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.
- The term extended metaphor means sustained metaphor, is when an author gives out
a single analogy at length through linked, tenors, and grounds throughout a poem or story.
- An example of extended metaphor would be a poem from Margaret Atwood, Margaret
atwood describes marriage that its not really stable, describe it as a edge of the desert and the
unpainted stairs.
Marriage is not
a house or even a tent

it is before that, and colder:

The edge of the forest, the edge

of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn

where painfully and with wonder

at having survived even
this far

we are learning to make fire.

( /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.

Symbol Textual Evidence Meaning and Connection to Titas life

Matches 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. page 52
My grandmother had a very
The matches symbolizes the happiness toward a
person, as in the quote said you need it from
someone you love, or something you love to light
on of the matches up, here it means happiness.
How it connects to Titas life is that Tita fears that
her matches have not only been dampened, but
soaked through by her tough past, which means
 interesting theory; she said that
each of us is born with a box of
matches inside not been seen
before. page 51
Phosphoru As you see, within our bodies
s each of us has the elements
needed to produce phosphorus.
page 51
Oxygen 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.
Candles Just as in the experiment, we
need oxygen and a candle to
help. page 51
Dr Browns The gum arabic is dissolved in
recipe enough hot water to form a paste
that is not too thick; when the
paste is ready, the phosphorus is
added and dissolved into it, and
the same is done with the
potassium nitrate. page 46
that her happiness might have been lost already
in the past, due to Mama Es conflict with her.
Phosphorus in this chapter symbolizes an
element in life to cure the sadness in our body;
for instance,like musics can cure sadness.
In this quote, phosphorus is the experiment Dr
John Brown was trying to do, he is explaining
how our bodies has elements that occur to the
matches or aka happiness in this chapter.
Phosphorus is related to Tita because in order for
her to light up her matches. John Brown advise
her to first by drying out her box of damp
matches, phosphorus is just one theory to help
Tita light up the match shes lost.
Oxygen here in this chapter actually represents
hope. Oxygen represents hope because as in the
quote stated, you need someones oxygen to
conduct this element to light up the matches. That
one persons oxygen to light up the matches is
the hope youll need.
Oxygen is related to Tita because as we see in
the past chapters, Oxygen from predo are always
missing, it didnt light up her light. But in this
chapter John Brown is the oxygen that will give
her the path to light up the matches shes
needed.
Candles here symbolizes a side item to keep up
the hope youve got or as I can symbolize it as
the persistence of the love she gives toward
oxygen. Tita here is related to candles because
aside from getting hope from another person, she
has the kitchen to do, as we know, Mama E
forces her to stay in the kitchen which makes her
matches damped, kitchen is one of the candles
but isnt the one that will lit up the matches for
her. Instead, staying in John Browns crib is the
candle that will lit up her matches.
Dr Browns recipe actually symbolizes freedom of
Tita. We can see from the past chapters that Tita
has been starting with kitchen ingredients in the
start of every chapters, and it is in the house of
MAMA E which she has no freedom at all. We
can see the development here in this chapter,
shes out of the kitchen she has the right to love,
to stay out of the kitchen and isnt being

Explosion When oxygen reached the top of
the jar, where it encountered the
melted phosphorus, an explosion
occurred, brilliant. page 52
controlled.
Explosion here symbolizes the bond between
hope and the cure of sadness to lit up the match,
so here explosion symbolizes the desire and
passion of Tita. Tita is related to explosion
because in theory, she needs both a persons
oxygen and the cure of sadness to actually be lit
up. The problem is, explosion is what John Brown
was trying to create for her, explosion is the
climax of the love between Pedro and Tita
because now, John Brown begins to move in.
( /12 K /6 I /1 C)