Special Metaphor Assignment: (Blog Post #14)

Okay, so obviously most of the class completely missed the metaphor used in the blog post Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home. I was one of the many who missed the metaphor. While I can't tell you why most of the class missed the metaphor, I can do my best to explain my I missed it. To be honest, I did not even start on the assignment where we were supposed to read this post until 11:00 the night it was due. I was in such a hurry to make sure I got the assignment done I did not really put much thought in to what I was reading. When I read over the post now, I can't believe that I did not see how the pencils were meant to be talking about computers. I mean, I am in a computer based class after all. I know that my reason for missing the metaphor is no excuse, and I should have taken more time for my assignment. Since this big mess up I have been trying not to procrastinate with my assignments. I have been doing a little better and hope only to improve.

Since being asked to keep a log of metaphors, I have been amazed at how often they are used everyday. I few that I have heard are "It's raining cats and dogs", "You can't have your cake and eat it too", "crocodile tears", and "That person is just a bad egg." These are just a few of the many metaphors that I encountered everyday. Since it was so easy to spot all of these metaphors, I should have had no reason to miss the one in the blog post. It is clear how important metaphors are in today's society.

Since metaphors are so important, it is our job as educators to make sure that our students will be able to spot and understand them in everyday language. One of the things that we can do is to make sure we use metaphors with our students. Give them several examples of how they are used in casual conversations, as well as in the literary world. Another thing we can do is to encourage students to come up with their own metaphors. This will reiterate the importance of the metaphor and get students to do some critical thinking. We must do what we can to make sure our students don't go through life missing all the metaphors, much as we missed the metaphor about computers in the blog post.

So, why are metaphors so important? Metaphors make us think. Instead of coming right out and saying something, people use metaphors. This makes the person who hears the metaphor truly think about what the other person is saying. Metaphors also make language more interesting. Would you rather hear someone say "It sure is raining hard outside" or "It's raining cats and dogs out there!" I think we can all agree! What ever reason that you use metaphors, they are clearly important and we must try and understand them.