What is an Extended Metaphor? Lesson and Activity

Perhaps nothing imprints an image in a reader’s mind better than an extended metaphor.There is something illuminating about taking two dissimilar things to demonstrate a truth or create imagery. The unexpectedness of the comparison jolts you. The creativity to extend the metaphor dazzles you. After reading Emily Dickinson, you may never look at a little bird again without thinking of hope and resiliency. And after reading Robert Frost, you may never look at a diverging path without pondering life choices, individuality, and taking the road less traveled.

An extended metaphor is simply a metaphor that extends for multiple lines or paragraphs.

For example, Martin Luther King in his speech “I have a dream” employs an extended metaphor to compare the plight of black people in the United States to cashing a check. King brilliantly uses the language of money to demand that the United States honor its debt of justice and freedom for everyone.

He says:

“In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

By talking in economic terms, King brilliantly speaks for blacks in the United States in a unique way–a way most people can relate to–money.

So now that you better understand what an extended metaphor is, let’s see if you can create your own. From the five dissimilar things listed below, create an extended metaphor. Your metaphor should be at least 4 sentences long.

Here are your choices.

Video games and Life

A sport of your choice (baseball, football, basketball, etc) and a food of your choice (pizza, hamburgers, salad, etc).

Fire and Learning

The Forest and Shopping

Music and Cleaning

Among Us and School

Choose your own two topics

Here is an example of an extended metaphor that involves Music and cleaning.

Music and Cleaning

Great cleaners get into a rhythm when cleaning. There is a beat in which they rinse, and a tempo in how they scrub. They are orchestrators of their cleaning. There is an anthem of hope to their scrubbing prowess. Great cleaners are at harmony when they clean because they know one thing: cleaning is an art, not a chore.

So now it is your turn. Write an extended metaphor and be prepared to share with the class. Good luck.

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