good analogies for college essays

75+ Analogy Examples [in Sentences]

• Figurative Language
• Published on Sep 19, 2021

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Analogy is a rhetorical device that says one idea is similar to another idea, and then goes on to explain it. They’re often used by writers and speakers to explain a complex idea in terms of another idea that is simpler and more popularly known.

This post contains more than 75 examples of analogies, some of which have been taken from current events to give you a flavor of how they’re used in real-world writing, some from sayings of famous people, and some are my own creation. They’ve been categorized into two types:

• Analogies with proportionate relationship
• Other analogies

To get the most of these examples, notice how unlike the two things being compared are and, in the second type, how the explanation goes.

(Note: Comments that go with examples are in square brackets.)

More resources on analogy:

• What is analogy and how to write its three types?
• People often confuse analogy with metaphor and simile. Learn how metaphor, simile, and analogy differ

1. Analogies with proportionate relationship

1 . What past is to rear-view mirror, future is to windshield.

2 . What Colorado is in the canyon, Jack is in exams. Both run through the stretch quickly.

3 . What Honda Accord is to cars in 2021, Internet Explorer is to web browsers in 2021. Microsoft did well to finally pull the plug on its browser.

4 . What Monday morning is to me, regular vaccines is to my dog. We both don’t look forward to them.

5 . I’m as uncomfortable in taking a swim as a lion is in taking a climb to a tree.

6 . What dredging machine is to small earthwork, sledgehammer is to cracking walnuts.

7 . I’m as jittery facing a potentially hostile audience as an old man facing a snowstorm.

8 . My father is attracted to jazz as much as iron filings are attracted to magnet. Come what may, he’ll find a way to attend a performance in the town.

9 . Loan sharks are feasting on poor villagers by extracting exorbitant interest rates, in much the same way as vultures feast on carcass.

10 . Famished, we patiently waited for the freshly baked pizza and, when it arrived, pounced on it like grizzly bears pounce on salmons.

Here are few analogies by famous writers and public figures:

11 . As smoking is to the lungs, so is resentment to the soul; even one puff is bad for you. Elizabeth Gilbert

12 . MTV is to music as KFC is to chicken. Lewis Black

13 . He is to acting what Liberace was to pumping iron. Rex Reed on Sylvester Stallone

14 . Armstrong is to music what Einstein is to physics and the Wright Brothers are to travel. Ken Burns

15 . Super Bowl Sunday is to the compulsive gambler what New Year’s Eve is to the alcoholic. Arnie Wexler

16 . He was to ordinary male chauvinist pigs what Moby Dick was to whales. Robert Hughes on Pablo Picasso

17 . College football is a sport that bears the same relation to education that bullfighting does to agriculture. Elbert Hubbard

18 . Football is to baseball as blackjack is to bridge. One is the quick jolt; the other the deliberate, slow-paced game of skill. Vin Scully

19 . It has been said that baseball is to the United States what revolutions are to Latin America, a safety valve for letting off steam. George Will

20 . The sound byte is to politics what the aphorism is to exposition: the art of saying much with little. Charles Krauthammer

21 . Ricardo Montalban is to improvisational acting what Mount Rushmore is to animation. John Cassavetes

22 . To be an American and unable to play baseball is comparable to being a Polynesian and unable to swim. John Cheever

23 . Freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine. Arthur Schopenhauer

24 . The Christian Coalition has no more to do with Christianity than the Elks Club has to do with large animals with antlers. Garrison Keillor

25 . If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seed must grow. Rachel Carson

26 . The president of the United States bears about as much relationship to the real business of running America as does Colonel Sanders to the business of frying chicken. J. G. Ballard

2. Other analogies

27 . More books and tuitions don’t translate into more learning just as a fire hose in place of water dispenser doesn’t translate into more drinking capacity.

28 . Although online trolling is rampant, few thoughtful and well-meaning comments also get posted. How to go about responding to them? Propagate helpful comments by retweeting, liking, or leaving your reply. Ignore the trolls. This is quite similar to how we fan or extinguish a fire. Pour gasoline, and it’ll propagate. Starve it of oxygen, and it’ll die.

