The Study of Conceptual Metaphor in the Parables About Kingdom of Heaven in St

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Study of Conceptual Metaphor in the Parables About Kingdom of Heaven in St THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA Student Number: 0642140044 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011 THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA Student Number: 0642140044 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011 i A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis THE STUDY OF METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE OF THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL By YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA Student Number: 064214044 Approved by ii A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL By YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA Student Number: 064214044 Defended before the Board of Examiners on March 28, 2011 and Declared Acceptable BOARD OF EXAMINERS iii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY I honestly declared that the thesis which I wrote does not contain the works of parts of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and bibliography, as a scientific paper should. Yogyakarta, April 4th, 2011 The Writer Yosua Septian Elia iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Yosua Septian Elia Nomor Mahasiswa : 064214044 Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya berjudul: THE STUDY OF METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE OF THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL. Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya ke internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 4 April 2011 Yang menyatakan Yosua Septian Elia v MOTTO PAGE “Life must be understood backwards in order to live your future”—Kierkegaard “They are not told about the graciousness of God in a parable but are shown a situation of ordinary life which has been revolutionized by grace” (McFague, 1975: 71) Consummatum Est vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to extend the sweetest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Francis Borgias Alip, Mpd., M.A. for his advice and supports. Second, I would like to convey my appreciation to my co-advisor, Dra. Bernardine Ria Lestari M.S. Third, I would also thank to my academic advisor, Anna Fitriati S.pd, M.hum., for encouraging me to study hard in each semester. Fourth, I send my best regards to all lecturers in English literature department and to all its staff. Fifth, I would like to give my appreciation to all library staff for their help. Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends. Thank you very much for the time that we have shared together. Yosua Septian Elia vii TABLE OF CONTENT TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………… i APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE........................................................................ iii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY................................... iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS............................ v MOTTO PAGE................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………… viii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………. x ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………… xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study…………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation…………………………………………. 3 C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………. 4 D. Definition of Terms…………………………………………... 4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………. 7 A. Review of Related Studies……………………………………. 7 1. Understanding Israelite metaphor..................................... 7 2. The Parables of Matthew.................................................. 8 B. Review of Related Theories………………………………….. 10 1. Theory of Parable………………..................................... 10 a. The Concept of Parable............................................ 10 b. The Elements of Parable........................................... 11 c. The Types of Parable................................................. 13 i. Similitude............................................................. 13 ii. Parable.................................................................. 14 iii. Exemplary Story................................................. 15 d. The Structure of Parable.......................................... 16 2. Theory on Metaphor........................................................ 18 3. Parable as Extended Metaphor........................................ 19 4. Theory of Conceptual Metaphor………………………… 21 C. Theoretical Framework………………………………………. 22 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………….. 23 A. Object of the Study…………………………………………... 23 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………….. 23 C. Method of the Study…………………………………………. 25 viii 1. Data Collection.................................................................. 25 2. Data Analysis..................................................................... 25 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………….. 27 A. The Parable about the Kingdom of Heaven…………………. 27 1. Parable............................................................................ 27 2. Similitude....................................................................... 39 B. The Conceptual Metaphors of the Parables…………………. 44 1. Agriculture Domain....................................................... 44 2. Treasure Domain........................................................... 47 3. Wedding Domain.......................................................... 48 4. Animal Domain.............................................................. 49 5. Business Domain........................................................... 50 6. Architecture Domain..................................................... 52 7. Pastry Domain............................................................... 