Metaphors

1. Metaphors
The word “metaphor” comes from the ancient
Greek word metapherein, which means “to carry
over” or “to transfer.” A metaphor “carries”
meaning from one concept to another by stating
or implying that one is the same or like the other.
Types of Metaphors:
simile, simple metaphor,
submerged metaphor,
extended metaphor.

2. Simile
A simile (a comparison using “like” or “as”) is a
type of metaphor.
“The brownie was so overcooked that it tasted like charcoal.”
Simple Metaphor
The simplest form of a metaphor uses “is,” and
states the comparison outright.
“He is a monster!”

3. Submerged Metaphor
Also called an “implied” metaphor, because the
comparison is not obvious. Whereas a simple
metaphor might say that a person “is a
cupcake,” an implied metaphor would give
cupcake-like characteristics to the person: “He
can seem mean until you get to know him, and
then you find out he’s all gooey and fluffy inside.”
The effect is achieved by describing a person
using words that are usually used to describe a
cupcake. Thus, the comparison is embedded in
the type of language used.

4. Extended Metaphor
Extended or “sustained” metaphors span across
several sentences or entire texts. The narrator of
Dean Koontz’s novel Seize the Night uses a
lengthy metaphor to describe his wild imagination:
“Bobby Halloway says my imagination is a three-
hundred-ring circus. Currently, I was in ring two
hundred and ninety-nine, with elephants dancing
and clowns cartwheeling and tigers leaping
through rings of fire. The time had come to step
back, leave the main tent, go buy some popcorn
and a Coke, bliss out, cool down.”

5. Snowflake:
- unique
- beautiful
- disappears
in an instant
Why use a metaphor?
Allows us to visualize complex ideas
Creates a vivid, original description
Forces readers think and interpret for
themselves
Makes us (as authors) sound intelligent
Snow Pile:
- Takes weeks to
melt
- Looks the same,
covers everything

6. Metaphors can’t be true or untrue…
… but they can be good or bad.
A metaphor that
isn’t good will
leave the reader
confused. To say I
feel “as tired as a
whale” might be a
bad choice,
because no one
knows how tired
whales usually feel.

7. Metaphors & Abstractions
You can compare one physical thing to another:
“The sky was like a canvas with colors dripping
in reds and golds.”
…Or you can compare a physical thing to an
abstract concept. An abstraction is anything
that doesn’t exist in a physical form. (See a list
of abstract concepts on the next slide).
“Being in love is like a sunset sky: when it
happens, colors transform something boring
into something spectacular.”

8. Abstract Concepts:
• Life
• Love
• Friendship
• Honor
• Justice
• Loyalty
• Kindness
• Contentment
• Pride
• Success
• Trust
• Patience
• Death / Loss
• Hatred
• Selfishness
• Greed
• Ignorance
• Fallibility
• Change
• Rejection
• Fear
• Carelessness
• Failure
• Tiredness
• Freedom
• Creativity
• Intelligence
• Aging
• Childhood
• Beauty
• Mystery
• Madness
• Motivation
• Responsibility
• Potential
• Desire