29 . Entrepreneurs who are working on projects such as generating energy through fusion reaction, the method that powers our sun, and inter-planetary travel are furrowing a new path. That’s like driving on an alien terrain full of surprises with no taillight to follow.

30 . It’s not easy building a business from scratch. That’s why most entrepreneurs after exiting their first company rather invest in other ventures. It’s easier to pour gasoline on a fire than starting a new fire.

31 . Do you want to work on the fringes, do odd jobs? Or do you want to join an organization and make impact? You can remain a pirate or join a navy. Choice is yours.

32 . When the leak in the pipe was repaired, I was surprised at the high flow of water. It meant that the pipe was leaking for months and got detected only when it burst, stopping the flow completely. In much the same way, bad habits creep into our lives almost imperceptibly, with us hardly noticing it till they culminate in a mishap.

33 . Depression is like the common cold. You don’t realize how underappreciated breathing is until you have a cold, and your nose is stuffed, and all you want to do is be able to take a deep breath. That’s what it feels like to have depression. I just want to be able to breathe again. I just want to feel okay. Source

34 . When I think about the effect of software, I equate it to water. Both are basic necessities. Both defy borders and generally go where they want to go. Both need to be protected and both need to be understood. They are critical resources that will always be central to success, and it is readily apparent when either is absent. We easily understand what it is like to be thirsty, and many are finding out what it is like to be digitally unaware. Both are extremely uncomfortable. Source

35 . The vaccine situation in India is like arranged marriage. First, you’re not ready, then you don’t like any, and then u don’t get any. Those who got are unhappy thinking may be the other one would have been better. Those who did not get any are willing to get anyone. Source

36 . Money is like manure. If you spread it around, it’s useful, and everything around you starts greening. If you leave it lying in a pile, it starts stinking quite quickly. Source

37 . Time for negotiations and beating around the bush is over; we need to take hard steps now. It’s time to give up scalpel and bring in hammer.

38 . We all want precise, quick, actionable solutions to solve the challenges life throws at us. However, answers to life’s challenges don’t come in bullet points. Such answers are hazy and often come in paragraphs.

39 . Ever had gum stuck on your hair. Icky, isn’t it. That’s what sight of a centipede or an earthworm does to me.

40 . While reading, a reader needs to slow down somewhat to comprehend a sentence that lacks parallel structure. Don’t we slow down when we encounter a speed bump on an otherwise smooth road? [Comment: I’ve used this and the next analogy in my post on parallelism. If you can think of a compelling thing to compare with, analogies aren’t difficult to pull off.]

41 . Just as you need two straight lines to even consider the concept of parallel lines, you need two elements in a sentence to even consider the concept of parallelism in a sentence.

42 . While their mother was away, the two leopard cubs escaped wild dogs by remaining standstill, camouflaging perfectly with the rocks in the background. Clearly, the two cubs, barely two months old, had been learning only what matters in the real world – escaping predators and hunting. In contrast, we humans learn myriad of subjects in school and college, of which only a tiny portion matters in the real world.

43 . Like the deadly fog that envelopes the region, affecting normal life for many days, global warming has emerged as the envelope of the entire planet, wreaking untold harm on the earth’s inhabitants.

44 . People gain wisdom little by little through experience, but that’s highly inefficient. You can gain wisdom much faster by learning from others’ mistakes, by receiving advice from mentors, and by reading books which have documented every possible human success and failure. Isn’t that akin to filling a bucket by a dripping tap when you can fill it much faster by opening the tap fully.

45 . You may have the required qualification and skills for a job, you may have mentors to guide you every step of the way, and you may have the best colleagues. But all this means nothing if you’re in the wrong job. It’s like having the best vehicle for a journey and friendliest co-passengers, but heading in a direction different from your destination.

46 . Government has invested so much of taxpayer’s money into the state-owned airline but to no avail. It hasn’t shown profits in nearly ten years. Is it any different from spraying fertilizer on weeds and deadwood?

