Metaphor Sometimes, When I Am

¶ … Metaphor

Sometimes, when I am feeling particularly blue, I take a walk past my favorite ice cream stand and order the same order I used to have every summer as a little kid. Eating an ice cream cone, especially a soft serve ice cream cone, is taking a trip back in time. Ice cream is a very simple pleasure, as simple as skipping rope or enjoying the sunshine. No matter how many flavors of ice cream they make at Baskin Robbins or the Coldstone Creamery, ice cream really tastes like only one thing, pure comfort. I prefer Carvel; because that was the ice cream I used to eat as a child. I always get a soft serve twist of vanilla and chocolate on a sugar wafer cone, perfectly spun together and balanced. The flavors swirl into two clasping hands of pale custard color, one the color of a cloud, the other the color of coffee and cream.

Sometimes, if I am feeling particularly defiant of good nutrition and the dangers of staining, I order a cone with chocolate sprinkles, which often scatter to the ground or are flicked back onto my shirt, unless I caress the curves of cream with particular care with my tongue. Lick by lick, I shed my years, becoming my childhood self once again for the price of little more than a dollar. I eat with my hands, not caring if I dribble a bit of ice cream down my chin. I don't have to sit still, no one is telling me to mind my manners or have a balanced meal. I can even bite the bottom of the cone and suck the last dredges of ice cream from the point side up. By defying all table manners I defy all rules of adulthood, I defy the need to worry about the future.

The rush of cold to my brain is intoxicating, an invigorating quick freeze of every inch of my skull. I can think clearly once again, all because of ice cream.

What role does language and language diversity play in the critical thinking process?

Using language effectively and evaluating the use of effective language is a critical element of the persuasive process. Consider the system of trial by jury. Two lawyers present biased versions of the same case to the jury. The jury must sift through the rhetoric and find the truth. If it were only the facts that were necessary to the deliberative process, the jury would merely receive a list of facts and make their collective judgment from that sheet. Instead, lawyers are given the responsibility of using language to interpret the law in a particular fashion and to paint a picture of what happened. A trial lawyer's eloquence as well as his or her knowledge of the law is a critical part of encouraging the jury to think about what transpired in an accurate or inaccurate fashion.

Language and linguistic diversity helps us to make relationships between our own experiences and the experiences of others, when reading, writing, evaluating a political speech or a lawyer's closing remarks, or simply casual conversation. If someone says that cycling, for them, is like 'a love affair with the open road,' even if we do not know how to ride a bicycle, this simile helps us emotionally understand the significance of this physical activity, in this person's life.

How does language empower or limit the expression of our thoughts?

Thus, one of the empowering aspects of language is that it can enable others to understand our deepest feelings and thoughts, because words and phrases have multiple potential meanings in different contexts. Language can enable us to make logical and emotional analogies and create connections between apparently dissimilar things and ideas we would never see otherwise, if we did not share a common language -- a common language not just of vocabulary, but of the cultural connotations of different words.

But language also can limit our understanding of certain concepts. Take, for instance, the word love. The Greeks had many different words for love, to communicate the different nuances of this concept, such as fraternal love, erotic love, and the love of a pursuit or passion. But we only have one word, and sometimes this causes confusion expressing our feelings to another person or even to ourselves. We may become confused as to whether we love a friend of a different gender as a lover or a potential boyfriend or girlfriend because we know we love the person, but not exactly with what kind of love. Dividing groups into male and female nouns in other languages can have the potential for creating gender-based connotations about "le plume" (pen) -- which is masculine with in French -- which are not really intrinsic to the object, but can suggest that writing with a pen is a masculine act.

What is the role of critical thinking in persuasion?