Can you use metaphors in essays

This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. This handout discusses the writing obstacles most frequently faced by beginning poets and fiction writers and will offer tactics for addressing these issues during a tutorial.

The term metaphor meant in Greek "carry something across" or "transfer," which suggests many of the more elaborate definitions below:.

People get so accustomed to using the same words and phrases over and over, and always in the same ways, that they no longer know what they mean. Creative writers have the power to make the ordinary strange and the strange ordinary, making life interesting again.

When readers or listeners encounter a phrase or word that cannot be interpreted literally, they have to think—or rather, they are given the pleasure of interpretation. If you write "I am frustrated" or "The air was cold" you give your readers nothing to do—they say "so what?

By writing "my dorm is a prison," you suggest to your readers that you feel as though you were placed in solitary, you are fed lousy food, you are deprived of all of life's great pleasures, your room is poorly lit and cramped—and a hundred other things, that, if you tried to say them all, would probably take several pages. There are many gaps in language. When a child looks at the sky and sees a star but does not know the word "star," she is forced to say, "Mommy, look at the lamp in the sky!

In your poems, you will often be trying to write about subjects, feelings, etc. None of this, of course, applies to creative writing. List of Terms Action. Ad Hominem. Alter Ego. APA Citation. Comic Relief. Deus ex machina. Double Entendre.

Dramatic irony. Extended Metaphor. Fairy Tale. Figures of Speech. Metaphors will automatically make your writing more vivid. You can add an extra dose of personality by focusing your metaphors on one or two topics that are close to your heart. If you write about web design and you love going to the movies, draw metaphors from movie scenes or stories about the movie industry — like why movies flopped, how movies are pitched, or how they were made.

You can draw plenty of inspiration from sports training, team sports, tactics, or refereeing. Your choice of metaphors provides a simple way to connect with your readers. It gives his readers a glimpse of his life; and helps them connect with him. Developing your metaphors from personal hobbies hints at who you are: whether you like cooking or sports; whether you prefer to go to a rock concert or the theater; whether you prefer action movies or comedies. This is how it works:. This can form the starting point of your blog post.

Maybe you can also compare bicycle with blog maintenance — like keeping your plug-ins up to date, regularly checking your links are still okay, and emptying your spam folder to keep your blog running smooth. Have you found that the blog posts that take you longest to write are the best? Is it like enjoying the view after cycling uphill? That may stifle your creativity. Not sure how to use a metaphor as a theme for your blog post?

Check out how content marketing compares to being a tour leader or to cycling. Remember: Be specific. Make your metaphors as vivid as possible. Appeal to the senses to dazzle your audience.

Just beware these three deadly mistakes strangling your metaphors and undermining your unique voice :. His advice:.

Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Metaphoric mistake 2 Consider your audience when creating metaphors. Grab the attention of your readers with vivid comparisons. Surprise them with personally inspired metaphors. Persuade with writing full of imagery. Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

I keep coming back to your writing about metaphors. I write and create animated content and I have been inpired by the metaphor series. Metaphors work well in the CG world too. Thanks a bunch. Yes, sure! I use metaphors in my course videos a lot, too. The metaphors really help people to remember the message.

So, I would like to begin by saying that this lesson is metaphors encyclopedia. By giving such deep insights, this blog ready helped. More power to you. Dear Professor Henneke, Topic: Metaphor. I have been reading this lecture today, as usual, I was very fascinated, and I love it. This class on the use of metaphors, has thought me how to make use of my personal life experience to illustrate and enhance my topic in my story telling.

Well then, I hope I have been able to pass the message across. Thank always. Yours, …. It helps re-invent my writing style. Hello, Henneke. I just came across your post and want to thank you for all the kind comments about my book The Tall Lady With the Iceberg the expanded edition of Metaphorically Selling. I believe that when people think of or picture themselves in their heads they automatically use metaphors.

When kids watch movies and imitate their favourite superheroes for instance, they make use of strong mental metaphors. Any suggestions would be welcomed because this has stumped me for too long.