What’s this meta-phor?

Another type of figurative language that we see often is a metaphor. Metaphors are a bit trickier than similes though. With similes, you can look for the key words, like or as. Like similes, metaphors are also used to compare two things. The difference is metaphors declare that one thing is another.

Check out this video for the song Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3E9Wjbq44E

Stereo Hearts

[Adam Levine:]

My heart's a stereo

It beats for you, so listen close

Hear my thoughts in every no-o-o-te

Make me your radio

And turn me up when you feel low

This melody was meant for you

Just sing along to my stereo

[Travie McCoy:]

Gym Class Heroes baby!

If I was just another dusty record on the shelf

Would you blow me off and play me like everybody else?

If I asked you to scratch my back, could you manage that?

Like yeah, check it Travie, I can handle that

Furthermore, I apologize for any skipping tracks

It's just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks

I used to, used to, used to, used to, now I'm over that

'Cause holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts

If I could only find a note to make you understand

I'd sing it softly in your ear and grab you by the hand

Just keep it stuck inside your head, like your favorite tune

And know my heart's a stereo that only plays for you

[Chorus:]

My heart's a stereo

It beats for you, so listen close

Hear my thoughts in every no-o-o-te

Make me your radio

And turn me up when you feel low

This melody was meant for you

Just sing along to my stereo

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh to my stereo

Oh oh oh oh so sing along to my stereo

[Travie McCoy:]

Let's go!

If I was an old-school fifty pound boombox (remember them?)

Would you hold me on your shoulder wherever you walk

Would you turn my volume up in front of the cops (turn it up)

And crank it higher everytime they told you to stop

And all I ask is that you don't get mad at me

When you have to purchase mad D batteries

Appreciate every mixtape your friends make

You never know we come and go like on the interstate

I think I finally found a note to make you understand

If you can hit it, sing along and take me by the hand

Just keep me stuck inside your head, like your favorite tune

You know my heart's a stereo that only plays for you

[Chorus:]

[Bridge:]

I only pray you'll never leave me behind (never leave me)

Because good music can be so hard to find (so hard to find)

I take your head and hold it closer to mine (yeah)

Thought love was dead, but now you're changing (yeah) my mind (come on whoa)

[Chorus:]

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh to my stereo (it's your boy Travie)

Oh oh oh oh (Gym Class Heroes baby!) so sing along to my stereo

Yeah

Throughout the song, Adam and Travie compare themselves to a stereo by saying “My heart IS a stereo.” They compare the actions of a radio with their own actions and emotions. They could have easily said, “My heart is LIKE a stereo,” but taking out the word “like” makes the comparison more powerful.

Bonus: Did you spot the similes in the song?

In David Lubar’s Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, the main character, Scott, uses metaphors to compare the school’s football players to food in an article for the school newspaper.

“’Check this out,’ I said. I pulled the paper from my notebook. It was too good not to share. I’d called it ‘A Football Feast.’ I compared the players to the food in the snack stand. Vernon was a hot dog of course. The defensive line was nachos because they crumbled so easily. The offensive line was soda. They lost their fizzle early in the game (158).”

Lucky for us, Scott explained why he made the comparisons. Other times, we’re not so lucky, and have to make inferences as to why authors make certain comparisons.

Create a Google Doc titled “Metaphors.” Respond to the following.

Look at the two metaphors below from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In your Google Doc, write down what two things are being compared and why the author chose to make that comparison.

1. “’You know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games (44).’”

2. “The woods became our savior, and each day I was a bit farther into its arms (51).”

Can you spot the metaphor in the passage below from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan? Write the metaphor from the passage below. Then determine what two things are being compared and why Riordan chose to make that comparison.

“She shouted, ‘See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!’

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

‘Sit!’ Annabeth called again.

I was sure that any moment she would become the world’s largest Milkbone dog biscuit.

But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who’d been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires (296-297).”

Write a descriptive paragraph about a person of your choice, in which you use metaphors to give us a clear picture of this person in our minds.