Metaphors and misery
On the virtue of metaphor and writing’s heuristic potential:
I was writing out the detailed version of my final assigment sheet for next semester, and I was trying to explain the flipping thing in a simple, straightforward way. This was difficult because I realized I wasn’t really sure exactly how I myself understood the assignment (but Jeff’s comments [see below] had helped). But then I hit on a metaphor that both explained the assignment simply and helped me understand how it should be approached. Text as expedition–a voyage of discovery.
Not an original metaphor, perhaps, but once that came to my mind, much worry about the assignment was relieved. Sometimes explaining things literally only confuses–a well-crafted metaphor is often the sharp point that drives the intent home.
In other news:
Stupid car accident on Friday. Some fellow backed into me at a red light; I hadn’t time to honk or back up myself before his car hit mine. No injuries either way, but a damned nuisance nonetheless. Not only will there be the inevitable financial loss, but because of various appointment obligations–have to take it to one shop for the insurance guy to assess, another for my warranty-covered repairs–I’m losing valuable time for research. I’ve got some of it done already, but not the stuff I really need, sadly.
Alas.
