Blog Task #4: Extended Metaphor

Discussion Questions

Answer the following set of questions. Pay attention to the keywords in the question stem to plan your
answer, and to the grading indications of each to ensure you are meeting the requirements.

1. Define the term extended metaphor. Research an example to support your answer.

An extended metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things in several ways without using "as" or
"like", it can be found in poems or paragraphs in the novel.

An example of extended metaphor can be found in Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5.

How now! a conduit, girl? what, still in tears?

Evermore showering? In one little body
Thou counterfeits a bark, a sea, a wind;
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs;
Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,
Without a sudden calm, will overset.

In this dialogue, Juliets father draws a comparison between Juliet in tears and a boat in a storm by
portraying her eyes as the sea, her body as the bark or boat, her tears as the ebb and flow of a
raging sea, and her sighs as the winds of the storm.

( /2 K / 2 I /1 C)

2. Locate the extended metaphor in chapter 6. Break the metaphor down into smaller symbolic units
below, and next to each symbol, suggest both the meaning of the symbol in relation to the metaphor, as
well as the pertinence to TItas life.

Johns metaphorical comparison of human soul to a box of matches

- My grandmother had a very interesting theory; she said that each of us is born with a
box of matches inside us but we cant strike them all by ourselves; just as in the experiment, we
need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen, for example, would come from the
breath of the person you love; the candle could be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or
sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches(115).

Symbol Textual Evidence Meaning and Connection to Titas life

Matches For a moment we are dazzled by According to Dr.Browns grandmother, everyone

an intense emotion. A pleasant is born with a box of matches inside them but
warmth grows within us, fading they cant strike them all by themselves. The
 slowly as time goes by, until a
new explosion comes along to
revive it. (115)
Oxygen In this case, the oxygen, for
example, would come from the
breath of the person you love
(115)
Candle the candle could be any kind of
food, music, caress, word, or
sound that engenders the
explosion that lights one of the
matches (115)
Fire Each person has to
discover what will set off those
explosions in order to live, since
the combustion that occurs when
one of them is ignited is what
nourishes the soul. That fire, in
short, is its food. (115)
Frigid cold Ever since Pedro, Rosaura and
Roberto had gone to live in San
Antonio, Tita had lost all interest
in lifethe house could fall down
and it wouldnt have even
mattered. (87)
Thats why its important to keep
your distance from people who
have frigid breath. Just their
presence can put out the most
intense fire, with results we are
familiar with. (116)
Cure There are many ways to dry out
a box of damp matches, but you
can be sure, there is a cure.
(116)
With Johns warmth toward her
in word and manner, she felt
better each day. (108)
matches are the happiness and hope throughout
ones life, which require different elements for
everyone to light the matches. In the novel, Tita is
always desperately trying to light her matches, or
to receive happiness and other intense emotions
by actualizing her love and desire.
Oxygen basically means the person you love,
which is essential for lighting up the matches, or
the soul. In Titas life, Pedro is clearly her love as
he always brought Tita the feeling of an intense
heat, igniting her soul and brightening her life.
Food becomes a symbol of Tita's love for Pedro
as she uses it to communicate her feelings.
Once the fire lights up the matches, ones soul is
also lightened. Throughout this novel, fire is
symbolizing passion and love. Titas passion and
love for Pedro is something that enables her to
live, since its the explosive flare of the matches
that feeds our souls and keeps us alive.
The frigid presence is something that will make
the box of matches dampen. Mama Elena is one
who has frigid breath in Titas life because she
has done everything with her power to put Titas
flame out. She separates Pedro from her, which
is same as taking away her oxygen, and also
insults her food, which is the candle that light up
the matches. Under Mama Elenas power, Tita is
trying in vain to find food to nourish her soul, only
left with cold and defenseless.
The cure that dries out the damp matches for Tita
is John himself. He lights up Titas moody soul
again as well as her liberation from Mama Elena
does. John both physically and emotionally
supported Tita in overcoming the cold and
gradually believing in herself. His presence in
Titas life emits a small but sufficient amount of
oxygen towards her flame, just like a cure for her
dying soul.
( /12 K /6 I /1 C)