ENG 152 Creative Writing- Writing with Attention, Spring 2004
Narrative and Metaphor Assignment
May 27, 2004
In the Alexie readings from Tonto and Lone Ranger Fistfight In Heaven, Alexie drew upon phenomena, processess, or things in a symbolic way to add meaning to the main experience or event the story was about. In the first chapter, "Every Little Hurricane", weather was partially personified and then imparted some of its characteristics on the family interactions that the story was predominantly concerned with. In the second, "Tradition", 'a drug' that functioned metaphorically to impart some new understandings onto concepts
and ideas of cultural traditions.
What I would like you to do is to identify and then use a similar process, phenomena, or thing to enrich one of your own narratives. The day we discussed how the Alexie stories were working, I had told you that we all have things we have unresolved feelings about, such as Alexie's with the ongoing effects of colonization on American Indians. It doesn't matter if you are white, brown, yellow, red, we all have been affected by things or relationships that we still have strong feelings about, that we carry with us in the back of our minds, that we have pain or frustration about.
List a few things you have frustration about, things that directly effect your life. Examples would be race relations, substance abuse in the family, a death in the family, divorce, romantic relationships, male-female relationships, the effects of class. These kinds of things may be present in our lives in a way that we have to deal with thier effects whether we want to or not. After identifying one you feel like exploring, list some characteristics about it, such as what is troubling about it? If it is related to race relations like Sherman's, what is it that causes you pain or frustration? What would you change?
Who embodies the issue for you? What is your place in the issue? What sort of negative actions or feelings arise from the issue? Do any objects or metaphorical phrases come to mind when you think of it?.. like 'running up against a wall'? Doing this is meant to help give the issue texture, so that you can then identify a metaphor for it.
So now, examine the issue. In your looking over the characteristics you've noted, is there any object or process or phenomena that resonates with it? Do your characteristics seem cold... and cause you to turn off feelings? Then ice or freezing may be a good metaphorical fit. If the characteristics you have listed include feeling hollow at times then maybe the tin-man, like in Wizard of Oz may be an apt metaphor to use. Perhaps a girlfriend's stubborness may make you feel like you are 'running up against a wall'. Then 'wall' may be your metaphor.
Now select an event, an evening where the issue/ problem occurs and tell a story about it. Or if you want, create one that typifies the problem for you or condenses it into one experience. Describe what happens over that day or evening or event. Now interweave the description of the evening/ event with the description of the metaphorical process/phenomena. Keep your writer's eye open for ways that the metaphor can enhance the story of the event.
Instructor- Pauline Escudero Shafer
Office Hours- 10:15-11 am and By arrangement M-F
Phone- 206-587-2036
Email- PEscudero@sccd.ctc.edu