Thursday, November 29, 2007

School is a stinky trash can

School is a trash receptacle.
At the beginning of each year you buy a brand new one.
Shiny and sleek with a reminiscent scent.
You look forward to being filled with information
and doing new things
As these things grow old however so does your trash can
Dirty from use and filling up quickly with the knowledge instilled everyday
you feel the crushing mass weighing you down.
Soon what used to be a shiny, new fresh bin
has become a soiled, smelly mess,
and only fills higher with every paper and test,
Just when you feel your about to overflow however
Trash day arrives,
A chance to sort through the congealed mass of information
and polish up that shiny bin rejuvenated for yet another week.
This repetitive process might seem overwhelming to some.
Yet one mans trash is another mans treasure
To the dumpster diver with the right mind set,
the apparently useless chaos can be harvested to find real treasure
In the form of knowledge that can take you from rags to riches.

What are some other trash related metaphorical objects I could use?
How was my usage of extended metaphor effective?

6 comments:

Justin Park said...
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Anonymous said...
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Justin Park said...

1) You could introduce a recycling bin and relate to the "reuse of knowledge". Another trash related metaphor you could use is the garbageman or a garbagetruck and somehow incoroporate that into school's description.

2)The metaphor seemed very effective. At the beginning of each year, we are excited for the year to come, and our minds are fresh more the relaxation of summer, however, as soon as the first month or so passes by, or brain quickly begins overflowing with headaches, and our "trash receptacles" begin to grow rotten, tired, worn, and dirty. And finally, the break arise giving us a chance to dump what we have and give ourselves a washing. I thought the metaphor you used was creative and effective.

Colleen V. said...

1. You could use recycling references, since we sometimes learn stuff we already know.

2. I thought it was very effective because it's something we can all relate to. I liked the part about one man's trash being another's treasure because everyone has different uses for what we learn in school.


Do you feel that things we learn are useless?

Do you think life would be easier if we could empty the bin more often?

jill said...

1. I agree that you could use a recylcing metaphor and talk about what you learn and what you will never apply to your life.

2. I thought this was extremely effective. We are all in school right now and all feel the pressure your talking about. I really loved the beginning when you talk about buying a brand new trash can. Considering that one doesnt often see one of those gives an open mindset for the rest of the piece.

questions
Do you feel like everything we learn weighs us down or that some aspects benefit us?

What would be your advice to someone who feels this way about school?

Anonymous said...

If I were to write my piece again I would definitely explore the possibilities of the recycling angle, as well as the garbageman. I wouldn't change my point of view or the metaphors which I already included as they seemed effective, but instead I would add upon them to maximize the effect.