All About Metaphors and Academic Writing

We are always told from the beginning that academic writing and conversational writing are two different things. Therefore, students expect that they must not sprinkle analogies and metaphors in their assignments. However, it is seen that using metaphors can make your academic writing more impressive and make it easier for you to explain a concept in your own words. 

Today, in this post, we are sharing everything that students must know about metaphors, grammatical metaphors, and how to use them in academic writing. 

What is a Metaphor? 

A metaphor is a figure of speech or language feature often used in literature. A metaphor presents an indirect comparison between two unrelated things and helps the writer explain their ideas. Consider a few examples,

• “Harsh words cut deeper than a knife.” Here words are considered as sharp as a knife that they may cut a person. 
• “Rosemary kept drowning in the sea of grief after losing her dog.” Here grief is compared to the sea. Rosemary’s grief is as deep as the sea. 
• “She just sits at home like a couch potato.” Here the person is compared to a potato. 
• “Bean is an early bird. I cannot match him.” Here Bean is compared with a bird that rises early in the morning depicting that Bean also gets up quite early. 
• “Bill has a heart of stone.” Here Bill’s heart is compared with a stone depicting that Bill’s heart is as strong as a stone or he is less emotional. 

Some basic characteristics of metaphors:

• A metaphor is figurative language that describes that one thing is like another thing.
• It does not mean that both things are exactly the same but they are being equated just for the sake of comparison. For example, heart and stone are two different things, yet a situation may arise in writing where you have to compare the heart with a stone. 
• It helps people visualise unfamiliar concepts. 
• It puts an impact on the readers and leaves everlasting impressions. 
• Metaphors might mean something completely different from their literal meaning. For example, “Bean is an early bird.” This sentence does not mean that Bean is a bird. However, it means that Bean rises as early as birds. 
• Metaphors can be used to make your subject more relatable to the reader or can make a complex topic easy to understand. 

Different Types of Metaphors 

Metaphor is not just restricted to the above information. Metaphors are of different types and their knowledge can help you elevate your academic assignments to another level. Let us see what they are.

1. Implied Metaphor 

Implied metaphor is the metaphor that suggests a comparison, instead of directly comparing two things or naming two things. An implied metaphor does not state the name of the thing that the subject is being compared to, it just implies the comparison and so is the name of this metaphor. 

Example 1: Without a string, the moon was floating above us. 

Here the moon is being compared to a balloon. However, the word balloon has not been used here. The meaning of the sentence although applies the same. 

Example 2: Her love for art was blooming when she started the exhibition. 

Here love is compared with a flower. Although the word flower has not been used here, the meaning of the sentence compares love to a flower and suggests that just like a flower blooms, love is also blooming. 

2. Dead Metaphor

Some metaphors have been used for so long that their figurative language has lost its meaning. They no longer create imagery or intrigue the readers but yet are metaphors or indirect comparisons. It may also be considered a cliche in figurative language. 

Example 1: The ball is in your court. 

Example 2: Life is not a bed of roses. 

Example 3: The chapter became crystal clear once she studied her notes. 

Example 4: Sara is as cool as a cucumber. 

3. Sustained Metaphor

A sustained or extended metaphor is a metaphor that continues for longer sentences. It may be extended through paragraphs or even the entire text. This allows the readers to draw a larger comparison, a comparison that is way more intense than simple metaphors. 

Example: The sea was a playful cat. It licked and pawed on the beach. During the mornings it laid calmly with its belly to the sun. 

Here there is a continuous comparison between a cat and the sea. The writer has explained how the sea and cat are alike. 

Grammatical Metaphor and its use in academic writing 

Have you heard of grammatical metaphors before? If not, we are sure you might have used it unintentionally in your academic writing. A grammatical metaphor is often used as a linguistic resource in secondary schools, tertiary institutions and professional fields. 

A grammatical metaphor is when ideas in one grammatical form are expressed in another grammatical form. For example, verbs are expressed as nouns. This variation is done to give more meaning to your writing. 

There are different types of grammatical metaphors used in academic writing but today we will discuss the most commonly used one. It is known as an experimental metaphor and it includes nominalisation. Nominalisation is a process in which words that are not generally nouns, such as verbs and adverbs, are converted into nouns. 

Example 1: 

Sentence 1: “A bomb exploded in the city.”

Sentence 2: “There was a bomb explosion in the city.” 

Here the verb “exploded” became the noun “explosion”. 

Example 2: 

Sentence 1: “She likes being free.”

Sentence 2: “She likes her freedom.”

Here the adjective “free” became the noun “freedom”. 

Why grammatical metaphor is used in academic writing: 

1. Grammatical metaphor shortens sentences 

Explaining a concept becomes much easier when you can shorten complex sentences. You can reduce the number of clauses by packing noun groups. 

Example: 

Consider the following sentence:

“When trees are cut down mercilessly, the land becomes exposed and gets washed away easily by rain.”

This sentence can be easily cut short into the following:

“Deforestation causes soil erosion.”

2. Grammatical metaphor helps in connecting ideas 

With a grammatical metaphor, you can explain the amount of density of information. It can also build logic in text. 

Example: “The government decided to reopen the international route between Australia and New Zealand. This will boost the economy of Australia.”

We can change this sentence using grammatical metaphor in the following way:

“The decision to reopen the international route between Australia and New Zealand is a strategy to boost Australia’s economy.”

3. Grammatical metaphor formalises the tone 

Academic writing is strictly formal and using grammatical metaphors makes it easier for students to write academic assignments. It also helps you create more credible language. 

4. Grammatical metaphor helps create relationships 

With grammatical metaphors, you can easily showcase relationships between two or more clauses. 

Example: In the following sentence “The decision to reopen the international route between Australia and New Zealand is a strategy to boost Australia’s economy”, the relation between international travel and economy is depicted using grammatical metaphor. 

Do’s and Don’ts of using metaphors in academic writing

At last, we end this piece using some easy yet important do’s and don’ts that you must follow while using metaphors in academic writing. 

• A metaphor should not be used to introduce a topic. It should be used to support your argument. This way you can easily explain your ideas. 
• Use a metaphor that is common with respect to the subject. This way you will not cause any confusion. 
• Do not use metaphors excessively in your writing. The usage of metaphors should be based on the length of your assignment. 

Learn more about using metaphors in academic writing with GoAssignmentHelp 

Using figurative language like metaphors is an effective way to put your point across in an assignment and make things clear. However, you must be very careful while choosing the right metaphors in your assignments. GoAssignmentHelp assignment experts provide complete guidance on how to use metaphors in academic writing and make your assignment more impactful. Consult us at any time and we will be happy to assist you. You can also find an array of assignment writing services on our website.