Zen and the Art of Persuasive Writing, Abstract to Concrete: Analogies and Metaphors. 

Make the important interesting.  —James Fallows

We have plumbed the depths of abstract words, but what about abstract ideas? Abstractions are a fact of professional life. The law is littered with them. Think of the legislative process, intellectual property and apportionment of congressional seats. These concepts or ideas are hard to understand because readers cannot see, touch, taste, hear or smell them. Readers cannot grasp or shape them in the mind’s eye.

Concrete renditions of abstract material give respite to weary readers who must hurdle abstraction after abstraction like it’s a track and field event. A visual image or concrete example anchors your ideas in the physical world. Research and my experience show the elixir for abstractions is analogies, pictures, charts and rhetorical figures.

A. Analogies, Metaphors and Similes

First is analogies, metaphors, and similes, each a figurative device. They broadcast a high-definition picture straight to the human brain. Readers can practically see and touch your point because these devices appeal to physical senses. And again, this is particularly important in persuasive writing because the writer has room to develop the point.

Persuasive writers use analogies, metaphors, and similes to revive a reader’s flagging attention and increase the likelihood of comprehension. Words and images are processed on parallel pathways of the brain, and readers can better process and recall new points when presented both verbally and visually.

Analogies compare two or more things to raise awareness. The point is not only to show, but to explain. Analogies represent gift baskets from mindful writers to their readers, each calculated to ease the reader’s chore.

Metaphors are a species of analogy. They capture a feature in one thing by associating it to another thing. They harness our physical world and human experience to help readers understand abstract ideas, and stimulate a wave of new thoughts and associations.

Metaphors trigger different parts of the human brain. A team of researchers at Emory University found that textural metaphors like “she had a rough day” activated the same part of the brain that registers touch.130 A member of the team described their findings as “highlight[ing] the role of neural networks, rather than a single area of the brain, in these processes.” The team member reasoned that “the brain is conducting an internal simulation as a way to understand the metaphor, and that’s why the regions associated with touch get involved.”

Aristotle was a fan of metaphors, which, he proclaimed, give writing “clearness, charm, and distinction,” adding the “greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor,” which “cannot be imparted by another” and “is the mark of genius.”

I begin already to weigh my words and sentences more than I did, and am looking about for a sentiment, an illustration or a metaphor in every corner of the room.  —Jane Austen

Similes use the words like and as to compare two or more things, empowering the writer to design a vivid description. Just as a metaphor is a form of analogy, the simile is a form of metaphor. But it’s different—a metaphor substitutes; a simile compares.  Metaphors are more authoritative than similes and use fewer words.

All three devices rely on human experience to drive a point home. Each is used to defeat the curse of jargon and complexity, enabling the reader to instantly grasp the point. And yet, each device is unique. Let’s explore each device through example.

For our first example, we look to a Yiddish proverb:

• ORIGINAL QUOTE: What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.
• ANALOGY: Tears are to the soul as soap is to the body because both cleanse.
• METAPHOR: Tears are soap.
• SIMILE: Tears are like soap.

By comparing tears and the soul to soap and the body, this analogy makes the case for showing your emotions.

Next look to P. J. O’Rourke and his non-fiction classic, Parliament of Whores, about the excesses of the United States Congress:

• ORIGINAL QUOTE: Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
• ANALOGY: Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys because neither can be trusted.
• METAPHOR: Government is teenage boys.
• SIMILE: Government is like teenage boys.

O’Rourke compares government to teenage boys, but not literally; the comparison is rhetorical.

And last, we look to Chief Justice John Roberts, who made this analogy at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee:

• ORIGINAL QUOTE: Judges are like baseball umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules, they apply them.
• ANALOGY: Judges are like baseball umpires because both make objective calls based on rules.
• METAPHOR: Judges are baseball umpires.
• SIMILE: Judges are like baseball umpires.

Persuasive writers use these devices to leverage the human experience, knowing that readers learn and understand by linking new and unfamiliar things to old and familiar things. Each device brings life and energy to persuasive writing, making difficult things  easier to understand and remember. Each helps the reader to process an idea that is foreign and abstract by connecting it to something native and concrete. And each aids persuasion, although not as a direct line to reason.

Learn more about how analogies, metaphors and similes are used to persuade in the new book, Zen and the Art of Persuasive Writing.  Purchase now where books are sold, including Amazon.