Literary Terms - Analogy

 

Literary Terms

Analogy 

An analogy is a literary technique in which two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities. Analogies are used to make rational arguments and support ideas by showing connections and comparisons between dissimilar things. They are commonly used to show important comparisons and make solid arguments.

Analogies are more elaborate and informational than similes or metaphors, providing support for the comparisons made rather than just stating them as simple truths. They are used to make logical arguments and comparisons. They make abstract ideas more concrete. Teachers, professors, and technical writers draw analogies. For example, a biology teacher might explain the immune system by saying, “What policemen do in a town, white blood cells do inside the body.”

Analogies add depth and feeling to an image, for example: “She felt like a raft floating in the middle of a dark, endless ocean. Like her, the raft was floating along, alone, worn out, and unable to reach a steady place in which to settle”. Without the analogy, the author would just be saying “She was lonely and exhausted.”

Analogies, similes, and metaphors are all used to create comparisons between different entities. These literary devices are often confused with each other, though they can be distinguished. A simile utilizes the words “like” or “as” to make a comparison. A metaphor uses figurative language to compare two things by stating that one is the other. An analogy creates a comparison with the intent of explanation or indicating a larger point.

Examples:

Ø blue is to color as circle is to shape

Ø eyes are to sight as fingers are to touch

Ø cub is to bear and calf is to cow

Ø sand is to beach as water is to ocean

Ø glove is to hand as sock is to foot

Ø ripple is to pond as wave is to ocean

Ø words are to writing as notes are to music

Ø fish are to aquariums as animals are to zoos

Ø fingers are to snapping as hands are to clapping

Ø petal is to flower as leaf is to tree

Ø Every choice you make is like spinning the wheel of fortune—sometimes you will get the result that you desire, while other times you will end up with something you always hoped to avoid.

Ø Raising children requires the same dedication you would give to a garden. Nurture them, feed them, introduce them to both light and dark, and have patience; and soon you will see them grow into blooming wonders.

Ø Photosynthesis does for plants what digesting food does for animals. It is the process that lets them convert nutrients into the fuel needed to grow and develop.

Ø They crowded very close about him, with their hands always on him in a careful, caressing grip, as though all the while feeling him to make sure he was there. It was like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water. (George Orwell, A Hanging)

Ø What gunpowder did for war the printing press has done for the mind. (Wendell Phillips, Public Opinion on the Abolition Question)

Ø People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)

Ø A nation wearing atomic armor is like a knight whose armor has grown so heavy he is immobilized; he can hardly walk, hardly sit his horse, hardly think, hardly breathe. The H-bomb is an extremely effective deterrent to war, but it has little virtue as a weapon of war because it would leave the world uninhabitable. (E.B. White)

 

Types of Analogy

Literal Analogy

In a literal analogy, one thing is shown similar to another to make an argument or persuasion. For example, when scientists test a new medicine on laboratory mice, they argue, that mice and humans are similar in medically significant ways. If a medicine works on mice, it should also work on humans.

Figurative Analogy

In a figurative analogy, a comparison is drawn between two unrelated things to highlight a certain characteristic. For example, ‘the wheel of fortune’.