47 . Trying ten pilot projects to zero in on our new product is quite resource heavy. Instead, we should try maximum 2-3 pilots based on a strong hypothesis. We can’t waste bullets through shotgun fire; we need sniper fire.

48 . None of your business ideas have worked so far because you haven’t thoroughly tested key assumptions in your business model. You’re in a way constantly shooting in the dark, hoping to find the target.

49 . You should stay in this project for few more weeks and complete it. Otherwise, your successor might get the credit for the completed project even though you’ve done bulk of the work. You’ll lay the eggs that others will hatch.

50 . With his skills, he’ll be better suited in marketing than in sales. You can’t put a square peg in a round hole.

51 . The fish asked the two passing subadult fish, “How’s the water?” The two subadult fish quizzically ask each other, “What’s water?” Like the fish don’t know what water is because it’s such an indistinguishable part of their life, we don’t see our frailties because they’re such an indistinguishable part of our lives.

52 . In the division of business empire between the feuding siblings, the sister got the steady cash-generator of a company. The others landed less attractive assets. That was like the sister skimming the cream and leaving double-toned milk for the brothers.

53 . He performed so well in the interview that he topped the exam despite poor performance in the written test. Imagine Usain Bolt winning 100-meter dash despite starting the race ten meters behind others.

54 . Industries such as online retail have such thin margins that an odd adverse event may turn a quarter from profit to loss. Life in the wild for predators is no different. A timely kill, or lack of it, can be the difference between fasting and feasting.

55 . By the time court ordered a stay on demolition order of the municipal body, the building was razed down. That was like conducting a successful organ transplant but failing to save the patient.

56 . Our program helping students boost their brain power didn’t take off. Our program helping struggling students did much better though. Isn’t it easier to sell aspirin than vitamin?

57 . When the leak in the pipe was repaired, I was surprised at the high flow of water. It meant that the pipe was leaking for months and got detected only when it burst, stopping the flow completely. In much the same way, bad habits creep into our lives almost imperceptibly, with us hardly noticing it till they culminate in a mishap.

58 . Public companies can find it challenging to reinvent themselves and make breakthrough progress because of constant pressure to keep short-term results clean. That’s why sometimes companies go private, Dell being an example, to discover their mojo away from the pressures a public company faces. I did something similar as an individual. For a year, I retreated from most time-wasters and social activities, tried multiple things, and found the career path I wanted to take.

59 . The marketing head proposed six marketing channels to pursue to increase brand awareness, possibly playing safe. Throw enough spaghetti against the wall and some of it will stick.

60 . When the company decided to disband the post because of inadequate work, the person-to-be-effected justified its continuance, citing the important functions the post served. Ask a man whose job is to shoo flies about the importance of his job, and he’ll say that he is saving humanity. We all think ours is the most important job.

61 . People underestimate how quickly they can become an expert in a field if they keep on improving and keep putting in the hours on their skill. It’s like how fast money multiplies when it accrues interest in a bank.

62 . If your content features on the second page of search result on Google, no one is going to find it. That’s like a murderer hiding a dead body at a place where no one can detect it.

63 . Just like one should cross a stream where it is shallowest, a company should enter that segment of a market where it has some advantage or where competition is less.

64 . Just as people don’t heed to health warning prominently displayed on cigarette packets and smoke, people don’t learn basic workplace skills despite knowing that lack of these skills affect their chance of landing a good job.

65 . The businessman, who hoodwinked several unsuspecting people with his suave manners and forged pedigree, was finally arrested. What many thought to be a promissory note turned out to be a dud cheque.

