Metaphor

  A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. There are many different metaphors.A regular metaphor could be “I had fallen through a trapdoor of depression" the example compares how sudden the depression hit the person.


    There are also many specific kinds of metaphors like simile, personification, anthropomorphism, hyperbole, parable, fable, and analogy. Simile means the comparison of one thing to another thing for example "Music is like a taco it can be hard or soft" the example is explaining there are many different type of music. Another kind of metaphor would be personification meaning making a human characteristics to something nonhuman. An example for personification would be"The basketball told me we were late for lunch" the example given is demostrating how it brings a basketball life . Another kind of metaphor is anthropomorphism which is giving an animal human characteristic or an object it is closely to personification for example, "The dog in Bathoven was playing basketball and wearing sneakers".The example is describing how the dog could play ball but in reality we can't really see a dog playing basketball. Another metaphor is hyperbole which is exaggeration for example "I am so hungry I could eat a horse." It is an exaggeration, because nobody could eat a horse. A parable would be another type of metaphor. The parable is a simple story used to teach us a lesson. An example of a parable could be "The boy who cried wolf",which is about a kid who a farmer tells him to cry wolf if he see's one he says it the first two times joking around, and the third time there was actually a wolf but nobody believed him and the wolf ate him.  Another metaphor can be a fable describing a short story, typically with animals as characters, giving a moral to the story. An example could be"The donkey and the Lap dog" which is about a farmer who has a donkey and a dog, the famer sits the dog in his lap then comes along the donkey and tries to do the same an kills the farmer.A metaphor would be analogy which is  a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation an example could be "hot is to cold, like fire is to ice". These are some examples of what metaphors are and how are they likely used.


Understanding metaphor let's us appreciate poetry, in many different poems like in "Joy" it gives an example of hyperbole in the sentence which says "Just when you thought winter will be here forever that it could never end" it sarcastically exaggerates by saying "winter will never end" when it does end. Another quote of the poem that gives  us a metaphor of anthropomorphism is when the author says "first blade of grass, the messenger of spring" the example showing it says the messenger of spring but there can't really be a messenger for spring. In another poem called "Play" it gives us an example of personification in the line "Random raindrops on the window pane.Touch them with your finger tip -but there's the barrier of glass" it is making us think we can actually touch the raindrops and the raindrop is a wall of glass, which in reality that can't be possible. In the poem "Treasure" it gives us a plain example of a metaphor, "child raised the lid of the battered box to reveal a small feather,a stone and a piece of ruby glass". This is a metaphor because in a treasure we'll usually find jewelery and gold but the kid is comparing the jewelery and gold to small feather, stones and a piece of ruby glass.  In another poem called "Creativity" it helps us identify an example of personification, one of the lines that gives is a clue to that is when the author says "there is a shadow of a branch outside.It moves and it is dancing.It writes its story and the ink is living light". It gives an example of branches supposedly dancing and the reason is because humans usually dance not branches, also gives an example writing a story in the daytime because is the only way you'll be able to see the shadows in the daytime so it gives an example on how they moving and how we can see it. In another poem called "Peace" it gives us an example of animism "The wind is now a roaring, smashing monster of destruction, raking all man's work"  this is an example of animism because it is turning the wind into a monster and giving it life.

   A simile can be used as for an elephant, for example "He eats like a pig, Vines like golden prison" the example is trying to say he eats a lot because pigs eat a lot and can hold us like someone on a prison because a vine can be like a rope and hold us tight with his trunk.  In this link it gives us many different examples of simile and how they use the elephant to identify it. As in the link it can show us many different examples on  how it relates to a simile, it gives you quotes to describe what a simile can be.

   A personification is when we are giving an object life, personifications are used in many different stories and poems. In the poem "My Town" it gives us an example of how is being used. "The leaves on the ground danced in the wind, The brook sang merrily as it went on its way" the way it uses personification is because is giving an example of how the leave is dancing in the wind. The author is trying to say the wind is moving the leave but they  make an example as if the leave was dancing. The other example given is how the brook is supposedly singing  as it kept going on it's way, which means the water kept flowing as there might of been sounds in the air.


In the fable "The bat and the birds" they use a meaphor in an example that the bat is alone, then a group of birds show up and ask him if he wants to join them and he replys and says "No, I am a beast" then he they leave and another group of lions and other animals show up and ask the bat to join them ane he says "No I am a bird". After a while the bat seemed lonely so he went of and asked the birds them and they denied him on joining him, then he went of to the other group to the beasts and they replied as well saying no. The metaphor giving is that the bat uses other animals to make believe he's others because he didn't want to be bothered.


 In two of Emily Dickinson's poem there are different metaphors being used in one of the poems called "I took my power in my hand" It gives an example of hyperbole in the line " I took my power in my hand ,And went against the world"the reason why is a hyperobole is because it's an exaggeration nobody can really get power from their hands and go against the whole world. In the other poem called "The wind" there's a different type of metaphor being used and it's a simile in the line that indicates "The wind tapped like a tired man,And like a host, Come in" The reason why this line can be a simile because it's using like and i's comparing the wind to a tired man, and to a host giving an example of how the wind will say come in just like the wind.


 In the poem "(a leaf falls) loneliness" is using a simple metaphor because is describing how when a leaf falls is loneliness, which means when a single leaf falls down a tree it might mean loneliness because it's falling down by it'self and is just like a person when they don't have nobody.


  Metaphors can work in many different ways in our life, we use it everyday as examples to the way we talk and write as well. As we keep growing the world keeps developing and it shows us many examples and experiences in life that we can relate them as metaphors. The way we speak everyday in exaggeration is an example of metaphor and also fables that teaches us lessons are examples or changes that cause in our life that can be seen as metaphors. A metaphor that can apply to me would be "A Battle - Everything is a competition or a struggle.  We are always either winning or losing". This could apply to me because in life we don't always get what we want we either learn the hard way or the good way, and even though things may be going good at a moment everything could go to end you have to struggle in order to succeed, this would be my opinion towards this quote and why it applies to me.