Communicating with Metaphors, page 20

Stretch Your Brain, continued

16. Oxymorons: Not Just for Morons

    Is “corporate ethics” an oxymoron? If so, why? If not, why not? Can you come up with a few oxymorons of your own?

17. Paradox or Not to Paradox

    Explain why the examples used in the text are paradoxes.

18. Meet Mr. or Ms. Paradox

    Write a short piece that makes effective use of paradox.

19. Mein Kampf is cant

    Identify the metaphors used in the passage quoted in the text. Show why they are misleading and fallacious.

20. Explain a Metaphor in Advertising

    Using an advertisement you consider effective in a magazine, newspaper, billboard, or on television, explain the underlying metaphor that makes the ad work.

The Short Form

The metaphor is a fundamental form of human communication; many things cannot be explained or described without using metaphors.

A metaphor consists of a comparison, which may be implicit or explicit. One thing, the tenor, is compared to something else, the vehicle. The metaphor is the common ground between the two.

There are many kinds of metaphors.

A metaphor is a kind of trope, or figure of speech. There are many kinds of tropes. Those related to the metaphor include allegories, hyperboles, oxymorons, and paradoxes.

Metaphors are important. They are central to technical writing as well as narrations and poetry. As a writer, it is very important to master the metaphor.

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