66 . Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in one concern, so wisdom would probably admonish us also not to anticipate all our happiness from one quarter alone. Sigmund Freud

67 . Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. Winston Churchill

68 . It is with books as with men; a very small number play a great part; the rest are lost in the multitude. Voltaire

69 . A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon, and by moonlight. Robertson Davies

70 . It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles: the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out. Jonathan Swift

71 . Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist: it reduces him to his fighting weight. Josh Billings

72 . The lights of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reach us. So it is with great men who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities. Kahlil Gibran

73 . As the internal-combustion engine runs on gasoline, so the person runs on self-esteem: if he is full of it, he is good for the long run; if he is partly filled, he will soon need to be refueled; and if he is empty, he will come to a stop. Thomas Szasz

74 . I don’t like nature. It’s big plants eating little plants, small fish being eaten by big fish, big animals eating each other. It’s like an enormous restaurant. Woody Allen

75 . The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it. Peter B. Medawar

76 . I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey. John Burroughs

77 . Trickle-down theory – the less than elegant metaphor that if one feeds the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows. John Kenneth Galbraith

78 . A man should live with his superiors as he does with his fire; not too near, lest he burn; not too far off, lest he freeze. Diogenes

79 . We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. Joseph Campbell

80 . Relationships are hard. It’s like a full-time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks’ notice. There should be severance pay, and before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp. Bob Ettinger

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What Is Analogy and How to Use It in Your Essay

Table of contents

• 1 Types of Analogies
• 2 How Does Analogy Compare and Enhance Writing?
• 3 Metaphor and Simile: Cornerstones of Analogy (What This Greek Word Means?)
• 4 Crafting Effective Analogies Eight Steps Guide
• 5 Polishing Your Writing Style With Analogy Examples

Analogy is a literary technique that compares related or unrelated concepts, events, or notions to one another. Before writing an analogy, you should know that this concept can implement other literary devices like metaphors or allegories.

This article sets the stage for exploring the diverse landscape of analogical writing.

As you progress, you will also:

• Define examples of analogies and discover how they elevate your essay-writing skills.
• You will learn how analogy enhances essay writing and why it can help you improve your style.
• Examine and master the use of metaphor and simile.
• Master an eight-step PapersOwl guide to learn how to craft effective analogies quickly.

Before we proceed with practical examples and dive deep into theory, let’s start with the analogy definition.

Definition of Analogy in Writing

An analogy in essay writing represents a description that compares this to that by simplifying a certain idea. What you compare may have or may not have similarities. The use of comparative language is common for an analogy. One may encounter phrases like “experienced like an old dog” or “writing essays as a busy working bee.” An analogy general idea can be made between what a young child can do and what modern computers can generate. You can compare and persuade. Likewise, a  persuasive essay author can provide an analogy between a youngster and artificial intelligence.

Analogy’s purpose is to draw comparisons and a more detailed image with a clearer description. When an unknown concept is represented, literal analogies bring more clarity. When you are asked to create a connection between unrelated concepts, analogies become helpful. When you encounter metaphors, similes, or allegories, it indicates their practical use.

Types of Analogies

Speaking of types of analogies in writing, one should focus on various types of relations.

• Analogies that identify identical relationships . These analogy examples are most common as they talk about related concepts. It is like Los Angeles to the United States or guitar to piano. By learning how to write an analogy, one can see the relation between the same country or the musical instrument analogy.
• Analogies that identify shared abstraction. An analogy of figurative language stands for shared abstractions comparing something unrelated. It aims to find commonalities or patterns that make sense. Such cases can compare learning a foreign language to watering seeds that grow into flowers as time passes. Since it is the journey, not the destination, it helps to understand the abstractive language.
• A relation of a certain part to something whole analogy . It is a comparison of two sets of the same object or two parts of the same concept.
• Cause-and-effect relation analogy. It speaks of causes like the lack of water, which causes dehydration.
• Source to product. Think about the wood and the piano manufacturing common analogies.
• Object and a clear purpose. This one can talk about books and reading or water and swimming.
• Comparison of typical characteristics. If something is essential for an object, it becomes the source of the analogy between them.
• Coming from something general to specific parts. You can make an analogy by offering a good detective book by comparing two or more things.
• Metaphors and Allegories. These elements of an analogy in poetry add creativity and literary power, like being tired as a dog or feeling hungry like a wolf.

Tip: Using literal analogies can enhance your writing by building a strong connection between concepts. For example, when you need to provide a  literature analysis essay assignment, you use the creativity and imagination of the author by seeking analogies, among other things.

