PROCESS
The following steps help you develop a successful analogy.
STEP 1: Prewriting—Choosing a Topic
To develop a good analogy, begin with a complicated concept that you can compare
to something simple. To help you come up with the comparison, brainstorm, perhaps
with a fellow student, to think of comparisons in other, probably unrelated, fields.
[See Chapter 1, Prewriting, for additional suggestions on ways to gather ideas.]
As you brainstorm, remember that an analogy is simply an aid to explain or clarify.
Consider it a word game that enables you to help your readers use their imaginations
to deal with a difficult concept.
Example: You must explain how stalactites form. You imagine several possibilities
for an analogy:
-^ Stalactites grow from a substance like molten lava.
-^ Stalactites form the way an ice-cream machine fills cones.
-^ Stalactites form the way icicles form.
-^ Water dripping from a cave ceiling is like sap dripping from a tree, both
forming columns of hardened materials.
-^ Stalactites grow longer the same way a blue wasp’s nest grows longer.
Write out several similar comparisons for your own topic. As you think of possible
topics for an analogy, keep in mind two suggestions:
-^ Avoid choosing a comparison that breaks down after only a brief correlation.
In order to choose an effective subject for your analogy, you need at least three
points of comparison. As a result, you may have to try several topics. If you
find only one or two comparisons, you need a better topic.
-^ At the other extreme, avoid searching for a comparison that will never break
down. The comparison set out in an analogy will, by its very nature, eventually
break down. The purpose of the analogy is to offer an explanation; it will not
withstand critical, logical evaluation in an argument.
On this basis, evaluate the comparisons you chose. Select the one most suitable.
STEP 2: Prewriting—Planning the Comparisons
Make a parallel set of lists, one for each of the two parts of the analogy. List every
basis for comparison you can find. Use the following example to help you create
your lists:
50 / Methods of Development