My Favorite Literary Term: Synecdoche
Have I ever told you that I have a favorite literary term? No? Well, we must resolve this oversight on my part.
My favorite literary term is the one that is most fun to use, and most fun for me to explain to the class, and has the most gross-out factor potential. Synecdoche, that is sin-ECK-dit-dy, is when you use part of something to represent the whole thing.
If you have "fifty head of cattle" do you really only have fifty cow heads, severed and dripping blood in a big pile? I think not! You have fifty whole cows.
My favorite example of this is from Shakespear's "Julius Ceasar". When Marc Antony is standing, entreating his fellow Romans, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears!" Every time I teach this term, I use this quote and give the students the image that I get when he says these words: A big pile of severed ears, dripping blood, and the men of Rome standing around yelling, "What did he say?"
Maybe you need to be an English teacher to think this is funny.
My favorite literary term is the one that is most fun to use, and most fun for me to explain to the class, and has the most gross-out factor potential. Synecdoche, that is sin-ECK-dit-dy, is when you use part of something to represent the whole thing.
If you have "fifty head of cattle" do you really only have fifty cow heads, severed and dripping blood in a big pile? I think not! You have fifty whole cows.
My favorite example of this is from Shakespear's "Julius Ceasar". When Marc Antony is standing, entreating his fellow Romans, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears!" Every time I teach this term, I use this quote and give the students the image that I get when he says these words: A big pile of severed ears, dripping blood, and the men of Rome standing around yelling, "What did he say?"
Maybe you need to be an English teacher to think this is funny.
I love this. Always, always teaching.
ReplyDeleteNo, that wasn't a complete sentence.
I read this before going to work this morning and it stuck with me all day. I taught three other people your literary term, and got a chance to gush about how amazing you are. No one believed me when I showed them how it was spelled, but pronounced it as directed. I'll have to look up it's origin to get to the root (ha!) of it.
ReplyDelete(Can I count that as a Miah pun?!)
Will this be another installment on your blog? There are books, events, and now terms? Throw in Greek and Latin roots and you've got yourself an on-line classroom!