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Rhetorical Devices: Metaphor

This post is part of a series on rhetoric and rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post.

Device: Metaphor

Origin: From the Greek μεταφορά (metaphora), meaning “transfer”.

In plain English: Comparing two things (that are often not alike) by stating that one is the other.

Effect:

  • Metaphors can be used to help an audience understand a new idea by linking it to something that they already know. When cars were first sold, they were often referred to as “horseless carriages”.

Notes:

  • Aristotle said, “The greatest thing by far is to have mastered the metaphor.”

Examples:

“The eyes are the window to the soul.“

—  English Proverb (but also attributed to other sources)

———

“One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
…
“But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
…
“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
…
“Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.
…
“With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr., 28 August 1963

———

“I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.”

— J.K. Rowling, Harvard Graduation Ceremony, 5 June 2008

———

I’m a shooting star leaping through the skies

Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity

I’m a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva

I’m gonna go go go

There’s no stopping me

 …

I’m a rocket ship on my way to Mars

On a collision course

I am a satellite, I’m out of control

I am a sex machine ready to reload

Like an atom bomb about to

Oh oh oh oh oh explode

— Freddie Mercury, Don’t Stop Me Now

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  4. Hi,John! I am a Chinese student! Thanks for your explanation! But i am still ignorant of why ” an expiry date ” is an metaphoric use.

    Reply

    1. Ni hao, 四水小天使. Xiexie for the comment and question. An expiry date is something that we see on food and medicine; we have to eat the food or use the medicine before the expiry date or else the food might go bad and the medicine might be ineffective. Milk is a good example of a product with an expiry date. If you have every smelled or tasted spoiled milk, you will know! So the metaphor here is that there is a date – a time in your life – when your ability to blame your parents for your problems expires. After that, you have to take responsibility. Hope this helps.

      Reply

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