How Does Analogy Compare and Enhance Writing?

The most important element of using analogy examples in your essay is its enhancement. From clarity to a better description, it offers a mental bridge to the readers. If something in an essay is obscure or complex, an analogy makes it easier to understand demanding concepts.

• Creating Vivid Mental Images.

An analogy compares things and shows a way to help people understand things. When we compare raising children to building a house brick after brick, we receive an instant mental image. Similarly, adding creative writing to an essay helps to enhance the emotional state of things.

• Simplifying Complex Concepts.

Analogy examples help to simplify things that are overly complicated and demanding. It can be used in engineering or healthcare when a certain action is compared to what people know in practice. Likewise, comparing chemical aspects of work to cooking or culinary and human taste can help to simplify things. It is a practical example that gives people more accessible things they can easily connect with.

• Using Analogy to Influence and Convince.

An analogy compares marketing and business writing concepts when the main purpose is to motivate customers. The same is true when the author has to convince. Think about social or environmental causes where cause-and-effect rhetorical devices can become a turning point for readers. A good comparison with a logical argument can help inspire and simplify things, even in marketing. Due to their explanatory nature, analogies are common in  argumentative writing essays or school debates.

• Rhetorical Devices and Analogy.

Most analogies represent rhetorical devices, as we should use at least one type of comparison. Still, it does not work the same way as similes or metaphors that deal with resemblance aspects. A correct example will seek parallels between things that are not obvious or connected in one way or another. When used for an essay assignment, it will add rhetoric to help readers determine what common qualities can be established based on what is not apparent at first glance.

• Analogy in Different Genres.

When you are asked to use examples of analogies for a school essay, the trick is to determine the main purpose and use it correctly. It means that using an analogy in a detective story is not the same as using it for marketing purposes. The same applies when an author must classify different objects for analogy in literature. Likewise, a problem-and-solution analogy can be used in education or to deliver a similar concept. If we choose history books, we can provide old and modern analogies that help us understand historical concepts more clearly.

Metaphor and Simile: Cornerstones of Analogy (What This Greek Word Means?)

Metaphors and similes represent the main cornerstones of the use of an analogy. Take a quick look at several  academic essays related to social or literary subjects, and you will most definitely encounter at least one case. Writers use metaphors to compare something or use them for a specific effect. The tricky part is that a simile is a special sub-category of a metaphor, which shows that most similes are parts of metaphors, yet not the other way around. Let’s identify each case!

A metaphor (from the Greek word “to transfer”) represents a figure of speech that aims to compare things to achieve a specific rhetorical effect. A good example would be saying that the world is a stage or that people in love represent an endless ocean of love. Of course, metaphors are not meant to be taken literally!

A typical simile will create a different type of comparison by implementing the words “like” and “as” in writing. The most famous example of a simile in writing would be the phrase “Life is a beach.” One can spot it by using a direct comparison. It must be used with caution or have an additional explanation. Remember that examples of an analogy should show and explain things, which is why a simile or a metaphor can be used.

• Identifying the Main Differences.

Summing up regarding distinctions for writing analogies, we receive the following five rules:

• A simile aims to show that something is like some other object.
• A metaphor literary device uses poetical writing to say something is another thing.
• The purpose of analogy is to offer an additional explanatory point, not merely show.
• Metaphors and similes can work for an enhancement effect when using an analogy in essay writing.
• A simile is a special subgenre of metaphors, yet not all metaphors are similes.

Crafting Effective Analogies Eight Steps Guide

Making an analogy efficient and fitting always comes down to the practical clarity of a certain description. Depending on the genre, start by analyzing your target audience to make things more accessible. If there’s a concept, think about the main elements and see what is most relevant.