53 8. Household Domain........................................................ 53 9. Family Domain.............................................................. 54 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………… 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….... 58 APPENDIX I...................................................................................... 60 APPENDIX II..................................................................................... 65 ix ABSTRACT YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA (2011). The Study of Metaphorical Language of the Parables about Kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s Gospel. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University This thesis dicusses the metaphorical language in the parables about the kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s gospel. The parables found in St. Matthew’s gospel concern about the virtues which Jesus Christ delivered about kingdom of Heaven. In this thesis, there are presents two problem formulations. The first problem is to identify the parables which concern about the Kingdom of Heaven. The second problem is to determine the conceptual metaphors which construct the parables. This thesis used library method in analyzing the data. In order to identify the parables, theory of parable was applied. Meanwhile, theory of conceptual metaphor was used to determine the conceptual metaphors of the parable. The approach used in present thesis was cognitive linguistics. Through the course of the analysis, seventeen parables related to the Kingdom of Heaven were found. They are the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Yeast, the Parable of Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the Pearl, the Parable of the Net, the Parable of the Household, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Tenants, the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable of the Talents. Twelve parables belong to parable, while five parables are classified as similitude. There are seventeen conceptual metaphors which shape the parables. Five parables derive its source domain from agriculture, i.e. the Parable of the Tenants, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, and the Parable of the Sower. Wedding domain is used to conceptualize two parables, i.e. the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Treasure domain is also used to conceptualize two parables, i.e. the Parable of Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl. Parables from business domain are the Parable of the Unmerciful servant and the Parable of the Talents,
Recommended publications
  • Waking up from «Conjecture» As Well As from «Dream»
    DOSSIER WAKING UP FROM «CONJECTURE» AS WELL AS FROM «DREAM» A presentation of AIME Text: Bruno Latour GAD Distinguished Lecture, American Anthropology Association meeting, Chicago 21st of November 2013 1 Abstract As every ethnographer knows, in addition to the many blunders every one of us commits in the course of our feldwork, there exist also graver mistakes when we sense a mistaken regime of reality granted to an entity. It is at those moments, usually the most revealing in the course of our inquiries, when we try to repair broken relations by some innovative move to defne the status of the contrasting realities that have been open to misinterpretation. During the last quarter century I have attempted, quite systematically, to increase the number of templates by which the so-called Moderns account for themselves; not, to be sure, in their ofcial representation (they remain staunch adepts of the Object-Subject Operating System and will swear that they are obedient naturalists), but by looking for the many occasions where they express dissatisfaction with such an ofcial view of themselves. What I think I have documented are the protestations by many diferent people that a skewed template is being used to account for the mode of existence of the agencies that are most attached to them. Keywords: method; ontology; modernism; inquiry; physical anthropology; diplomacy «Thus there would be two natures, (the world is made of objects and subjects, period) with the one is the conJecture bewildering number of entities they have never ceased to and the other is the dream» encounter or to generate along their path.
    [Show full text]
  • Mastering the Metaphor
    Mastering the Metaphor ACBS World Conference IX Colleen Ehrnstrom, Ph.D. Boulder, Colorado, USA www.actskillsgroup.com Many thanks to Chad Emrick and Carl Baccellieri and the Boulder ACT consultation group for their advice and feedback regarding this workshop. We utter about one metaphor for every 10 to 25 words, or about six metaphors a minute (Geary, 2011). Metaphors are represented in this presentation in both written and visual form. Metaphor: Picture is worth a 1000 words (embedded in computer metaphor) 1. Learn where metaphors fit into the infrastructure of the ACT model 2. Understand the basic science of metaphors 3. Know and apply the guidelines for using metaphors in therapy 4. Watch therapists use metaphors in the therapeutic context 5. Practice using some ACT metaphors in the therapeutic context Mechanistic versus Contextual Metaphor: Bank of a stream– Where does the bank end and the water begin? Functional Contextualism – given the context, what is the function? Metaphor: Google maps v floorplan – do you want to drive there or live there? Suffering is related to language Metaphor: Your words slice through me like knives RFT is the science behind ACT Metaphor: Driving a car without knowing the mechanics of it Pliance (“plys”) – compliance with verbal rules that are socially supported. Plys are typically our first introduction to rules. Examples: Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables to stay healthy Wear a coat – it is cold outside Metaphor: Go the extra mile What are your plys about doing ACT in the therapy room?? Plys are more prevalent because they do not require direct experience.
