Blog 2

Rereading of Michael Erard’s See Through Words

After focusing on new ideas and thinking strategies, I could understand new information presented by Erard.  I understood the qualities that make a metaphor dangerous. Before, I did not fully understand the meaning behind it. Now, I see that the word choice used in a metaphor can completely impact the reader. The words choice can evoke a negative view of the reader forcing the viewer to be uninterested. Your word choice should emotionally connect to the reader so that they want to use it in everyday life.

I also got insight into how a good metaphor can change the point of view of a reader. When you form a metaphor, you want the reader to accept the true meaning behind it. You want the reader to change the way they think about the two subjects being examined. The reader should understand a new concept or understand more about the subject.

The concept of a metaphor as a category was also understood better. I see how two general topics being compared can help the reader. Being general will help with understanding of the metaphor. When the reader understands the metaphor they will want to use it and show other people how intellectual they are.  When Erard talks about the paint brush and pump, I understood how the two connected and could be make into a metaphor.

Glossing the text was also a major component to me understanding the text. Using a dictionary to find the meaning of new words let me understand what Erard was trying to communicate to the reader. One word that I did not understand fully was “Enron.” Looking up this word helped me better understand the connection between the word and his passage. Glossing is a good technique as it forces the reader to explore more behind the text, as it did for me.