• Analyze the Target Concept. Start with a proper analysis of the main concept that you outline in your essay. If you are dealing with medical practices, do not create analogies that do not fit. Keep within high morals and be sensitive. If you are composing a reflective essay, some types of analogy can be related to your past or certain experiences from your life. These should help people understand you in a better way.
• Choosing the Concept for Explanation . When you seek diverse types of analogies, think about a concept that can be used for explanatory purposes. It means that you may use historical books or comparisons to certain movies or events that have taken place before. For example, you may consider comparing a business deal to Boston’s Tea Ceremony or woodworking to learning how to play guitar well.
• Highlight Relevant Similarities. Although analogies in literature are always about seeking similarities, not all will remain clear to your readers. Therefore, one should focus on relevant similarities and highlight them the best way you can. If you state that our world is like a theater where all of us are merely actors, it should not come out of the blue but have an explanation as you quote William Shakespeare’s words.
• Forming the Basis of the Analogy. Before you add it to your essay, think about making an introduction. An analogy never comes on its own because it requires a special paragraph that highlights it and leads to an emotional climax. Once you have got what is an example of an analogy, add more analytical writing or an explanatory sentence to help your readers see your point more clearly.
• Illustrating the Analogy with Real-World Situations. An analogy sentence that does not make sense will not work. The trick is to help people connect and see how your example can be used in practice. When you say that working at Tesla corporation was like surviving Arizona’s heatwave, most Americans will be able to relate to that.
• Adapting the Analogy to Audience Knowledge. When your analogy is overly complex and relates to engineering or law essay writing, you may not achieve success with that. Remember to adapt your comparison to the level of your target audience. The key is to make things accessible and ensure that you are understood.
• Ensuring Natural Fit and Relevance. It is best to use your analogy in the middle of a paragraph. This way, you can add a special introduction and make it fit naturally. It should fit within a relevant paragraph, making it apparent to avoid using analogies as the final sentence. More space is essential since you must add transition words in an essay.
• Weaving Analogies into the Narrative. Use an analogy to show and explain a certain concept or idea. Use the same narrative tone if your essay is written this way. Adjust your writing accordingly if you use an explanatory or argumentative tone.

Polishing Your Writing Style With Analogy Examples

Coming up with a good analogy may seem challenging, especially when you must get the essay done at the last minute or when you are unsure about the emotional power of your writing. Using an analogy in writing helps you improve things and add clarity, even to the most complex subjects. Refer to the eight-step writing guide above before you start, and don’t forget to double-check existing analogy types! Lastly, remember the importance of balancing active and passive voice as you explain and use various literary devices to enhance your writing further.

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“He’s as strong as an ox” and “Navigating her emotions is like walking through a maze” are examples of analogies, a common method of comparison in the English language. Analogies are not only prevalent in literature and writing but also in everyday speech, serving as an effective tool for communication. They involve comparing two different things or ideas, which helps clarify or emphasize a point. This literary term, known as an analogy, encompasses various types of comparisons, making it a key element in both formal and informal expression.

Like any other literary analysis sample device, Analogy is used in enhancing the meaning of a composition and is also used in helping the readers in creating a visual image in their minds as well as relationships goals and connections when they would read something difficult or sensitive by comparing one thing to the other. Analogies are often used in thesis , essay writing , report writing , and even in speeches .

What is an Analogy? – Definition An analogy is a comparison between two different things, intended to highlight some form of similarity. It’s a linguistic technique used to explain a new or complex idea by relating it to something familiar. Analogies are often used in teaching, writing, and speaking to make concepts easier to understand. They draw parallels that help people visualize and grasp the essence of the subjects being compared, thereby enhancing comprehension and retention.

Examples of Word Analogies

Analogies are crucial in language and thinking, comparing different concepts to enhance understanding. They are used in education to simplify complex ideas, in standardized tests to assess reasoning skills, and in job interviews to evaluate problem-solving abilities. Additionally, analogies enrich literature and daily communication. Examples like comparing pens to brushes or the sun to planets demonstrate how analogies illuminate various subjects, making them more accessible and relatable.

