woman on her side in the clouds crying and the tears fall on a rose that is losing its petals

Ode on Melancholy

by John Keats

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Ode on Melancholy Metaphor Activity

by eNotes

  • Released February 18, 2020
  • Language Arts and Literature subjects
  • 8 pages
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Grade Levels

Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

Grade 9

Excerpt

This activity gives students an opportunity to practice examining and analyzing metaphors. Metaphors express images, emotions, actions, experiences, and nuances through direct and indirect comparisons, allowing readers to access deeper levels of meaning in the text. In this activity, students will classify and analyze different kinds of metaphors in order to develop close reading skills and draw inferences from the text.

In “Ode on Melancholy,” Keats describes the relationship between sadness and joy. Melancholy, he contends, illuminates an essential element in humanity—the ability to feel deep emotion; to feel profound sadness means that one also can feel profound joy. Keats also expresses how these emotional states, inextricably intertwined, relate to beauty and its ephemeral nature. Metaphors throughout the text develop ideas that underscore themes in the poem.

Skills: analysis, drawing inferences from text, close reading, identifying the relationship between words

Learning Objectives:
In completing this activity, students will

  • examine metaphors in a text;
  • classify metaphors in a text as direct and indirect;
  • analyze metaphors by focusing on the two things being compared and interpreting how one of them is described through the comparison.

About

Our eNotes Classroom Activities give students opportunities to practice developing a variety of skills. Whether analyzing literary devices or interpreting connotative language, students will work directly with the text. The main components of our classroom activities include the following:

  • A handout defining the literary elements under discussion, complete with examples
  • A step-by-step guide to activity procedure
  • An answer key or selected examples for reference, depending on the activity

In completing these classroom activities, students will be able to classify and analyze different literary elements, thereby developing close-reading skills and drawing deeper inferences from the text.