SYNESTHESIA: THE WRITER'S SIXTH SENSE

In writing Synesthesia (also spelled SYNAESTHESIA ) involves taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and combining it with another separate sense in an impossible way. In the resulting figure of speech, we end up talking about how a color sounds, or how a smell looks. When we say a musician hits a "blue note" while playing a sad song, we engage in synaesthesia. When we talk about a certain shade of color as a "cool green," we mix tactile or thermal imagery with visual imagery the same way. When we talk about a "heavy silence," we also use synaesthesia. Examples abound: "The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden." "I caressed the darkness with cool fingers."

If you think about it synethesia is a very interesting way to create a metaphor.

Activity
Listen to a piece of music and then describe what you heard in terms related to all of the senses except for hearing. A good piece of music to use is "So What" from the album Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.




What do scientists have to say about Synesthesia?
One of the hottest topics in neuroscience is the study of people who are synethesthetic. The embedded podcast below offers some interesting insights into recent research.

Listen to the podcast: Synesthesia for the Rest of Us
from the NPR show, Studio 360:


For Pianist, Music Unleashes Rainbows of Color
This NPR interview features a discussion with a pianist who is synesthetic.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602748

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