• Relationship in First Pair : A pen is a tool used for writing.
• Application to Second Pair : Similarly, a brush is a tool, but it is used for painting.
• The analogy connects the function of each tool with its primary action.
• Relationship in First Pair : The sun is a central part of our solar system.
• Application to Second Pair : In a broader scope, a planet is part of a galaxy, which is a larger system of celestial bodies.
• This analogy scales from a smaller celestial relationship (sun and solar system) to a larger one (planet and galaxy).
• Relationship in First Pair : A teacher is the guiding authority in a classroom.
• Application to Second Pair : Similarly, a captain is the guiding authority on a ship.
• The analogy compares the roles of authority and guidance in different settings.
• Relationship in First Pair : A clock is an instrument used to measure and indicate time.
• Application to Second Pair : In a similar vein, a thermometer is an instrument used to measure and indicate temperature.
• This analogy connects the function of measuring and indicating specific elements (time and temperature) with their respective instruments.
• Relationship in First Pair : A book is an individual item that is part of a collection in a library.
• Application to Second Pair : Similarly, a piece of art is an individual item that forms part of a collection in a gallery.
• The analogy shows the relationship of individual items (books, art) as components of larger collections (library, gallery).
• Leaf : Tree :: Wave : Ocean It compares the part-to-whole relationship of a leaf to a tree and a wave to an ocean.
• Author : Novel :: Composer : Symphony This analogy highlights the relationship between an author and their creation, a novel, to a composer and their creation, a symphony.
• Doctor : Hospital :: Teacher : School It parallels the role of a doctor in a hospital to that of a teacher in a school.
• Key : Piano :: String : Guitar This analogy compares the function of a key on a piano to a string on a guitar.
• Nurse : Healthcare :: Lawyer : Law Here, the analogy shows the relationship of a nurse to the field of healthcare and a lawyer to the field of law.

More Analogy Examples for You to Solve

• Owl : Night :: Eagle : _______ (Hint: Consider the time of day each bird is most active.)
• Library : Books :: Museum : _______ (Hint: Think about what a museum houses.)
• Novelist : Words :: Painter : _______ (Hint: Focus on the primary medium used by each artist.)
• Teacher : Educate :: Chef : _______ (Hint: What is the primary action a chef performs?)
• Fish : School :: Wolf : _______ (Hint: Consider the term for a group of these animals.)
• Piano : Music :: Telescope : _______ (Hint: What does a telescope help us explore?)
• Rain : Cloud :: Lava : _______ (Hint: Where does lava originate?)
• Heart : Circulate :: Lungs : _______ (Hint: Think about the primary function of lungs.)
• Leaf : Photosynthesis :: Root : _______ (Hint: Consider the main function of roots in a plant.)
• Baker : Bakery :: Librarian : _______ (Hint: Where does a librarian work?)
• Clock : Time :: Scale : _______
• Ocean : Saltwater :: Lake : _______
• Flower : Garden :: Book : _______
• Knife : Cut :: Screwdriver : _______
• Fire : Heat :: Snow : _______
• Poet : Poem :: Musician : _______
• Bird : Nest :: Bee : _______
• Tree : Oxygen :: Sun : _______
• Actor : Stage :: Athlete : _______
• Shoe : Foot :: Glove : _______
• Phone : Call :: Computer : _______
• Rain : Umbrella :: Sun : _______
• Leaf : Green :: Sky : _______
• Baker : Bread :: Winemaker : _______
• Painter : Portrait :: Writer : _______
• Doctor : Patient :: Teacher : _______
• Fisherman : Fish :: Miner : _______
• Keyboard : Type :: Mouse : _______
• Car : Garage :: Airplane : _______
• Map : Location :: Calendar : _______

Examples of Analogies for Critical Thinking

• Just as a garden is a space where flowers grow and flourish, the mind is a space where ideas are cultivated and developed. This analogy emphasizes the nurturing and growth aspects in both scenarios.
• A book opens the door to knowledge, much like a key unlocks a door. This analogy highlights the unlocking and revealing nature of a book, providing access to new information and understanding.
• A telescope enables us to see distant stars, while a microscope allows us to view tiny bacteria. This analogy draws a parallel between the tools we use to explore vastly different scales of our universe, from the vast to the microscopic.
• Just as a foundation provides stability and support for a building, roots offer support and nourishment to a tree. This analogy compares the underlying support structures in architecture and nature.
• In poetry, words are woven together to create emotional and intellectual art, just as colors are blended in a painting to create a visual masterpiece. This analogy compares the elements of creation in different forms of art.
• A chef uses a recipe to create a dish, just like a composer uses a musical score to create a symphony.
• An author crafts stories with a pen as a sculptor shapes sculptures with a chisel.
• Fire is a source of warmth, as ice is a source of coolness.
• A clock measures time like a thermometer measures temperature.
• Trees produce oxygen, and clouds produce rain.

