Creator: Brad Pasanek | visit site
Grade Range: 6 - 11
The Mind is a Metaphor is something like a dictionary for finding metaphors. There are over ten thousand of them. Though many are mental metaphors, there are some that don’t relate to the mind. This site originally started with an "expanded eighteenth century" list, but now has metaphors from as late as the 1990’s. Search for a metaphor by literary period, author, genre, gender, and several others. You may also enjoy the creator’s blog with his interpretations of his favorite metaphors at <a href="http://mind.textdriven.com/">Blog for The Mind is a Metaphor</a>.
In the Classroom
High school AP literature and history teachers or IB capstone classes will especially love this site. Share a metaphor a day as students are entering the class or on your class web site. Allow a student to choose one as today’s Metaphor Master! Discuss the meaning together or use it as a quick writing prompt. Use the time period to discuss the historical context of the metaphor. Use these in your own presentations or require students to create a presentation explaining the metaphors you assign. Younger students just beginning to study metaphors can benefit from trying to interpret the metaphors as a group and presenting them to the class. Challenge students to try to create their own metaphors. Develop a class Metaphor Wiki for students to share metaphors. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the <a href="/content/wiki/index.cfm">TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through</a>.
At Home
If you ever have to create presentations, try slipping in a metaphor to "wow" classmates or co-workers.
Tags
Subjects
American History, English, History & Culture: World, Language Arts, Reading, Social Studies, Social Studies, Writing,