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’.
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