Lastly, identify the other object you want to compare the first one to, which should mirror the intentions in the second step. Depending on whether you want your audience to think of the catalog as good or bad, youвЂ™ll use different words to describe it. Second, identify what it is that you want to say about the object you are trying to describe. For example, maybe you are talking about a college catalog that offers a wide variety of courses. To use a metaphor effectively, first determine what you are trying to describe. In the third example, we refer to activists as вЂњcropsвЂќ that arise anew with each growing season, and we use вЂњbornвЂќ figuratively to indicate that they come into being-even though it is understood that they are not newborn infants at the time when they become activists. In the second example, the accused вЂњclams up,вЂќ which means that the accused refused to talk in the same way a clamвЂ™s shell is closed. In the first one, the comparison is the same as one of our simile examples except that the word вЂњlikeвЂќ is omitted-instead of being like a battlefield, the metaphor states that love is a battlefield, and it is understood that the speaker does not mean the comparison literally. LetвЂ™s think through each of these examples. In these examples, the comparison word has been italicized. Every year a new crop of activists are born.Upon hearing the charges, the accused clammed up and refused to speak without a lawyer.In the case of a metaphor, one of the comparison items is said to be the other (even though this is realistically not possible). The other commonly used form of imagery is the metaphor, or a figure of speech where a term or phrase is applied to something in a nonliteral way to suggest a resemblance. Are you getting the kind of mental image you desire? Is the image too strong? Is the image too weak? You can always alter the image to make it stronger or weaker depending on what your aim is. Lastly, once you see what two ideas you are comparing, check the mental picture for yourself. For example, maybe youвЂ™re comparing someoneвЂ™s breath to the odor of a fishing vessel. To effectively use similes within your speech, first look for instances where you may already be finding yourself using the words вЂњlikeвЂќ or вЂњasвЂќ-for example, вЂњhis breath smelled like a fishing boat on a hot summer day.вЂќ Second, when you find situations where you are comparing two things using вЂњlikeвЂќ or вЂњas,вЂќ examine what it is that you are actually comparing. Now think how you would envision the event if the simile likened the applause to a mime convention-your mental picture changes dramatically, doesnвЂ™t it? In the first example, we are connecting the type of applause being heard to something supernatural, so we can imagine that the applause was huge and enormous. Speakers use similes to help an audience understand a specific characteristic being described within the speech. When we look at these two examples, youвЂ™ll see that two words have been italicized: вЂњlikeвЂќ and вЂњas.вЂќ All similes contain either вЂњlikeвЂќ or вЂњasвЂќ within the comparison. After the revelation, she was as angry as a raccoon caught in a cage.The thunderous applause was like a party among the gods.Both aspects being compared within a simile are able to remain separate within the comparison. As you probably learned in English courses, a simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.

Ultimately, the goal of concreteness is to show an audience something instead of talking about it abstractly. As illustrations of the two freedoms discussed by Steiner, these examples make things more concrete for audience members and thus easier to remember. You could further illustrate how Afghani women under the Taliban are forced to adhere to rigid interpretations of Islamic law that functionally limit their behavior. For example, you could talk about how Afghani women under Taliban rule have been denied access to education, and how those seeking education have risked public flogging and even execution (Iacopino & Rasekh, 1998). Instead of defining what those terms mean and discussing the philosophical merits of Steiner, you could use real examples where peopleвЂ™s freedom to think or freedom to behave has been stifled. If youвЂ™re like us, even reading that sentence can make you want to go to sleep. You could easily stand up and talk about the philosophical work of Rudolf Steiner, who divided the ideas of freedom into freedom of thought and freedom of action. Imagine youвЂ™ve decided to give a speech on the importance of freedom. The goal of concreteness is to help you, as a speaker, show your audience something instead of just telling them. When we use language that is concrete, we attempt to help our audiences see specific realities or actual instances instead of abstract theories and ideas.

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