1. Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor?
This is pretty tough to answer. To start with I'll just say that I expose myself to metaphors fairly often. Most of the music I listen to is full of metaphors, which when taken literally are quite strange. I read poetry on a regular basis, which of course is full of metaphors. I watch movies and read people's opinions on them where they sometimes insert non-existant symbolism which is a lot like a metaphor. For example if you watch SLC PUNK! carefully enough you'll notices that Mathew Lilliard's character Steve-o's hair changes shades of blue throughout the film, some people of postulated that this reflects his mood/maturity and ultimately when he shaves his head and becomes a lawyer, it reflects him accepting adulthood and becoming a productive member of society. Really it's just the simple fact that blue dye fades over time.
As for why people missed the is a metaphor I'm not sure, as I said in my post it was an obtuse metaphor but a metaphor none the less. They were thinking far too literally in some cases and others simply misinterpreted what the metaphor was about. Perhaps they just weren't exposed to metaphors enough before this post. I know that when i was in high school we rarely discussed metaphors and deeper meanings, barely scratching the surface of our reading materials.
2. What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you to create a log of them?
I encounter numerous metaphors throughout the day and it is impossible to keep track of them all. To begin with my music is full of it. Mason Proper uses very unclear metaphors to express romance, heartbreak, etc. To quote the song 'Light Off' on the album 'There is a Moth in Your Chest', "So tell me, how much of you disappears when I turn the lights off?" which is mostly a give-away for what the song is about. It's a song all about superficiality and how a person can be externally beautiful but lack inner substance. Screeching Weasel has a song titled 'Your Name is Tattooed on My Heart" which is obviously not literal. I visit Poets.org at least once a day and read the daily poem, which often contains a metaphor.
3. What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors?
How do we help our students understand and use metaphors? Give them suggested reading, expose them to it in class. Have them break down and analyze metaphors on a regular basis. Send them home with the assignment to find a song in their music collection with a metaphor and interpret its meaning.
4. Why do we use metaphors?
Metaphors can and are used for a variety of reasons. To diguise what is being said, to make a message more powerful, to provide humor when talking about a serious issue, to make something sound better, to make it more intriguing. Metaphors make up life, our music, our poetry, our books, movies, stories, games, just about everything.
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