I‭ ntroduction to Critical Thinking (CT04/05)‬

‭Spring 2024‬
‭Worksheet 2‬

‭Speaking Metaphorically Exercise‬

‭Step 1‬‭:‬‭Please read this excerpt from‬‭World into Word‬‭by Mark Doty:‬

“‭ ‭H ‬ ere’s‬‭one‬‭of‬‭those‬‭stories‬‭everyone‬‭swears‬‭is‬‭true,‬‭though‬‭they‬‭always‬‭seem‬‭to‬‭have‬‭happened‬
‭to‬‭a‬‭friend‬‭of‬‭a‬‭friend,‬‭and‬‭are‬‭never‬‭quite‬‭verifiable.‬‭I‬‭heard‬‭it‬‭from‬‭my‬‭friend‬‭Genine,‬‭and‬‭I’m‬
‭not‬ ‭quite‬ ‭sure‬ ‭where‬ ‭she‬ ‭got‬ ‭it.‬ ‭A‬ ‭man‬ ‭was‬‭telling‬‭his‬‭therapist‬‭about‬‭a‬‭fight‬‭he’d‬‭had‬‭with‬‭his‬
‭mother.‬ ‭They‬ ‭were‬‭standing‬‭together‬‭in‬‭the‬‭kitchen,‬‭arguing,‬‭and‬‭then,‬‭he‬‭said,‬‭“My‬‭mother‬‭put‬
‭the‬ ‭icing‬ ‭on‬ ‭the‬ ‭cake.”‬ ‭The‬ ‭therapist‬ ‭said,‬ ‭“Oh?”‬ ‭“Yes,”‬ ‭he‬ ‭said.‬ ‭“She‬ ‭put‬ ‭the‬ ‭icing‬ ‭on‬ ‭the‬
‭cake?”‬ ‭“Yes.”‬ ‭The‬ ‭therapist‬ ‭persisted:‬ ‭“But‬ ‭how‬ ‭did‬ ‭she‬ ‭put‬‭the‬‭icing‬‭on‬‭the‬‭cake?”‬‭“She‬‭put‬
‭the‬ ‭icing‬ ‭on‬ ‭the‬ ‭cake.”‬ ‭And‬‭so‬‭it‬‭continued,‬‭until‬‭they‬‭realized‬‭they‬‭were‬‭talking‬‭about‬‭a‬‭literal‬
‭cake; the mother was holding a knife covered with buttercream frosting.‬

‭ ‬ ‭few‬ ‭summers‬ ‭ago,‬ ‭in‬ ‭Prague,‬ ‭I‬ ‭had‬ ‭the‬‭opposite‬‭experience.‬‭Considerately,‬‭restaurant‬‭menus‬

A
‭often‬ ‭offer‬ ‭English‬ ‭translations‬ ‭beneath‬ ‭the‬ ‭Czech‬ ‭listing,‬ ‭but‬ ‭the‬ ‭translations‬ ‭are‬‭often‬‭dodgy.‬
‭“Beef‬ ‭consommé‬ ‭with‬ ‭faggots,”‬ ‭for‬ ‭instance,‬ ‭took‬ ‭us‬ ‭aback,‬ ‭but‬ ‭nothing‬ ‭was‬ ‭as‬ ‭hard‬‭to‬‭figure‬
‭out‬ ‭as‬ ‭an‬ ‭appetizer‬‭called‬‭“smoked‬‭language.”‬‭Then‬‭one‬‭of‬‭the‬‭diners‬‭at‬‭our‬‭table‬‭decoded‬‭the‬
‭dish, which was tongue.‬

‭ he‬ ‭therapist‬ ‭assumes‬ ‭language‬ ‭must‬ ‭be‬ ‭metaphoric;‬ ‭the‬ ‭dogged‬ ‭but‬ ‭well-intentioned‬ ‭menu‬
T
‭translator‬‭assumes‬‭it‬‭must‬‭be‬‭literal.‬‭I‬‭tell‬‭these‬‭two‬‭little‬‭bits‬‭of‬‭anecdote‬‭because‬‭they‬‭point‬‭to‬
‭the‬‭absolute‬‭centrality‬‭of‬‭figurative‬‭speech.‬‭You‬‭could‬‭say‬‭that‬‭all‬‭language‬‭is‬‭metaphoric,‬‭since‬
‭the‬ ‭word‬ ‭stands‬ ‭for‬ ‭the‬ ‭thing‬ ‭itself,‬ ‭something‬ ‭the‬ ‭word‬ ‭is‬ ‭not.‬ ‭In‬ ‭her‬ ‭memoir,‬ ‭The‬ ‭Names‬ ‭of‬
‭Things,‬‭the‬‭Egyptologist‬‭Susan‬‭Brind‬‭Morrow‬‭points‬‭to‬‭the‬‭origins‬‭of‬‭letters‬‭in‬‭the‬‭observation‬‭of‬
‭nature,‬ ‭how‬ ‭the‬ ‭scuttle‬ ‭of‬ ‭crab‬ ‭claws‬ ‭on‬ ‭sand,‬ ‭for‬ ‭instance,‬ ‭influenced‬ ‭the‬ ‭hieroglyph‬ ‭for‬
‭“writing.”‬ ‭To‬ ‭use‬ ‭words‬ ‭at‬ ‭all‬ ‭is‬ ‭to‬ ‭use‬ ‭them‬ ‭figuratively;‬ ‭we‬ ‭breathe‬ ‭metaphor,‬ ‭swim‬ ‭in‬
‭metaphor, traffic in metaphor—and the verbs in those three phrases illustrate my point.”‬

