One of my students once summed up Scrooge, in Stave 1 of A Christmas Carol, as a "total jerk" – a phrase I've used ever since. Fair enough: Dickens lays it on thick. But he also describes Scrooge as "secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster", and wraps him in images of winter. Why an oyster? And why winter? Hold that thought.
The eyerolls abound whenever literary analysis is announced. Even better, there is often that one student who blurts out: “Miss, why do we have to do this? It’s too difficult! And besides, who cares?” In response, I may put my nerd hat on and launch into how lucky we are to be standing on the shoulders of literary giants who have given us so many different ways to understand our emotions, the world around us, and the people in it. What a privilege it is to have these voices to turn to, and what a comfort to know that other people have been frightened, fallen in love, or perhaps felt both at once.
I may also tell them they need to learn it for next week’s test. Or invoke the magic phrase: “This is the backbone of your Brevet presentation.” Depends on the time of the year. To be fair, I hear them, it is an important skill, but it is not an easy one to master. Over the years, through trial and error, I have settled on a few ways to make it a bit easier.
The important goal, as all teachers know, isn't for students just to recognise a metaphor or any other figure of speech. Often students simply list the examples of figurative language they find and have trouble moving beyond them to the actual work of literary analysis. The biggest challenge is for them to understand why a writer chose a particular word, a metaphor, or anything else. And that's where the fun (or the "fun") begins.
We usually introduce literary analysis through poems and carefully chosen extracts. But teenagers already use metaphors. They just might not know it yet. Sometimes, a well-timed “You’re cooked!” shouted by one student at another is a good enough example. Most of the time though, if students are having a hard time, it may help to have them write a short passage of their own.
I am a big fan of group work, so I like to have groups of three or four and give them just a few minutes to come up with short descriptions of, for example, the weather, their morning routine, or something they can see in the classroom or out of the window. It doesn't matter if they use short sentences, if they're reluctant, or if the language is dry. It's all good, and starting with less can be a fun way to show what it takes to build a well-written paragraph.
I've found myself in situations where we literally started with a tweet! Have a giggle, then expand it by asking questions until you've built something you can work with. The finished paragraph should be a good example of what to look for when mining their set books for juicy extracts.
It is also important not to overwhelm students by attempting too much at once. Spotting metaphors and similes is the first step, and this can be a really fun warm-up activity in class. What works for me is to introduce the basics, then, as you work on poems, short stories or novels, bring them back and discuss them briefly. Built on term after term, these habits add up.
When you're ready to dig into literature, arm your students with three questions:
What is it about?
How is it done? (Through specific decisions about word choice, figurative language, etc.)
Why? What is the writer trying to achieve?
You'll notice I don't say "effect". I find it too abstract at times, and besides, today's students don't always respond to a text in the way its writer might have intended. Asking what they think the writer is trying to do (create a mood, convey an emotion, develop a character, build a theme) gives them something concrete to work with. (Be prepared for the inevitable: "The author is trying to make their writing interesting.") I'm not suggesting we abandon the word altogether, of course. After all, it's an important term. Instead, it may be easier to start with the more accessible why, then gradually introduce the language of effect, intention and reader response.
Another good way to build understanding is to strip the figurative language back. Ask your students to replace a figure of speech with its literal meaning and see what's lost. "She is a rock" becomes "She is reliable and strong." The literal version tells us; the metaphor lets us see stability, dependability and the ability to withstand pressure. This is where students shift from spotting devices to analysing choices, and where I am continually surprised by their analytical abilities and their different interpretations.
So why an oyster, and why winter? An oyster is closed and hard on the outside, but it can also contain something precious. Perhaps Dickens is leaving us a small hint that there is more to Scrooge than meets the eye. And winter, however bitter, eventually gives way to spring. We could read this as an early signal that Scrooge will change.
Come to think of it, an oyster is a good metaphor for teaching literary analysis. The work can feel a little solitary, and sometimes it takes quite a bit of effort to prise a text open. But every now and then, a student makes a connection you hadn't anticipated, or spots something that had been hiding in plain sight. There's your pearl. And moments like that make all the digging worthwhile.
Free Resource
I've put together a handout to go with this post. It includes the “What, How, Why” questions, a "strip it back" activity using public-domain extracts from Dickinson, Wordsworth and Shakespeare, alongside a passage from A Christmas Carol, and a sentence frame to help students write up their ideas.