Using Analogy as an
Expository Device
Analogy
• An analogy is a special form of comparison
that you can use to explain something abstract
or difficult understand by showing its
similarity to something concrete or easy to
understand.
• Unlike the comparison and contrast essay
where you need to make sure both subjects
belong to the same general class, in analogy
you and your reader are only concerned with
one of the subjects; the second serves just to
help explain the first.
• The two subjects, which may have little in
common, also do not belong to the same
general class.
Example – the universe compared to raisin
bread – James Trefil, The Dark Side of the Universe
• If distant galaxies are really receding from the earth,
and if more distant galaxies are receding faster than
more distant ones, a remarkable picture of the universe
emerges. Imagine that the galaxies were raisins
scattered through a rising lump of bread dough. As the
dough expanded, the raisins would be carried further
and further apart from each other. If you were standing
on one of the raisins, how would things look? You
wouldn’t feel any motion yourself, of course, just as you
don’t feel the effects of the earth’s motion around the
sun, but you would notice that your nearest neighbor
was moving away from you. This motion would be due
to the fact that the dough between you and your
nearest neighbor would be expanding, pushing the two
of you apart.
Why Use Analogy?
• To compare two things that are similar in
some specifics but otherwise unlike.
• To explain a complex, abstract, or unusual
subject in familiar and easy to understand
terms.
• To speculate about possible interpretations
and consequences.
Example One
• To explain how an electromagnetic field transmits
radio signals from a station’s transmitter to the
radio in a listener’s home or car, physicist Richard
Feynman asked his readers to imagine two corks
floating in a pool of water. If we jiggle one cork,
the waves in the water transmit the influence of
our action and the second cork begins to jiggle.
Like the water, an electromagnetic field transmits
energy from sender to receiver in the form of
waves – electromagnetic waves- conveying
signals, a television picture, a radar image, or
even plain light.
Example Two
• To explain a conclusion that jazz has influenced
and will continue to influence modern music of all
kinds by comparing the jazz tradition to a tune
that plays in the back of your mind all day,
affecting your mood, the rhythm of your walk,
and your tone of voice. Jazz is a presence in the
minds of composers and performers that shapes
their choice of harmonies and rhythms, influences
the tone of their compositions and the choice of
instrument, and makes hipness an attitude in
which many of them aspire.
Important
• An extended analogy must be logical and
serve as the framework for detailed
explanation.
• Effective analogies must be understood easily
by readers, and as a writer, you must explain
the analogy with its implications.
Structure: Point by Point
• Tentative Thesis: We can better understand
corporations by viewing them as if they were
large, extended families.
• Point 1: Employee ranks are similar to family roles
(CEOs, board members = grandparents; VPs =
parents).
• Point 2: Different parts of the company are
similar to different parts of an extended family
(main office = nuclear family; branch office =
families of uncles, aunts).
• Point 3: Conflicts over resources within a
company are similar to rivalry among cousins
or struggles over a will.
• Point 4: Struggle over advancement in a
company is similar to sibling rivalry.
• Point 5: Training programs aim to help
employees for the good of the company while
therapy tries to maintain family unity.
Example Three
• You can say that the world is like an overcrowded
lifeboat. You must explain that the lifeboat is in
danger of sinking, unless the number of
passengers is reduced or the craft gains extra
flotation power. And then you need to point out
the implications: the world is overpopulated, and
we must either limit population growth or
increase our ability to sustain and feed people –
without destroying the environment and sinking
the boat in which we are traveling.
Class Discussion
• Compare the art of war to the game of chess.
Topics
• Analogy-symbol (What theme could it
illustrate?):
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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A freeway at commuting time
Building a road through wilderness
A merry-go-round
A wedding or divorce
A car wash
Flood destruction of a levee
An animal predator stalking prey
A baseball game
An oasis
A duel
An airport
Topics
• Themes (What analogy could you create?):
– A well-organized school system
– Starting a new business or other enterprise
– Learning a new skill
– Today’s intense competition for success
– Dealing with stress
– The results of ignorance