Weeks 1-2 Session 1: Introducing metaphor and analogy
1.3 How central are metaphor and analogy to thinking?
The examples you have just looked at illustrate what is meant by metaphor, and give explicit, hidden and embedded examples.
To set this idea in its wider context, here are two short articles and three exercises. The first article introduces the important modern view on metaphor associated with Lakoff and Johnson, while the second gives a quick overview in historical and evolutionary terms.
You may find it easier to print out the articles, so that you can read them and do the exercises offline.
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I rather enjoyed Lakoff and Johnson's idea of argument as dance!
| Do | Exercise 1.1: Why is metaphor important? The Lakoff and Johnson excerpt touches on some of the core concepts in T185. We will return to them all more fully as the course develops, but you might like to try to extract 3-4 key points.
For instance: Why do they claim that metaphor is more than 'poetic imagination and rhetorical flourish'? Why do they choose to study spoken and written metaphors? Why is it important to look for alternative metaphors? Click here for my suggestions. |
| Do | Exercise 1.2: Alternative metaphors for 'ARGUMENT'. Lakoff and Johnson suggest that the main metaphor for argument in our culture is 'ARGUMENT IS WAR', and point out how different it might be in a culture where the metaphor was, say, 'ARGUMENT IS DANCE'. See if you can invent any other metaphors for 'ARGUMENT' that would present it from a different angle. Type them into the Info Exchange below, and then click on Back to the main list to see what other students have come up with. Click here if you want to use some of my suggestions to get you going! |
| Do | Exercise 1.3: Metaphors in anti-metaphor writers. Although the Enlightenment writers in that piece disliked metaphorical embellishment, they still made plenty of use of it! Identify a sample of metaphors or analogies in the quotes from Parker, Locke, and Smith. I don't think you will have much trouble with Parker(!) but you may find this less easy with the others. Click here for my suggestions. |
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| You could either take a break here, or go on to Session 2 | ||