    [Show full text]
  • The Use of Metaphor in Poetry
    THE USE OF METAPHOR IN POETRY structure 3.0 - Aims and Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Traditional definition of metaphor 3.3 Distinction between simile and metaphor 3.3.1 Changein the trditidndunof metaphor 3.3.2 Difference between traditional and modern uses of metaphor 3.4 Simile and metaphor in a chain 3.4.1 Comptex metaphors 3.4.2 Symbd and conceit 3.5 Varieties of metaphor 3.5.1 Contemporary concept ofmetaphor 3.5.2 USe of me!apbor in modern poetry 3.6 imageas metaphor 3.7 Analogical and contextual notions of metaphor 3.8 Summing up 3.9 Activities: aids to answers 3.10 Glossary 3.0 AIMS ANI) OBJECTIVES This Unit discusses the use of metaphor in poetry. After going through it, you wiU learn that metaphor, like simite, is based on comparison between two dissimjlar the; the language we use being metaphoric in origin, some of our expressions have lost their original metaphoric character and have become dead metaphors; the traditional definition of metaphor as shortened simile has become modified in that metaphors.are not &&ed tidm simple logical comparisons; 0 dilethe traditional use ofwetaphor is for bringing out the points of similarity between two things, the mderh use of it is to make it serve as a ceqtral concept of the poem; in many poems the simik and the metaphor are indeed combined as in a chain. This suggests that though a siml is at the root of every metaphor, it is metaphor that - makes the poem vivid and symbolical; if the suggestecf-resemblane of the things compared is far-fetched or arbitrary, the metaphor acquires the character of a symbol or a conceit; * poets no longer consider a wtaphor as a distinct rhetorical element but associate it with other stylistic elements as 'metaphors'; * metaphor has become a condition of poetry and a means for the evocathn of connota~imand assoeiationscentral to the poem; in mdmpoetry,metaphar implies a transaction between contexts and kelps the overt meanings of images toacquire metaphoric significance; and .
    [Show full text]
  • Notes Definition: a Parable Is a Story Which Indirectly Points to a Truth (Earthly Story with a Heavenly (Kingdom of God) Meaning
    Notes Definition: A parable is a story which indirectly points to a truth (earthly story with a heavenly (Kingdom of God) meaning. With Jesus, he is teaching about a way of living, being in a kingdom, that can be chosen, that has no territory except where God’s sovereignty and will is honored. His stories provide insights, stimulate the conscience, and move one to action. They are concise and marked by simplicity (never more than two persons or groups in the same scene, like in Hebrew stories). Sometimes they reverse one’s expectations (just as God’s way is different from our way). They arise in a context so that they speak to the situation. Occasionally, they are grouped together for greater impact (e.g., the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost sons). They reflect the agenda of the gospel, and they are in the synoptic gospels and none in John. Interpretation: Hear them as stories from an oral culture, note their construction, consider the “gaps,” determine the function in the life and teachings of Jesus. Different parables: Parable of the sower (a parable about parables or the message of Jesus—importance in proclamation and the response) Three points: The kingdom is a kingdom of the word. The parable calls for attention and a reorientation of one’s life. The kingdom is presently at work—harvest is now and ahead. The unforgiving servant—the forgiveness of God must be replicated in the lives of the forgiven. (Similar to Luke 7—story told to Simon the Pharisee about the two who owed money, 1 one 500 pieces of silver and another 50.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhetorical Model for Homiletics. Rodney Kennedy Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1990 The piE stemic Power of Metaphor: A Rhetorical Model for Homiletics. Rodney Kennedy Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Kennedy, Rodney, "The pE istemic Power of Metaphor: A Rhetorical Model for Homiletics." (1990). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5063. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5063 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Workers in the Vineyard
    Workers in the Vineyard This parable (Mt 20:1-16) is about several workers who are hired by a land owner, over different periods of time. In the evening, the workers who are hired first expect to be paid more than those hired later. But the owner pays all of the workers equally. Land Owner: Most of the productive land was held by large-scale elite owners. From the First Temple period through the Second, a pronounced shift in the patterns of land tenure took place, shifting from smallholders producing the Mediterranean triad of grain, grapes and olives for subsistence to large estates orientated to large-scale production and export crops. The owner in this parable is one of the wealthy sub-elites who owned large estates and converted the land to viticulture dedicated to the production of export crops. Laborers: The social order consisted of a patron-and-client society of unequal relationships with the estate owners assuming the role of patrons and those who have lost the land becoming their clients. In such a relationship the client’s wellbeing is determined by the closeness of rapport he maintains with the patron. The landless laborers in the parable did not belong to the ambit of such a relationship. They were outside of any assured protection and regular work opportunity and, hence, more vulnerable to be deprived of their basic wages even on rare occasions when they found a work to do. Early workers: The working hours of the Israelites were 12 and was counted from 6:00 A.M.