‭Doty then outlines six principles of figurative speech:‬

1‭ .‬‭To say what we see is to speak figuratively.‬

‭Doty‬ ‭says‬ ‭that‬ ‭the‬ ‭“first‬ ‭project‬ ‭of‬ ‭simile‬ ‭and‬‭metaphor‬‭is‬‭to‬‭describe,‬‭to‬‭say‬‭what‬‭something’s‬
‭like.‬ ‭Unless‬ ‭we‬ ‭restrict‬ ‭ourselves‬ ‭to‬ ‭mere‬ ‭measurement,‬ ‭we‬ ‭cannot‬ ‭do‬ ‭so‬ ‭without‬ ‭resorting‬ ‭to‬
‭comparison.”‬

‭2.‬‭Figures work together to form networks of sense.‬

I‭ ntroduction to Critical Thinking (CT04/05)‬
‭Spring 2024‬
‭Worksheet 2‬

‭ s‬ ‭readers,‬ ‭we‬ ‭need‬ ‭to‬ ‭pay‬ ‭attention‬ ‭to‬ ‭unravel‬‭figurative‬‭language.‬‭This‬‭is‬‭because‬‭metaphors‬

A
‭describe‬‭an‬‭object‬‭that‬‭stands‬‭in‬‭for‬‭something‬‭else.‬‭What‬‭that‬‭“something‬‭else”‬‭is‬‭becomes‬‭clear‬
‭due to the relationships between these figures.‬

3‭ .‬‭Figuration is a form of self-portraiture.‬

‭Apart‬‭from‬‭saying‬‭something‬‭about‬‭the‬‭object,‬‭Doty‬‭says‬‭that‬‭figures‬‭also‬‭reveal‬‭the‬‭character‬‭of‬
‭the‬‭perceiver,‬‭“a‬‭kind‬‭of‬‭perceptual‬‭signature,‬‭a‬‭record‬‭of‬‭an‬‭individual‬‭way‬‭of‬‭seeing”.‬‭Our‬‭word‬
‭choices reflect how we experience the world.‬

4‭ .‬‭Metaphor introduces tension and polarity to language.‬

‭Metaphors can make our writing come alive. Doty says that the “figurative often introduces rich‬
‭and unexpected language” into writing which shifts the elements of the text’s vocabulary.‬

5‭ .‬‭Metaphor’s distancing aspect may allow us to speak‬‭more freely.‬

‭Doty‬ ‭says‬ ‭that‬ ‭metaphoric‬ ‭language‬ ‭can‬ ‭act‬ ‭as‬ ‭a‬ ‭“veil”,‬ ‭allowing‬ ‭us‬ ‭to‬ ‭speak‬ ‭indirectly.‬ ‭As‬
‭readers,‬ ‭we‬ ‭might‬ ‭need‬ ‭to‬ ‭do‬ ‭some‬ ‭detective‬ ‭work‬ ‭to‬ ‭understand‬ ‭the‬ ‭subtext.‬ ‭Doty‬ ‭says‬ ‭that‬
‭“that’s‬‭how‬‭a‬‭good‬‭veil‬‭works:‬‭you‬‭can‬‭see‬‭just‬‭the‬‭veil‬‭itself,‬‭if‬‭you‬‭choose‬‭to.‬‭But‬‭if‬‭you‬‭want‬
‭to, or you know how, you can read what lies beneath.”‬

6‭ .‬‭Metaphor is an act of inquiry (not an expression‬‭of what we already know).‬ ‭When we use‬
‭metaphors, we are trying to figure out the relation between seemingly distinct objects. Doty says‬
‭that this engages our “imaginative energy”. In this way metaphor becomes a kind of argument, a‬
‭“thinking through” of what’s implied in a relation between things apparently unlike.‬

‭Step 2‬‭:‬‭Please read‬‭Surrendering‬‭by Ocean Vuong.‬

‭ tep‬‭3‬‭:‬‭In‬‭groups,‬‭discuss‬‭how‬‭Doty’s‬‭principles‬‭are/are‬‭not‬‭reflected‬‭in‬‭Vuong’s‬‭writing.‬‭In‬‭the‬
S
‭table‬‭below,‬‭point‬‭out‬‭the‬‭various‬‭sentences‬‭where‬‭he‬‭uses‬‭figurative‬‭language‬‭(metaphor,‬‭simile,‬
‭personification, etc.). Think about how it affects you as a reader.‬
 ‭Group Members:‬

‭Instance of figurative language‬ ‭ hat does it mean? Do you like its‬

W
‭usage?‬