Metaphors have been used in literature for a very long period of time, even before the era of Aristotle. A brief history of the earliest examples of metaphors dates back to The Odyssey by Homer and The Epic of Gilgamesh, in Ancient Mesopotamia, from ten thousand B.C. (Rankin). Metaphors are used in many different types of literature including poems, fiction pieces, nonfiction pieces, and plenty of others. My intention for this paper is to answer and help understand how metaphors work, their effect on the reader, why they are used by authors, and how metaphors are used correctly and effectively in writing.
What is a Metaphor?
To start off, what exactly is a metaphor? A metaphor is a rhetorical figure of speech that compares two subjects without the use of “like” or “as.” (Literary Devices). It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas.
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what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. (Shakespeare).
Here, Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. Now the way I saw it, its function was to say that Juliet was beautiful like how the sun is in the sky. Shakespeare’s works would be praised for the beauty of the metaphors he uses, hence the artistic function of metaphors in pieces of literature.
Effect of Metaphors on the Reader Metaphors can be used to make the reader laugh, make them cry, happy, mad, and any other emotions. Metaphors can be persuasive feature in a piece. (Camp). They could influence a reader to have a better understanding of the piece they are reading. Metaphors can also have an effect the quality of your writing. Metaphors could add some “spice” to your writing, adding a layer of richness to give it a better story. (Joss). It could also help readers relate to a complex world and help understand complex topic more effectively. (Joss). The usage of metaphors help make the readers ‘see’ the topic ‘in a new light’, hence a better understanding. (Camp). For
The first literary device is a simile and it paints a picture in the readers head.
The way Anthony Doerr uses his writing structure of metaphors is to strive complexity, toward questions, and away from stereotype. From the national post says,
In "My Shakespeare" Kate Tempest uses allusions to illustrate that love is in everything around us.In line 4 Kate says "he's in every father with a favorite" this reveals that love is even in people.Similarly in line 12 she states "he's in every girl who ever used her wits" this is important since it demonstrates how powerful love is,that it can be anywhere.Also Tempest wrote in line 39 "he's in us".Kate means that Shakespeare and especially love is in us and it is hard for us to fully understand and grasp.If love is in us we cannot hold it, it's intangible. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare uses metaphors to show how love is like many other things.In line 3 (act 2 sc 2)
An example of a metaphor in “Four Directions” is when Waverly relates her relationship with her mother to that of a horse and rabbit. “And that’s what she is. A Horse, born in 1918, destined to be obstinate and frank to the point of tactlessness. She and I make a bad combination, because I’m a Rabbit, born in 1951” (167).
Figurative language is used in a lot of writings to pull you more into the words. Figurative language uses the five senses to place a deep picture in your mind of what is actually happening. Metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, etc. are all figurative devices used in writing. Without using any of these things writing would be straight forward and not so complicated to understand. When figurative language is used it makes the reader really think about what is being said by the author and what point the author is trying to make. Both "The Iroquois Constitution” and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” use figurative language but for different reasons.
In the book, the author has used several metaphors to make the book to be more interesting for the readers of the book. Additionally, the author of the book has used metaphors to bring about some of the meanings in the story. This has made it easy for the readers to be able to understand what they are reading. In conjunction to this, the author has used the metaphors to bring out the character traits of some characters like Janie and Joe in the book. Therefore, it is through metaphors that the book has been very interesting and easy to understand.
