2. What is a conceptual metaphor?
I’m going to hold my ground.
He attacked every weak point I made.
If you let your defenses down, I’ll go in for
the kill.
Do you have any ammunition to use in
your argument?
ARGUMENT IS WAR.
3. What is a Metaphor?
• A linguistic structure that points to a
relationship
• A conceptual device that enables us to
perceive an implied relationship between
two typically unrelated ideas
• A persuasive tool that highlights some
ideas and hides others.
4. Metaphor and Culture
• According to one influential study, The most
pervasive metaphor in American culture:
Argument is war. (Lakoff & Johnson 1980,
Metaphors We Live By)
• Americans tend to wage a “war of words,”
to speak as if we were “fighting for our lives.”
(Tannen 1999, Argument Culture)
5. What is a Metaphor NOT?
Merely a literary embellishment, a way to
spice up our language
(traditional, Aristotelian view)
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain….
7. How do Metaphors Work
Linguistically?
They overlay a certain set of word
relationships over another word domain.
Example:
In Argument is war, all the word relationships
associated with “war” are laid over the
domain of “argument.”
8. How do metaphors work
conceptually?
• They highlight some features or ideas.
e.g. in Argument is war, the metaphor
highlights the struggle, the competition.
• They hide other features or ideas.
e.g. in Argument is War, the metaphor
hides human connections.
9. What is a Meta-for?
• Creates a perspective by highlighting
some ideas and hiding others~
• Generates new ways of perceiving a
familiar idea~
• Suggests how we might change our
perspectives~
10. Why Mind Metaphors?
• They can deepen understanding because they
enable us to send and perceive messages in
terms of larger mental models.
• They can persuade because they allow us to
send and receive information about attitudes
and values.
• They can engage us emotionally because they
convey messages in a visual or experiential way.
11. What do these metaphors
highlight/hide?
• A people under whose parasitism the
whole of humanity is suffering: ___. ~A. Hitler
• I’m a banana: yellow on the outside and
white on the inside. ~ D. Sazuki
• Racism is a moving conveyor belt in an
airport. ~ B.Daniel Tatum
• Life is a highway. L. Flatts
12. Metaphor as Persuasion
What we see, we see, and seeing is
changing. ~Audre Lord
Man’s reach must exceed his grasp, or
what’s a meta-phor? ~ Marshall McLuan
They enable us to imagine a more ideal or
optimal situation – according to the
speaker or writer.
13. Why mind/mine metaphors?
• They can convey powerful messages –
positive and negative.
• We can speak/write with them to
communicate more persuasively.
• We can listen/read for them to resist being
persuaded if it’s not in our best interest.
