Some time ago I was asked to write a text including metaphors, similes, personification, etc. Needless to say, I had to review what exactly they were, since I had not used these terms for an eternity. Having done that, I considered myself to be in a tight corner for having to write a synopsis of a psychological thriller using such language devices. Would you not feel the same were you in my shoes?
Only when I read the articles inside JALT Magazine, did I realize that metaphors are ubiquitous. We not only use them daily, but they are also regarded as a mundane resource which eases the path from what is unknown to become known. To illustrate, in the expression “keep an eye on someone”. The literal meaning of each word is different from its figurative use. Moreover, the author of the first text advocates using metaphors, such as “Life is a journey”, to simplify and summarize complex philosophical concepts so that people are able to fathom and employ them.
These figures of speech are divided into two categories – schemes and tropes, as shown in the second text. The former is any figure of speech that creates its effect by word order, syntax, letters, and sounds. For instance, alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound, as in “She sells seashells by the seashore”; antithesis, two opposed ideas presented together – “Speech is silver, but silence is gold”; and assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds – “great flakes”.
On the other hand, schemes are any figure of speech which results in a change of meaning. Here are four salient examples: irony is a device we may use to express the opposite idea, such as sarcastically saying “He’s so talkative! He spoke just a word – Hi!”; personification is when you bring inanimate objects to life, such as “The alarm yelled at me this morning”; similes are expressions connected by ’as’, ’like’ and ’than’ – “The world is falling down, and yet he’s as cool as a cucumber”; and, idioms as the one I used in the question in the opening paragraph – be in someone’s shoes; etc
The purpose of this text is to show you, the reader, that these abstract ideas are part of our lives. They are not rocket science, as I’d initially thought. Undoubtedly, there are more figures of speech than the ones I cherry-picked for this text. Nevertheless, do not feel intimidated by technical terms and jargon.
Source: JALT – Mind, Brain and Education SIG – May 1, 2023
Texts: Metaphor as a fundamental process of the brain by Curtis Kelly;
X = Y by Mohammad Khari