Metaphor Examples and Definition to Elevate Your Speech and Writing
Metaphor Examples – What is a Metaphor? – There are plenty of literary devices in the English language that can be utilized to add depth to verbal or written communication. One of the extremely useful and commonly found tools is the metaphor. It is a weapon that’s often relied on by writers and an essential component of their toolkit, especially in poetry and prose to evoke an emotional and instinctive level of the readers. Read further about what is a metaphor and several metaphor examples are below.
What Is Metaphor and Where You Can Find Metaphors Examples
Metaphor is a term rooted in the Greek word, “metaphorá”. It is a figure of speech used to create a rhetorical effect by comparing a thing to another. The purpose of referring to another thing is to suggest or show that two items are similar or to symbolize the idea, activity, or object.
Metaphor is utilized to describe the thing in a way that shouldn’t be taken literally, but by explaining the idea through comparison. It uses colorful language to represent an abstract concept.
The uses of metaphor examples are easy to find in literature, poetry, or in basically any form of communication where the communicator wants to mount color to their language. If you read, listen, or think that “love is a battlefield” or certain someone is a “black sheep of the family”, then you already find a metaphor. Notice how the phrase or the word is applied in a figurative way to something. It doesn’t actually imply that love involves a real, physical fight, or if a person could turn into a sheep with dark fur color.
Different Types of Metaphors Examples
Here are the several types of metaphor that has different purpose each:
- Standard – A metaphor that uses a comparison between two different things. An extremely popular example of standard metaphor is the “All the world’s a stage” line by Shakespeare.
- Implied – in this metaphor category, two things are being compared without mentioning the compared objects directly. Some of the implied metaphor examples are “She crumbled under pressure” or “The flowers nodded in the spring wind.”
- Visual – as the name implies, it is a category of metaphor where a thing is compared to another by visual association. It is used a lot in marketing and advertising, such as the Tropicana orange juice ads “Your daily ray of sunshine”.
- Extended – the use of this metaphor version expands through the course of several sentences, paragraphs, or stanzas of poetry or proses. These metaphors are constructed from simple, but more varied figurative and descriptive speech.
Tips to Use Metaphor Examples
Metaphors shouldn’t be used excessively. The enormous use of metaphor may distract or confuse the reader. The purpose of using this language device is not to present clever phrases in order to impress and outsmart the readers or listeners but to make them more engaged in the story. It is best to use them sparingly and avoid them if they don’t serve a greater goal.
You may use the Metaphor Examples that are already invented by someone else or create your own to make sure you paint a vivid image. Always remember that you don’t have to write metaphors in sophisticated language, as a lot of them work just as effectively on a daily basis when the readers can understand and relate immediately.
Metaphor Examples – Examples of Metaphors
