What is a metaphor? In Greek, it means “carry something across”. According to John Searle, an American philosopher, “Understanding and experiencing one thing in terms of another.”
It can be viewed as a powerful cognitive tool for writers. There have been quite many pieces of research conducted that show that metaphors can be used as an instructional tool in the writing process of the students.
Students using metaphors in writing have a potential value that impacts the quality of the students’ writing and helps them improve their understanding of the writing process.
As a result, their deeper understanding will make them become great writers one day.
Why use metaphors?
It has an effect on the readers
Writers use it as a powerful tool to get the readers connected emotionally to their poetry or prose. A metaphorical language used by the writers portrays a beautifully vivid picture in the minds of readers.
In a way, it allows the writer to control the readers’ perception of what’s been written.
It animates ordinary language
Writers using metaphors make their writing more interesting and cheerful, it enlivens the ordinary language strange making life seem intriguing and fascinating to the readers.
It intrigues readers to different possible connotations
Metaphors allow the reader to have their own desired interpretations, as the literal meaning is difficult to interpret, the metaphors propel readers to think deeply and choose the meaning they perceive in their minds.
More effective than ordinary language
Metaphors have an effect on readers than ordinary language as it gives multiple and maximum meanings with minimum words.
New meanings are conceived
Writers use metaphors to describe complex feelings, thoughts, experiences, and subjects when they find no easy or perfect words to create meaning, hence using metaphors in creative writing are necessary for the writer to use.
‘Sign of ingenuity
Aristotle in Poetics describes that using metaphors is a magnificent thing to do.
It is genius to create meanings that imply the mind to perceive things of similarities out of dissimilar.
Exploring writing processes through Metaphors
Metaphors as a cognitive tool are proven conducive for the writers to explore the writing processes. Many published writers frequently rely on a variety of metaphors in their writing.
Writers can use metaphors as a tester to examine their own writing processes in significant ways.
When used by students in their creative/essay writing
Many teachers find the use of metaphors a great way to emphasize the quality and versatility of students’ writing.
Teachers should have an open mind about how to teach writing such as when discussing specific strategies such as letting students choose their own writing topics so they can come up with new perspectives and explore each stage of their writing journey.
Students can also acquire help from writing services that provide essay writer free online eager to assist them in their creative writing journey
They can share their personal experience as writers. It is an effective way to get the students’ minds to work creatively. Once they begin to let their creativity flow, they will feel confident and would become more eager to use metaphors.
Let student play and experiment with metaphors in their writing process and let them feel that everyone as a writer share the same path.