    [Show full text]
  • Eden, Just Not Ours Yet: on Parable of the Trickster and Utopia
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette English Faculty Research and Publications English, Department of 1-2019 Eden, Just Not Ours Yet: On Parable of the Trickster and Utopia Gerry Canavan Marquette University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_fac Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Canavan, Gerry, "Eden, Just Not Ours Yet: On Parable of the Trickster and Utopia" (2019). English Faculty Research and Publications. 533. https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_fac/533 1 Gerry Canavan (Associate Professor, Marquette University) [email protected] // 414-899-7799 Eden, Just Not Ours Yet: On Parable of the Trickster and Utopia The last chapter of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents (1998) sees an aged Lauren Olamina in 2090, surrounded by several of her most devoted disciples at the launch of the first Earthseed mission, the beginning of the extrasolar colonization project to which she has devoted her entire adult life. We are told very early on in Parable of the Sower (1993), when Olamina is still a young teenager, that “The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars” (Butler Sower 85)—and by the end of Talents that dream seems to have been achieved, though it has personally cost Olamina nearly everything else in her life, including her daughter, her husband, her brother, and her personal safety. She herself is now much too old to go on such a mission, a Moses permanently denied her own Promised Land—though she imagines her ashes someday being brought to one of the Earthseed colonies after her death.
    [Show full text]
  • Parable of the Sower Created by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon
    Octavia E. Butler’s Parable Of The Sower Created By Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE THE SHOW Design for Sharing Demonstration Performance UCLA Royce Hall March 6, 2020 ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE The company is a unique collective of artists whose Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower Created by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon Based on the novels Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler, this genre-defying work of theater features a powerhouse ensemble of 20 singers, actors, and musicians. It harnesses 200 years of black musical tradition to bring Butler’s acclaimed science fiction books to life in song. Written by singer, composer and producer Toshi Reagon in collaboration with her mother, Bernice Johnson Rea- gon (song leader, composer, scholar, social activist, and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Parable of the Sower is a mesmerizing theatrical work of rare power and beauty. At this special performance for youth audiences, Toshi and members of the cast will perform selected songs from the production, as well as other songs connected to the themes of community and social action. About the Creators Toshi Reagon is a versatile singer-songwriter and producer, drawing on the traditions of uniquely American mu- sic: rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals and funk. Toshi has been performing since she was 17 years old. Her career really launched when Lenny Kravitz chose her, straight out of college, to open for him on his first world tour. Some of Toshi’s proudest moments include playing for her godfather Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday cele- bration at Madison Square Garden, and performing with the Freedom Singers at the White House, in a tribute to the music of the civil rights movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Detecting Novel Metaphor Using Selectional Preference Information
    Detecting novel metaphor using selectional preference information Hessel Haagsma and Johannes Bjerva University of Groningen The Netherlands Abstract costs an arm and a leg.’ and the Dutch ‘Dit lesboek kost een rib uit het lijf.’ (lit. ‘This textbook costs a Recent work on metaphor processing often rib from the body.’) to be mapped to the same mean- employs selectional preference information. ing representation, which should not include refer- We present a comparison of different ap- ences to any of the body parts used in the idiomatic proaches to the modelling of selectional pref- erences, based on various ways of generaliz- expressions. ing over corpus frequencies. We evaluate on In this paper, we focus on one area of figurative the VU Amsterdam Metaphor corpus, a broad language processing, namely the detection of novel corpus of metaphor. We find that using only metaphor, and especially the utility of selectional selectional preference information is enough preference features for this task. By doing this, we to outperform an all-metaphor baseline clas- hope to answer a two-fold question: can selectional sification, but that generalization through pre- preference information be used to successfully de- diction or clustering is not beneficial. A pos- tect novel metaphor? And how do generalization sible explanation for this lies in the nature of the evaluation data, and lack of power of se- methods influence the effectiveness of selectional lectional preference information on its own preference information? for non-novel metaphor detection. To bet- ter investigate the role of metaphor type in 2 Background metaphor detection, we suggest a resource with annotation of novel metaphor should be 2.1 Types of metaphor in language created.
