid against a velvet sky
a place beyond the horizon
a shiny blue sheet hugging the shore
blue nothingness
a deadly suffocating machine
water, alive
occasionally death when oil tankers spill
white horses riding on a blue carpet
fun, surfing on the waves
another world waiting to be discovered
a giant puddle
a blue blanket in the distance
a background

4. Metaphor The Dark is... The Dark is...
a swallowed night scary and unknown a blanket of black a place where nightmares live a deep dark hole a place where light can't show a place where horror draws you in black tights over your head the final sleep something black a black cat where nobody goes a dark cupboard a witch's cauldron black as black death loneliness the night sky a question
an icy blanket of shadow covering the world a creeping black monster a sea of shadows seeping into every corner a sleeping potion carried around the world a bottle of Coke a mysterious cave the retreat of the sun loneliness an oily sea a black cat at night the edge of the universe cold black silence
Read the above poems several times.
1) Which are your favorite images? Why?
2) Are there any lines which are not metaphors? Which ones?

5. Metaphor Each person must think of two metaphors for the sun.
Write them on a scrap of paper and hand them in.
We are going to create a class poem.

6. Metaphor Create your own metaphor poems. You might like to start with:
the moon
a snail
a thunderstorm

7. Extended Metaphor Jot the definition below in your notes:
An extended metaphor explains the connections made between two different things.

8. Extended Metaphor Bat My son is a bat.
For example, this is a poem written by parents about their teenage son:
Bat
My son is a bat.
His eyes blink when darkness comes.
His body stirs with life.
His limbs gorge with blood
as he sets out through the cave of night
his roof the stars
the moon a big white eye watching.
Attracted by the false lights
he mingles with his batty friends
weaving in and out of nightclubs
endless parties
each other’s places
till sensing the sudden ebb
of darkness
he flutters home
a cloaked Dracula
to the hollow of his room
where he will sleep all day

9. Extended Metaphor
Why did the parents decide to compare the way the son lives his life to the way a bat lives?

10. Extended Metaphor
Use the P.E.E. format to write your answer in an analytical paragraph.
Your point is why the author used the metaphor of the son is a bat.
Your evidence will include words in the poem that helped you make your decisions.
Your explanation should prove your point.

11. Extended Metaphor
Use the P.E.E. format to write your answer in an analytical paragraph.
Your point is why the author used the metaphor of the son is a bat.
Your evidence will include words in the poem that helped you make your decisions.
Your explanation should prove your point.
Bat My son is a bat. His eyes blink when darkness comes. His body stirs with life. His limbs gorge with blood as he sets out through the cave of night his roof the stars the moon a big white eye watching. Attracted by the false lights he mingles with his batty friends weaving in and out of nightclubs endless parties each other’s places till sensing the sudden ebb of darkness he flutters home a cloaked Dracula to the hollow of his room where he will sleep all day

12. Homework
Write your own metaphor poem for a specific person in your life. Topics could include:
My mother is...
My father is...
My grandmother is...
My sister is...
My brother is...
My friend is...
My auntie is...
My teacher is....
Be sure to organize your ideas! Maybe your poem follows the person throughout the day. Maybe you look at the person in different moods (e.g. the first half when they are angry and the second half when they are happy.) Maybe you look at the person when they are at home and then look at them when they are in public.