Bryan D’Ostroph
SOAN 101
Essay Three: Metaphor
When considering the idea of a metaphor, there are a variety of different ways that these metaphors can be classified. Is it a literary device that should be analyzed and annotated for it 's meaning within a work? Or is it, as Lakoff and Johnson describe, the basis to human thought processes which transcends the face value of language? Although we communicate through language on a daily basis, Lakoff and Johnson believe we are usually unaware that our “conceptual system” driving communication is largely metaphorical. This system is not just the means for basic communication, but rather the means for innate thoughts and actions. Lakoff and Johnson demonstrate this idea through their example …show more content…
These metaphors, which range from topics of violence to aspects of empowerment, are frequently interchanged within different contexts to liken cancer to something else. One of the most common metaphors is viewing a person’s cancer experience as a violent battle that has to be won. In an article from Cancer Research UK, many times this type of metaphor is used in cancer fundraisers to inspire and evoke emotion from people so that they will donate. Words and phrases such as, “fighting the battle,” and, “losing the fight,” are commonly used in the violent metaphor context (Gajewski 2015). Many times this metaphor engenders a collective effort to fight cancer together in an “army,” but this does not seem to inspire the same resilience in individual soldiers who are afflicted with cancer. This type of metaphor creates the feeling the patient is on the defensive against cancer, portraying the disease as a mighty opponent that has to be defeated. But what if the patient is physically weak and succumbs to the disease? In this type of metaphor, they have “lost the battle,” giving the sense that they have let others down in some
SOAN 101
Essay Three: Metaphor
When considering the idea of a metaphor, there are a variety of different ways that these metaphors can be classified. Is it a literary device that should be analyzed and annotated for it 's meaning within a work? Or is it, as Lakoff and Johnson describe, the basis to human thought processes which transcends the face value of language? Although we communicate through language on a daily basis, Lakoff and Johnson believe we are usually unaware that our “conceptual system” driving communication is largely metaphorical. This system is not just the means for basic communication, but rather the means for innate thoughts and actions. Lakoff and Johnson demonstrate this idea through their example …show more content…
These metaphors, which range from topics of violence to aspects of empowerment, are frequently interchanged within different contexts to liken cancer to something else. One of the most common metaphors is viewing a person’s cancer experience as a violent battle that has to be won. In an article from Cancer Research UK, many times this type of metaphor is used in cancer fundraisers to inspire and evoke emotion from people so that they will donate. Words and phrases such as, “fighting the battle,” and, “losing the fight,” are commonly used in the violent metaphor context (Gajewski 2015). Many times this metaphor engenders a collective effort to fight cancer together in an “army,” but this does not seem to inspire the same resilience in individual soldiers who are afflicted with cancer. This type of metaphor creates the feeling the patient is on the defensive against cancer, portraying the disease as a mighty opponent that has to be defeated. But what if the patient is physically weak and succumbs to the disease? In this type of metaphor, they have “lost the battle,” giving the sense that they have let others down in some