To teach metaphors, establish a clear definition and history of the term, compare it to similar concepts, and work through examples from poetry, popular culture, and advertising. Encourage students to generate their own metaphors through writing, drawing, or photography. Recycle and revise classroom material for deeper understanding.
Some of the best tips for teaching metaphors include establishing a clear definition of the concept and its types before introducing examples and illustrating how this figure of speech enhances writing. It can also be helpful for students to create visual representations of metaphors through illustration or photography. Metaphors are pervasive in daily life beyond writing and rhetoric. Consequently, the teaching of metaphors should be approached as a long-term process rather than a lesson plan for a single class day.
Establishing a clear definition and history of the term is an effective foundation for teaching metaphors. Depending on the age of the students, it may be appropriate to have them try to explain the concept and its typologies with the teacher guiding and filling in the gaps. It can be helpful to compare metaphors with similar concepts such as similes and symbols. Such methods help ensure that students are active, engaged and accountable for the course material.
Once the class has established a definition, the next tip for teaching metaphors is to work through examples. Examples can be provided by the teacher or, if appropriate, students can provide examples as homework or look for them during class hours. As with the previous suggestion, students should be responsible for generating explanations for the metaphor examples presented, why each example is or is not a metaphor, and how the metaphor works.
When presenting examples of metaphors, it is often effective to start with simple representations and work up to more difficult ones. Poetry is a reliable source of metaphors, but using examples from popular culture such as music, television, and film can make the lesson more relevant to students. Advertising also relies heavily on metaphor and can help students understand that they think metaphorically in everyday life to the point where they go unnoticed.
Some examples can serve to illustrate both written and visual metaphor. Ee Cummings’ poem A Leaf Falls on Loneliness is an example of a double metaphor. The poet associates a lonely falling leaf with loneliness and uses isolated letters falling on the page to visualize the feeling.
After a series of written and visual examples have been digested by the class, the next stage of teaching metaphors can ask students to generate their own. Rather than locking students into a particular form of expression, teachers may consider allowing for a variety of ways to complete the assignment. Students can write poetry, a story or play games. Those who are visual learners may find it more helpful to create an advertisement, a drawing, or compose and take a photograph. Depending on the availability of equipment, students may even be able to write, produce and film a scene in which a metaphor is used.
A final tip for teaching metaphors is to recycle and revise classroom material whenever possible. While the focus of the lesson is not on the metaphor itself, if the material being studied includes an example, having students recognize and explain it will help strengthen understanding of the concept. Such reinforcement can cultivate understanding that goes deeper than short-term memory.
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