William Shakespeare is amazing at using extended metaphor in Romeo and Juliet to show love between the characters, the word choice that Shakespeare uses to write extended metaphor is very detailed. During the balcony scene, Romeo says something towards Juliet which is an extended metaphor which shows love Romeo said, “Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she” (Shakespeare 2.2.3-5). What this means is that Juliet is being compared to the sun and Romeo is telling Juliet to arise beautiful woman and kill the envious moon so Juliet is a fair sun which has to destroy the darkness which is the moon. Romeo is saying that Juliet is as beautiful as the sun which shines over the world they live in. A little later during the balcony scene, Romeo uses extended metaphor again to compare Juliet to something good. Romeo is in love with Juliet and her beauty because Romeo always complements Juliet with something lovely and he speaks of Juliet in a nice way. For example, Romeo says “O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being o’er my head as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes” (Shakespeare 2.2.29-32). This really shows the love that Romeo has for Juliet because he compares her to a bright angel and being compared to an angel shows that she’s very glorious and mighty with beautiful features. Also, Romeo complements Juliet’s eyes again saying that her eyes are awestruck and so pretty that all mortals fall back to gaze this shows that Romeo is in love with all of her beauties and all the other people are too. Romeo says a lot of extended metaphor during the play to compare Juliet to things that are of beauty and not something that is horrible thus extended metaphor is used to show the love between
... A metaphor, used as a communication skill, is best described in a political way. Think of Reagan’s Voodoo economics, or Bill Clinton building a bridge to the 21st century. Politicians can easily scam an ignorant voter, should one not understand a metaphor. For example: Clinton refers to building a bridge, but does not tell us with which tools he intends to build it with. This particular concept is valid alone for the above reason. Whether you are talking to a teacher or watching television, metaphors need to understand.
Metaphor and imagery have a long time history in psychotherapy, metaphor building up the relationship between the client and the psychotherapist (building trust, empathy and understanding). Metaphor is very powerful and can raising self- awareness and helps clients to see more and less the full picture of the client inner world. Metaphor and imagery as use in the therapeutic relationship to building up the link between the inner world and external world it abstract but very powerful to help the client to link between here and now and the past (the echo of the significant event or situation that the client feel stuck, impasses or dilemma solved). Metaphor and imagery help the client to move in the positive way and helps the client
Metaphors are powerful tools often used by authors to communicate a deeper meaning. Metaphors also tend to make the piece more thought provoking, and thus more interesting and intriguing. Laura Esquivel does a marvelous job of using food as a metaphor for unexpressed emotions in the novel Like Water for Chocolate. She takes the aching soul of a young girl and turns it into a cookbook of feelings and emotions cleverly disguised with food.
In the story “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty describes an old African American woman named Phoenix Jackson walks into the town to get her grandson’s medicine. Her name “Phoenix Jackson” is the most important metaphor. Her name alludes to the mythological bird “Phoenix”. Phoenix is the unique bird which lives for five to six hundred years. When its body becomes old and it is time for them to die, Phoenix bursts into flames and then reborn from its own ashes to live through another cycle. Phoenix’s startling ability to regenerate itself is the symbol of immortality. A Phoenix can represent sun, fire, pain, birth, death, rebirth, sacrifice, and power.
metaphors alone? The use of metaphors in war and everyday life is common and an
I recently read the book Metaphors We Live By written by Lakoff and Johnson. I had always thought that metaphors, when used to illustrate logical, objective arguments, poetical flourishes, the icing on the cake, the supporting cast but never the star. I'm now convinced otherwise.
Every person in that worldly population can relate to the use of metaphors in everyday speech, no matter what their language. It is not uncommon for someone to encounter metaphors multiple times in one day, though many times they go unnoticed even if they are “right under our nose.” These metaphorical phrases are not meant to be taken literally. For example, when someone tells you to “bite the bullet,” they are not requesting that you actually put a bullet in between your teeth. In fact, they are asking you to bravely face up to something unpleasant just as many soldiers were asked to clench a bullet in between their teeth (in lieu of anesthetics) to transfer the pain of the amputation or surgery (something very unpleasant indeed) that they were about to undergo (“Expressions and Sayings”).
Our literal understandings of a word are twins in constant opposition with one another, twins in constant competition to receive the most love from their mother and father. Let us pretend the parents are the literary community that demonstrates love frequently by showing a preference for one of their twins. Donald Davidson's theory expressed in What Metaphors Mean is a tragic, intellectual miscarriage; it is a theory of language that brings forth a stillborn child, a dead metaphor.