Writer’s Notebook Quarter 3 Semi-autobiographical Writing

Guiding Purpose Why write autobiographically? To better understand Great Expectations To better understand ourselves To better understand how to communicate our worldview to others

Task One: Extended Metaphor To review: metaphor - using a word or phrase that ordinarily describes one thing to describe another How does extending it change things? To have an extended metaphor is to have a main subject for comparison that includes several smaller subjects for comparison

A famous example All the world’s a stage And the men and women merely players They have their exits and entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. As You Like It (II vii)

Prompts For this task you are to construct your draft around an extended metaphor based on your own experience. Your prompt choices are comparisons involving: A place A physical characteristic An object

A place… At age ten my bedroom was not a bedroom; it was my fortress. From inside its walls I surveyed the strange new town into which I had been abruptly transferred. G.I. Joe, Transformers, and He-man slept in barracks of boxes; but the garrison never seemed complete the way it did before. The fortress’ arsenal was filled with books, comics, and music that never matched rosters with those of the new kids. Most importantly, the fortress was there for protection; because from now on, I was the “new kid.”

A physical characteristic… The scars on the backs of his hands were the map of his life. The marks were veins of experience that became inescapable reminders of the past. The scars were of different depths, severity, and shape. Scar complexion and complexity varied by experience. Time served in chef work became roads etched in thin, deep, arcs of white on the skin. Brutally accidental lessons in dexterity delivered at the end of a hammer, or head of nail, became new stops on the road. Some jobs were engaging, others were merely another stop, another experience to heal.

An object… The new weightlifting gloves did not appear to be special; but most promises don’t at first. The gloves were a gift from his father. They had stitching, padding, and grip like many others but the binding was different. These gloves were bound with his promise to use them and the promise his father saw in him. Where the son wanted strength and grip, the father wanted release from seeing his problems reflected in his son. A hand slips into a glove while a hope tightens. Anger exerted and anger absolved were all present in fabric resting in a gym bag.