ABSTRACT
This chapter covers four foundational devices of figurative language: simile, analogy, metaphor, and catachresis. A simile compares two unlike things in order to clarify the less understood one by the more understood one. An analogy is similar to a simile but the chosen familiar image usually has more than one point in common with the unfamiliar thing and is used more to explain in more detail, while a simile is often used for artistic purposes. A metaphor is the most dramatic form of comparison because, while a simile will say one thing is like another (“her heart was like a stone”), a metaphor identifies one thing with another (“her heart was a stone”). Style Check 8 discusses the views of ancient rhetorician Demetrius about metaphors. Define Your Terms asks students to define each of the rhetorical devices discussed in the chapter and to provide their own examples of each one. It’s in the Cloud asks students to research some guidelines and tips for making effective blog posts. Salt and Pepper 8 covers pleonasm and suggests that such redundancy might not always be a vice. The chapter ends with a Review Questions quiz and Questions for Thought and Discussion, asking students to think about some of the ideas discussed in the chapter.