    [Show full text]
  • Ockham's Razor, Truth, and Information
    Ockham's Razor, Truth, and Information Kevin T. Kelly Department of Philosophy Carnegie Mellon University [email protected] March 11, 2008 Abstract In science, one faces the problem of selecting the true theory from a range of al- ternative theories. The typical response is to select the simplest theory compatible with available evidence, on the authority of \Ockham's Razor". But how can a ¯xed bias toward simplicity help one ¯nd possibly complex truths? A short survey of standard answers to this question reveals them to be either wishful, circular, or irrelevant. A new explanation is presented, based on minimizing the reversals of opinion prior to convergence to the truth. According to this alternative approach, Ockham's razor does not inform one which theory is true but is, nonetheless, the uniquely most e±cient strategy for arriving at the true theory, where e±ciency is a matter of minimizing reversals of opinion prior to ¯nding the true theory. 1 Introduction Suppose that several or even in¯nitely many theories are compatible with the infor- mation available. How ought one to choose among them, if at all? The traditional and intuitive answer is to choose the \simplest" and to cite Ockham's razor by way of justi¯cation. Simplicity, in turn, has something to do with minimization of entities, de- scription length, causes, free parameters, independent principlies, or ad hoc hypotheses, or maximization of unity, uniformity, symmetry, testability, or explanatory power. Insofar as Ockham's razor is widely regarded as a rule of scienti¯c inference, it should help one to select the true theory from among the alternatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Narrative and Metaphor As Conceptual Tools for Understanding Evolution Theory
    Narrative and Metaphor as Conceptual Tools for Understanding Evolution Theory Paper for the Proceedings of the International Conference „Innovazione nella didattica delle scienze nella scuola primaria e dell’infanzia’ 21-22 Novembre 2014 Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia. Jörg Zabel Institute for Biology Biology Education Johannisallee 21-23 04103 Leipzig, Germany e-mail: [email protected] phone: +49 (0) 341 97-36641 fax: +49 (0) 341 97-36899 http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~biodidak/ Abstract Human beings ‘make sense of the world by telling stories about it’ (Bruner 1996, p.130). Thus, meaningful narrative explanations cannot simply be replaced by scientific conceptions that are contradictory to the learner's experimental realism (Gropengiesser 2003). This is specifically relevant in those domains of science where conceptual change in favour of scientific explanations is difficult to achieve, e.g. the theory of evolution. Learners tend to make sense of the phenomena in their own, non-scientific way that includes intentional and teleological explanations. This paper focuses on the role of a so-called ‘narrative mode of thought’ (Bruner 1996) for meaning making in the science classroom. We present results from a study in lower secondary school (age 12-13 ys.), exploring how students make sense of adaptation phenomena. Before and after a teaching sequence on the theory of evolution, students explained the evolution of modern whales from their terrestrial ancestors by writing narrative or non-narrative texts on the issue. Text analysis, combined with student interviews, revealed students' conceptions and their individual methods of making sense of adaptation phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • THE GOOD SAMARITAN AS METAPHOR Robert W
    THE GOOD SAMARITAN AS METAPHOR Robert W. Funk University of Montana ABSTRACT The parable of the Good Samaritan is commonly under­ stood as an example story, offering an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. But the parable does not invite the hearer to view it as an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. Rather, it invites the auditor to be the victim in the ditch, as a careful reading indicates. The "meaning" of the parable is the way auditors take up rôles in the story and play out the drama. As a drama into which the hearers are drawn, the parable suggests that in the Kingdom mercy is always a surprise. 0. Literary and biblical critics have always deemed it an important matter to determine the kind of language being used in any text to be interpreted. In some cases it is crucial. For example, the argument over whether the parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable or an example story can be settled only in conjunction with determining the nature of the language. The view advocated here is that the Good Samaritan is metaphorical and there­ fore not an example story (cf. Funk: 199-222). This understanding runs counter to both the ancient and the modern traditions of interpretation. Dominic Crossan has joined the battle on the side of metaphor, while Dan Via has supported the older view with structuralist arguments (Semeia 1, 1974). The Good Samaritan is a particularly interest­ ing case because the story is felt to be a powerful symbol in the Jesus tradition and yet it is taken literally by most interpreters.
    [Show full text]