Metaphorical Perceptions of High School Students about the Literature Course

Abstract

We aimed to determine high school student perceptions about the literature course based on metaphors. We conducted the study with the phenomenology model, a qualitative research method. The study group included 137 students (57 female and 80 male students) attending ninth to twelfth grades at four public high schools in Sinop province in Turkey. Fourty-six students were 9th graders, 40 were 10th graders, 32 were 11th graders, and 19 were 12th graders. The study data were collected with the phrase “Literature course…. Is like…, because,…” completed by the participants. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the study data. Data analysis included elimination and selection, naming, category development, validity and reliability phases. The study findings demonstrated that 137 high school students came up with 126 metaphors. Fifty-four metaphors were produced by female students and 72 by male students. These metaphors included life (f12), poetry (f4), death (f2), art (f3), book (f7), dictionary (f4), sun (f3). Twenty-four metaphors were produced by the 9th graders, 30 by the 10th graders, 27 by the 11th graders, and 15 by the 12th graders. In conclusion, although certain metaphors were negative, the majority of the metaphors were positive.