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Difficulty: EasyExtended Metaphors and Conceits

Read the following poem carefully:

Within the silent chambers of the mind,
A tireless weaver plies her secret loom,
Where gold and silver threads are intertwined
To drape the walls of memory's quiet room.
She blends the bright silks of our happiest days
With darker wool of sorrow and of dread,
And in the complex pattern she displays,
No joy is spun without a somber thread.
By this slow craft, the tapestry is made,
Where light and shadow share an equal part;
The fairest pictures are the ones that fade
To leave their woven imprint on the heart.

Which of the following best describes the function of the extended metaphor of the weaver and the loom?

  1. It illustrates how human memory is formed by an inseparable blend of both joyful and sorrowful experiences.Answer
  2. B
    It suggests that the speaker is a professional textile maker who prefers working with silk over wool.
  3. C
    It reveals the poet's own personal memories of working in a spinning mill during childhood.
  4. D
    It argues that the mind eventually erases all sad memories, leaving behind only a joyful design.
  5. E
    It identifies the loom as a personified object that possesses its own independent thoughts.

Answer

The extended metaphor of the weaver and the loom illustrates how human memory is formed by an inseparable blend of both joyful and sorrowful experiences.
The correct answer is correct because the poem develops a sustained comparison (conceit) between weaving a tapestry and memory formation. The blending of 'bright silks' and 'darker wool' represents the mind combining joyful and sorrowful events into a unified tapestry of experience.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the tenor and the vehicle of the extended metaphor in the poem.
The vehicle is a weaver working at a loom with light and dark threads to make a tapestry. The tenor is the human mind and its process of memory formation.
Establishing the basic comparison allows for a deeper thematic analysis of the conceit.
2
Analyze the role of the different colored threads in the metaphor.
The gold/silver silks represent happy experiences, while the dark wools represent sorrow. They are woven together into a single tapestry.
This shows that memory is a unified product of contrasting life events.
3
Evaluate the analytical function of the conceit as a whole.
The conceit functions to show that human memory cannot contain joy without sorrow; both are necessary and intertwined.
Connecting the details of the metaphor to the theme reveals the correct interpretation.

Key Concept

Extended Metaphors and Conceits
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Extended Metaphors and Conceits

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