Making comparisons is a way to increase our understanding.
Metaphor, a Greek word translated as carry something across, is a way of comparing two things without using the words like or as.
As a writing tool, metaphor can create word pictures in the mind of the reader in a number of ways. Here are a few:
1. Translation. One of the most practical uses for metaphor is to help a reader understand something that is abstract. Consider the following two sentences when determining which has greater impact:
a. He was angry.
b. He narrowed his eyes, drew his thin lips across his teeth and flared his nostrils, emitting a low, but audible growl.
2. Efficiency. Consider these sentences:
a. She lived in a small, cramped, dark place, far away from people; no one came to visit.
b. Her home was a prison.
3. To create meaning for a new concept. We use metaphors when referring to many computer-related products and services including, World Wide Web, mouse and virus.
4. Parts of speech.
a. Verb: The words that lifted her spirits sank his hopes.
b. Modifier: Coldness gripped her heart and wrung it.
c. Adjective/adverb: Joe is a voracious reader devouring several books a week.
d. Prepositional phrase: He studied the landscape with a hunter’s eye.
You know a metaphor has impact when it can communicate an idea, the phrase makes sense, it sticks with the reader and it is true to the reader’s experience.