Metaphors for Valentine’s Day

I did a Valentine’s Day-themed activity in class today. This activity is adapted from the New York Times learning blog, to which I subscribe. It’s called “Figuratively Speaking,” and it focuses on metaphorical language.

We had our class in the writing lab, which has computers in it. To start the activity, I wrote “LOVE” on the board in pink chalk. A few students groaned. Then I set them to work: Search for songs that contain the words “love is” in the lyrics. This gave us a wide spread of ideas that musicians have about love. Some examples:

• Smallpox “Your Love is (Love Song with Metaphor)” – Paul and Storm
• A battlefield “Love is a Battlefield” – Pat Benatar
• Darkness “Love is Darkness” – Sander Van Doorn
• A symphony – “Your Love is a Song” – Switchfoot
• More than just a game for two “L-O-V-E” – Nat King Cole
• Taking that dive, then getting really comfortable and peeing in the pool “Love is…” – Bo Burnham

For the most part, songs use metaphors so that the songwriters can more easily express their feelings about love. The statement “Love is Like a Butterfly” (Dolly Parton) evokes ideas about the beauty but frailty of being in love. That is what we use metaphors for as writers: They express concepts that would otherwise be difficult to explain because they are abstract and multilayered. Love means many different things to different people at different times in their lives.

This is where I transition into a discussion of the use of metaphor in expository writing. Student experience the term metaphor in high school English classes as one of the many literary devices that poets use. It differs from a simile in that it is a direct comparison rather than an explicit one using like or as. However, I take my students into a more sophisticated understanding of metaphors.

One thing that, as writers, they should understand is that metaphor is used very commonly in language. For example, when we talk about time, we talk about it as though it is money: something tangible that we assign value to. How else can we waste time, spend hours, or make up for lost time? The important thing to keep in mind is that these ideas are culturally encoded—the sayings do not translate directly into other languages.

An interesting point, though not entirely relevant to the point at hand, is that in languages that are written and read across a page (left-to-right or right-to-left), time is discussed in a horizontal fashion (i.e., events happen before or after others). In languages that are written and read down a page in columns (such as Chinese), time is discussed in a vertical fashion (i.e., events happen above or below others).

These metaphors are called conventional metaphors, which contrast from creative metaphors. Writers use creative metaphors to describe an idea or concept in terms it is easy for an audience to understand. Singing “Love is Darkness” explains the pain and trouble of someone who has been hurt by love without the writer’s having to detail all of those troubles. Metaphors help to make ideas more clear and writing more concise.