Writing week three

Introduction to metaphor

Discussion

What do you think people mean when they say the following phrases:
- I'm starving.
- I'm buried under an avalanche of work.
- That guy's living on another planet!
- You are my sunshine.
- The sky is weeping.
- Don't be a pig!
- The White House responded furiously to the accusations.
Why do you think people choose to use this kind of language rather than just saying what they mean?

Dead metaphors

Metaphors are based on physical things that we can see and touch. The word frozen originally referred to water, and it's now used to refer to money, time and anything else that is normally in a state of change. In fact, we use other water metaphors to talk about money in other ways. I can pour money into something, and money can flow out. They are used so often that we call them dead metaphors because they don't make people think of water at all any more; they've been imported by money.

Task one - identify the dead metaphors

Sometimes it's difficult to find the source of a leak.

What is metaphor?

We use metaphor when we want to describe one thing by comparing it to something already known. We do this so often in all forms of communication that we forget that we're even speaking metaphorically at all. So if I told someone that my phone is a brick, he or she would know that my phone was old and heavy, and would not think that I was trying make calls with an actual house brick.

These were cool once

Task two

Look at the following sentences and decide which meaning underneath is the best description.

Wages have frozen.
- No one's had a pay rise.
- Money is very cold.
My job is hell.
- I work in the place where bad people go after they die.
- I don't like my job.
I'm starving.
- I am almost dead because of a lack of food.
- I'm hungry.
Art is in my blood.
- I like art and draw/paint often.
- I have works of art inside my blood.
My office is in the Gherkin
- I work inside a gherkin.
- I work in the building in London that looks like a gherkin.

Why do we use metaphor?

We use metaphor as a way of conveying feeling and imagery to our readers and listeners. For example, groups of people sometimes display 'herd behaviour'; in other words, individuals simply follow what others in the group are doing without thinking, in much the same way as a herd of sheep would do. We could have said groups of people follow each other around without thinking. But the metaphor is a much more efficient and impactful way of conveying the information and imagery.

Task three - metaphors in academic writing

The text below is an introduction to a student essay on starting small businesses. Read through and identify any words that you think are being used differently to their original meaning. Maybe the original meaning referred to something more concrete or specific. It could also be a word which brings a specific image to your mind. See the images on the right for some hints.

Starting a small business

Timing is crucial when starting any business. It is important to be able to gauge both the economy's present state and its likely trajectory, in order to identify the best opportunities to start a new business endeavour and on the other hand, when it is best to hold back from doing so. This essay plans to examine the complexities of the current British economic climate and subsequently identify those which may affect any endeavour to start a small business, either positively or negatively. The British economy has long since harboured many small, privately owned businesses. These small businesses are the most prominent form of enterprise in the UK at present.

Adapted from the work of a pre-sessional student at INTO City University of London

Conceptual metaphor

As well as talking about money like water, we also talk about time as though it's money. We can spend it, save it and run out of it. Although time is something intangible that we can't touch or see, we talk about it as if it's a physical substance, like money. We do this with other concepts that are intangible. For example, an argument or a debate can be seen as a war we fight with other people or a building that we construct.

Task four- building or war?

Read the sentences below, and decide which ones treat arguments as buildings and which ones are like wars.

Your claims are indefensible.
Adam Smith was the architect of the invisible hand theory.
The foundations of the argument are shaky.
It is important to attack every weak point in an argument.
The criticisms were on target.
While the theory needs restorative work, the foundations appear to be intact.
His argument was demolished.
I’ve never won a debate with her.
All the arguments so far have been shot down.
Students at Master’s level need to build solid arguments.
Your arguments seem to be unsupported.

Task five - can you spice up these sentences?

The research on the effects of foreign intervention is better than it was twenty years ago. (Think of research as a journey).
The values of corporate social responsibility are not as popular as they used to be. (Think of ideas as casualties of war).
People have less money these days because of the economic situation. (Think of the economy as an evil person).
The negotiations in the Middle East went well at some times and less well at others. (Think of the negotiation process as a road)
The person who wrote the proposal didn't do a very good job, and now it isn't very popular. (Think of the proposal as a building)

Teacher's notes

Task six - finding metaphors in the wild

Opinion pages of newspapers are a good place to start exploring interesting uses of metaphor, because their language needs to be as emphatic and effective as possible in order to convey their message. Explore some of the articles in the news today, and record any interesting metaphors that you find. As a guide:

Does any of the language have another, more physical meaning?
What parts of speech do metaphors usually appear? (e.g., nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs)
Can you find any examples of abstract concepts being described as people? For example, the economic climate harms business, or society encourages sexism.

Opinion | The GuardianLatest opinion, analysis and discussion from the Guardian. CP Scott: "Comment is free, but facts are sacred"

Task seven - peer editing and advice

Refer back to the Academic Profile that you submitted at the beginning of the term. Exchange essays with a partner and read through their work. Are there any phrases that can be made more interesting, engaging or concise by using some of the concepts of metaphor that we've looked at in this lesson?

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