Aaron Bennett

10-min lesson

 

                                    Mack the Knife: Synecdoche and Metonymy

 

Synecdoche and Metonymy can act as rhetorical figures of speech or metaphorical comparisons.  The two forms are vary close so sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between them

 

Synecdoche ("sin-EK-doh-kee") - the substitution of a part for the whole. Some small part of a thing represents the whole thing.

You can see this when ranchers count heads to refer to the number of cattle they have.

 

Metonymy ("met-AH-na-mee") - the substitution of a one thing for another based on their close association.

Sometimes businessmen are referred to as suits.  That is an example of metonymy. 

 

Variations:

• Have students make up phrases of their own.
• Find a larger poem and have students pick out the examples of synecdoche and metonymy.
• Take common figures of speech and have students research the original meaning and how synecdoche and metonymy worked to create it. 
• Use with prose if relevant.
• Use in a grammar unit.

 

Rationale:

I plan on teaching at least some poetry in my class.  I want my students to be able to recognize synecdoche and metonymy in the poetry and be able to use it in their own creations.  I want the students to see the use of this powerful literary tool.  It can be used in poetry or prose.  It can be used to help students understand where figures of speech came from.  An understanding of synecdoche and metonymy is crucial to deciphering poetry.  I want to get this to the students without having to do a really boring grammar lesson that we all hate

Pick out the examples of synecdoche and metonymy in the following phrases. 

Which is it? (Synecdoche or Metonymy?)  What does the synecdoche or metonymy stand for?

 

Andrew Carnegie made his fortune on Wall Street.

 

 

 

And riding the trolley homeward this afternoon

With the errands in my lap…                                        [Eleanor Ross Taylor]

 

 

 

You would do well to obey the crown.

 

 

 

And someone's sneaking round the corner

Could that someone be Mack the Knife?              [Bobby Darin]

 

 

 

We listen while a dustpan eats

The scattered pieces of a quarrel…                                  [Vern Rutsala]

 

 

 

The Cheeseheads cheer for the Green Bay Packers.

 

 

 

Land ho, all hands on deck!

 

 

 

I drank 59 bottles of beer last night.

 

 

 

 

Think of an example of synecdoche or metonymy of your own: