Metaphor

The dry business of acquisitions and mergers is given drama and clarity by this simple visual metaphor.

Those of you with a keener literary eye will have noted my heavy sprinkling of metaphor/analogy in my writing (and perhaps unintentionally comic occasions where they are extended beyond their elastic point, so they only lie limp in my text looking a bit silly [like now]).

Anyway, it's deliberate. Metaphors clear the corridors of our thinking and allow easy passage for arguments to glide down. They also improve your writing considerably.

Cognitive and Philosophy Wizard Daniel Hofstadter (and also author of the first book to ever be sold on Amazon.com) has called them "the core of cognition" (in Gentner et al., 2001. For pedants out there he was strictly speaking talking about analogy, but metaphor is a type of analogy).

Consider the differences between these two attempts to capture what the word 'greenwashing' means:

1. Greenwashing is a term that is used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service

2. Greenwashing is when you "put a lettuce in the window of a butcher's shop and declare that you are now 'turning vegetarian'" (John Grant)

Although the first is more accurate, the second gives you the same gist but with much more satisfaction, clarity and gumption.

The reason I bring it up is because metaphor is not only for use over in the English department. Science papers and books frequently employ it to satisfying and "aah, now I get it!" effect.

At its best a metaphor should promote understanding beyond that of literal text, affording a deeper grasp on the issue. At its worst metaphor is deployed for flowery effect at the expense of crisp communication.

There's a paper I remember (but not well enough to cite) that was explaining the drawbacks of neuroimaging's resolution and it likened the situation to flying over a city a night, being able to see the lights below but being completely oblivious to the economics, politics and culture going on beneath.

This isn't just showing off because it shoehorns understanding and makes metaphorical predictions (we need to get down at the grassroots (cognitive and neuronal) levels to understand these other things).

In exams, slipping in a metaphor every now and again can pull the point you are making into sharp focus, significantly polish your communication and enhance the marker's understanding. Now, you may think I am getting a bit ahead of myself suggesting this as a way to improve your writing because it's irrelevant right now (you want to worry about that in May/June).

It isn't. In revision, using metaphor can greatly enhance your own understanding and memory of something because it forces you to chuck an idea about between two different modes. As a result it forces you to understand it at a deeper level, and when you codify at a deeper level you remember better (Slamecka and Graf, 1978). And, the really good ones should let you think more creatively and critically, which you'll need for the top marks.

When you are writing your notes try and think up useful metaphors and analogies because it will enliven the process, forge deeper memories and make you better thinkers.