Metaphors are surrounding us everyday, and most of us have become desensitized to their presence. Writers are trying to resurface awareness of metaphors in life, some of these include Michael Erard, James Geary, and Dhruv Khullar. The way we choose to manipulate our language can, and does, heavily impact the physical and emotional aspects of daily life. It is important to acknowledge metaphors and recognize the impact that they can have on people in ways that extend beyond a writing technique. We overlook the consequences caused by word choice generalized to being okay with the whole population – we forget that everyone is unique and has their own way of comprehending things or coping with ailments. Metaphors have the power to change people’s perspectives, which is the key that opens doors to shaping our views of our bodies and general health.

In class draft:

We may overlook the constant bombardment of metaphors in our daily lives, but that does not mean that they are not there. Metaphors are always present, whether we notice them or not. They have the power to change people’s perspectives, and emphasize the effectiveness of word choice – it makes a bigger difference than we may think. The rephrasing of a complex idea through a metaphor can help to break the “barrier” there is between medical terminology and the rest of the world. We call people who have cancer “fighters” without a second thought. I know that I had never realized this was a metaphor until very recently, it was just something that everyone said and it made sense. We use these phrases as a way to uplift and cope with difficulties that we cannot readily change. They unify age groups and aid in understanding of concepts that are hard to swallow.