their own or with the help of others, to see anything besides the shadows that are, continually, projected on the wall opposite them by the glow of the fire.
And what do they see of the things that are being carried along [behind them]? Do they not see simply these [namely the shadows]?
Now if they were able to say something about what they saw and to talk it over, do you not think that they would regard that which they saw on the wall as beings?
And now what if this prison also had an echo reverberating off the wall in front of them [the one that they always and only look at]? Whenever one of the people walking behind those in chains (and carrying the things) would make a sound, do you think the prisoners would imagine that the speaker were anyone other than the shadow passing in front of them?
All in all …those who were chained would consider nothing besides the shadows of the artefacts as the unhidden.
Personification
Sometimes the metaphor consists in speaking of inanimate things or animals as if they were human. Thus human qualities are given to an animal, an object, or an idea. This is called the figure of personification.
One of the best allegorical works which uses personification is George Orwell’s Animal farm.
Examples of usage:
Kahlil Gibran on Love
When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
The following poem by David Diop also employs the literary device of personification.
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The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz by Longfellow.
“And Nature, the old Nurse, took The child upon her knee,
Saying, ‘Here is a story book Thy father hath written for thee.
“‘Come wander with me,’ she said,
‘Into regions yet untrod, And read what is still unread In the Manuscripts of God.’
“And he wandered away and away With Nature, the dear old Nurse, Who sang to him night and day The rhymes of the universe.”
The Honest Dealer by Anon
All of us know that money talks Throughout our glorious nation;
But money whispers low compared to Business reputation:
Pull off no slick nor cooked deal For pennies or for dollars God! Think of all the trade You’ll lose if just one sucker hollers!
Africa by David Diop Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work The work of your slavery Africa, tell me Africa
Is this you, this back that is bent This back that breaks
Under the weight of humiliation This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers That is your Africa springing up anew
Springing up patiently, obstinately Whose fruit bit by bit acquires The bitter taste of liberty.
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The City of God
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
“Justice removed, then, what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers? What are bands of robbers themselves but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is governed by authority of a ruler; it is bound together by a pact of association;
and the loot is divided according to agreed law. If, by the constant addition of desperate men, this scourge grows to such a size that it acquires territory, establishes a was a pertinent and true answer which was made to Alexander you do when you infest the whole world; but because I do it with a acquainted with all the secrets of nature” Johannes Kepler Analogy is comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one. While metaphors and analogy often overlap, the metaphor is generally a more artistic likening, done briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy serves the more practical end of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended.
When we think of analogies, we often imagine cases where drawing on complex concepts from one domain helps to extend our comprehension of concepts from a different domain.
As such, the use of analogies is often associated with creativity and problem-solving.
Examples of Usage
Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act V:
‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’
NOTE
Analogical reasoning is fundamental to human thought and expression. Analogous language can be particularly useful in
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Sydney J. Harris, What True Education Should Do:
‘Pupils are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we knew how to cultivate them with ardour and persistence.’
Henry Van Dyke:
Time is too slow for those who wait Too swift for those who fear, Too long for those who grieve
Too short for those who love, time is Eternity.
Saint Augustine, Bad Company
“Bad company is like a nail driven into a post, which, after the first and second blow, may be drawn out with little difficulty; but being once driven up to the head, the pincers cannot take hold to draw it out, but which can only be done by the destruction of the wood.”
explain scientific and mathematical concepts which may be hard to explain in ordinary language.
Sometimes the point of an analogical argument is just to persuade people to take an idea seriously. Therefore, analogies provide plausible conjectures, not infallible deductions.
Inferences generated by analogy must always be tested to see if they’re actually helpful.
To propose an analogy, or simply to understand one, we must take a kind of mental leap. Like a spark that jumps across a gap, an idea from the source analog is carried over to the target. The two analogs may initially seem unrelated, but the act of making an analogy creates connections between them.
All the above figures of speech are varieties of metaphor. In them there is always an implied, if not an expressed, comparison.
Effect Humour
“People who never love
Can never be taken seriously” Seneca
“Wisdom sometimes is seen in folly” Horace
Humour is what makes us laugh. There are two very different kinds of humour: one producing comedy, the other producing satire. Comic humour presents the absurdity of life without judgement, whereas satiric humour is directed to attacking the follies or vices of mankind.
Humour works chiefly by stressing the contrast between the ideal and the real.
Humour is a thing that can be cultivated, even learned; and it is one of the most important things in the whole art of writing.