Rhetorical Criticism

Metaphorical Critique

Metaphor

• From Greek:– meta -- “over”– phereras -- “to carry”

• To carry aspects of one thing over to another thing.

• A metaphor joins two symbols normally regarded as belonging to different classes of experience.

The tenor and the vehicle• tenor: the topic or subject being

explained• vehicle: the mechanism or lens through

which the topic is viewed.– A new crop of students

entered the classroom. – The teacher planted ideas

in their fertile, young minds.

• tenor – education, teaching and learning

• vehicle – farming

I. A. RichardsPhilosopher

Language and Literary Theory

(1893 1979)

Metaphor: Aristotle & Cicero

• “the transference of a name from the object to which it has a natural application” (Aristotle)

• Metaphor as a figure of speech• Decoration or Ornament:

“gives cleverness, charm and distinction to the style”

• “there is no mode of embellishment . . . that throws a greater luster upon language” (Cicero)

• Metaphors are not necessary, just nice

Metaphoric Deviousness

• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) saw metaphor as frustrating the process of communication.– One of his four abuses of speech used to

“deceive others.”

• Archbishop of Dublin, Richard Whately (1787-1863 ) said metaphor departs “from the plain and strictly appropriate Style.”

•Kenneth Burke

Robert L. Ivie Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture

Department of Communication and Culture Indiana University, Bloomington.

WEBSITE

Michael Osborn University of Memphis

biography

George Lakoffprofessor of linguistics

University of California, Berkeley Senior Fellow at the Rockridge Institute

WEBSITE

Mark L. Johnson Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of Philosophy University of Oregon

WEBSITE

Metaphor Forming Reality• We experience reality through

language• Metaphor is a basic way we construct

reality as we trade symbols– Argument is War

• “He attacked my argument”• “I demolished her argument”• “She won the argument”• “I shot his argument down”

– Argumentation is a Dance• “Our balanced arguments revealed the truth”

Metaphorical Criticism

• Burke - Metaphor plays a crucial role in the discovery and description of truth.– “metaphor tells us something about one

character as considered from the point-of-view of another character”

• Lakoff & Johnson – Metaphor is instrumental and persuasive in everyday thought.

• Ivie & Osborn – Developed metaphor into a structured method of critique.

Selecting Metaphorical Artifacts

• All language has metaphorical aspects

• Select artifacts that contain explicit metaphors

• Symbolism• Art

Metaphor by Rachael A. Riley

Analyzing the Artifact

1. Examine artifact for a general sense of its dimensions and context.– Spend time; get the big picture; know the

context2. Isolate the metaphors in the artifact.

– Explicit and implied metaphors3. Sort metaphors into groups according to

vehicle and tenor.– Look for patterns; focus; themes. What are the

vehicles? How do they relate?4. Discover an explanation for the artifact.

– Use the principles of frequency and intensity to discover significance.

Formulate a Research Question or

Thesis

Write the Essay