The Imaginative Nature National Council of Teachers of En
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 404 675 CS 215 781 AUTHOR Pugh, Sharon L.; And Others TITLE Metaphorical Ways of Knowing: The Imaginative Nature of Thought and Expression. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-3151-4 PUB DATE 97 NOTE 225p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (NCTE Stock No. 31514-3050: $12.95 members, $16.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *English; *Imagination; Interdisciplinary Approach; Intermediate Grades; Language Arts; *Language Role; *Metaphors; *Multicultural Education; Rhetoric; Secondary Education IDENTIFIERS *Metaphorical Thought ABSTRACT This book explores the subject of metaphor, using the imagery of cartography to set a course. It explores the creative aspects of thinking and learning through literature, writing, and word play, drawing connections between English and other content areas. Theory and practical applications meet in the book, linking activities and resources to current classroom concerns--to multiculturalism, imagination in reading and writing, critical thinking, and expanding language experiences. The first part of the book examines the uses of metaphor in constructing meaning. The second part takes up issues related to multiple perspectives--using metaphors to experience other lives, and exploring cultures through traditions. The third part of the book is devoted to a consideration of the history and current status of the English language and focuses on using cross-cultural stories in the English classroom, offering a number of resources for teaching multicultural literature in English. The fourth part examines the sensory Ixperience of metaphors by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching with the imagination. Contains 14 pages of references and an index. (NKA) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Onto or Educational Researcn and improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION - CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received IrOm the person or organization inginating eMinor changes nave been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions states in this document do not necessarily represent offival OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCEAND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 1 P Il'n ' ,P Ai% rN. .ire TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES I\7 INFORMATION CENTER {ERIC) .9.1 ..;1:,...-'.-,....., . Sliaiiih. Pugh Jean NT lcP s an'IMarcia Da ,... I,,..., BEST COPY AVAILABLE , t-r''',..-ii*',4:11kmll. Metaphorical Ways of Knowing 0.0 -r- c4 NCTE Editorial Board: Patricia Cordeiro, Colette Daiute, Hazel Davis, Bobbi Fisher, Brenda Greene, Richard Luckert, Al leen Pace Nilsen, Jerrie Cobb Scott, Karen Smith, chair, ex officio, Dawn Boyer, ex officio 4 Metaphorical Ways of Knowing The Imaginative Nature of Thought and Expression Sharon L. Pugh Indiana University Jean Wolph Hicks Indiana University and University of Louisville Marcia Davis Indiana University National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 5 Manuscript Editor: Julie Bush Production Editor: Rona S. Smith Cover Design: Loren Kirkwood Interior Design: Doug Burnett NCTE Stock Number: 31514-3050 ©1997 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Permissions acknowledgments appear on page 214. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pugh, Sharon L. Metaphorical ways of knowing: the imaginative nature of thought and expression / Sharon L. Pugh, Jean Wolph Hicks, Marcia Davis. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-3151-4 (pbk.) 1. English philologyStudy and teachingTheory, etc. 2. English languageComposition and exercisesStudy and teachingTheory, etc. 3. English languageRhetoricStudy and teachingTheory, etc. 4. Interdisciplinary approach in education. 5. Pluralism (Social sci- ences) 6. Language arts (Education) 7.Multicultural education. 8. Thought and thinking. 9. Knowledge, Theory of. 10. Imagination. 11. Metaphor. I. Hicks, Jean Wolph, 1953- .II. Davis, Marcia, 1956- .III. Title. PE65.P851997 420' .7dc21 96-47982 CIP 6 V Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Language, Thought, and Imagination 3 I. Metaphor and Learning 1. Metaphor and Meaning 13 2. Ways of Knowing: Metaphor and Learning 34 3. Reimagining Ourselves 48 II. Multiple Perspectives: Metaphors and New Outlooks 4. Experiencing Other Lives 69 5. Change 84 6. Time 95 7. Exploring Cultures through Traditions 109 III. Imagining Language 8. English as a Metaphor for Multiculturalism 129 9. World Literatu'res in English 142 IV. Making Sense: The Experience of Metaphor 10. Seeing and Hearing with the Imagination 157 11. Metaphors of Taste and Smell 170 12. The Imagination of the Body: Movement and Touch 180 V. Conclusion and References Conclusion 195 References 197 vi Contents Permissions Acknowledgments 214 Index 215 Authors 221 8 vii Preface n this volume, three of the authors of Bridging: A Teacher's Guide to Metaphorical Thinking return to the subject we felt we had barely begun in our first book. Here we have focused on metaphorical and imaginative thinking as tools for learning, captured in the phrase ways of knowing. Learning is an act of discovery. Language is the main equip- ment that human learners take on this expedition. Because of the uncharted nature of the territory ahead in the quest for new knowl- edge, learners need not only the right apparatus but also the skill and imagination to use it in versatile ways. Our aim in this book is to emphasize imagination in using language for thought and expres- sion. As English teachers, we value precision, structure, and clarity in language, attributes that students certainly need in order to function in a communicative society. However, we should not let these values obscure the equally important values of experimenta- tion, originality, and playfulness. Traditionally, school instruction has emphasized accurate transmission of information and ideas. Too often, we complain that students aren't hearing what we say, that is, they aren't understanding us; and they aren't saying what we expect to hear, which is to say they aren't being clear. These concerns are valid, but we should be just as concerned with whether students are using language for exploration and invention. Too often, imagination gets squeezed. It is still functioningit has to be for language to work at allbut it is operating in a very small space. The well-known demise of creativity in many children throughout the school years is one consequence of this compression. Like anything that is alive, imagination needs room, freedom, and stimulation to grow and be healthy. We have written this book especially for teachers of grades 5- 14 who are interested in integrating the development of language and thinking into a reading-writing curriculum. We also reach out to teachers who are attempting an even broader integration, that of English and social studies into a humanities block. By offering a theoretical basis for viewing metaphor as a way of knowing, and by suggesting many avenues through which this way of knowing may VIII Preface be explored and developed, we hope to promote the cause of the imagination so that it will be given the kind of attention that ratio- nal, scientific knowledge has received for centuries. Sharon L. Pugh Jean Wolph Hicks Marcia Davis 10 ix Acknowledgments We wish especially to thank the librarians of the Monroe County (Indiana) Public Library, the Louisville (Kentucky) Free Public Library, and the Indiana University Library who put their expertise to work for us in locating obscure citations and materials. We also thank Julie Chen and Mayumi Fujioka, IU doctoral students, for contributing a number of Chinese and Japanese name origins, and Bhupender K. Sharma, who kindly shared Hindi names with us. We appreciate the time taken by teachers to read and respond to our work, including Anne Greenwell of Ahrens High School (adult education) in Louisville; Brenda Overturf of Mt. Washington (Kentucky) Middle School; Danna Morrison of Hebron Middle School (Bullitt County, Ken- tucky); and the teachers in the Louisville Writing Project's Advantage classes. Special thanks also go to photographer Dave Stayer and computer expert David Hicks for their contributions to our work. 1i Metaphorical Ways of Knowing 12 3 Introduction: Language, Thought, and Imagination The whole story of humanity is basically that of a journey toward the Emerald City, and of an effort to learn the nature of Oz. Loren Eiseley, The Unexpected Universe Language is an act of the imagination, a means by which we construct in our minds images (or, to use a related word, imitations) of each other's thoughts and experiences.