More Examples for you to Solve:

• Helmet : Head :: Gloves : _______ (Hint: Consider what gloves protect.)
• Sponge : Absorb :: Sieve : _______ (Hint: Think about what a sieve does with liquids.)
• Caterpillar : Butterfly :: Tadpole : _______ (Hint: Consider the lifecycle transformation.)
• Magnet : Attract :: Repellent : _______ (Hint: Think of the opposite action of attracting.)
• Flashlight : Darkness :: Air Conditioner : _______ (Hint: What does an air conditioner alleviate?)
• Furnace : Heat :: Refrigerator : _______ (Hint: Think about what a refrigerator preserves.)
• Anchor : Ship :: Brakes : _______ (Hint: Consider what brakes do to a vehicle.)
• Recipe : Dish :: Blueprint : _______ (Hint: What is created using a blueprint?)
• Vaccine : Disease :: Fertilizer : _______ (Hint: Think about what fertilizer promotes.)
• Lighthouse : Ships :: Traffic Light : _______ (Hint: Consider what traffic lights guide.)
• Archive : Documents :: Museum : _______
• Rudder : Direction :: Engine : _______
• Thermometer : Temperature :: Barometer : _______
• Author : Story :: Composer : _______
• Nest : Bird :: Den : _______
• Broom : Sweep :: Hose : _______
• Window : Light :: Dam : _______
• Dew : Morning :: Frost : _______
• Key : Lock :: Code : _______
• Easel : Painter :: Anvil : _______

Analogy Examples in Sentence

• Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. This analogy compares the unpredictability of life with the surprise of picking a chocolate from an assorted box.
• The heart of a car is its engine. This draws a parallel between the essential role of the heart in the human body and the engine in a vehicle.
• A good book is a magic gateway into another world. Here, the transformative power of reading is likened to a portal leading to new, undiscovered realms.
• The classroom was a zoo. This analogy suggests the noisy and chaotic nature of the classroom, similar to the lively environment of a zoo.
• Her eyes were windows to her soul. This sentence compares eyes to windows, implying that they reveal deep emotions or the essence of a person.
• Time is a thief. This analogy implies that time steals moments from our lives, much like a thief takes away possessions.
• The computer in the modern age is like a pen in the past. This draws a comparison between the role of computers today in communication and creation, and the role of the pen in earlier times.
• The moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. This vividly portrays the moon as a ghostly ship sailing across the sky, with clouds as its sea.
• The world is a stage, and we are merely players. This famous analogy from Shakespeare suggests that life is like a play, and everyone has a role to perform.
• Watching the show was like walking through a dream. This suggests the surreal, dream-like quality of the show, likened to the experience of walking through a dream.

Examples of Analogy in Literature

Analogy is a common literary device used by authors to draw comparisons between two different things, often to highlight a particular theme or idea. Here are some examples of analogy in literature:

• This famous analogy compares the world to a stage and life to a play, suggesting that our lives are structured like a theatrical performance, with different roles and acts.
• Orwell uses farm animals to represent historical figures and social classes, drawing parallels between the farm’s descent into tyranny and the history of Soviet communism.
• Here, the prejudice and racism in Maycomb are compared to a disease, suggesting they are both harmful and spread uncontrollably.
• The diverging paths symbolize life’s different options and directions, and the choice of path represents a decision that shapes one’s future.
• In this analogy, experiences are likened to physical parts of a person, suggesting that they become integral to one’s identity.

Types of Analogy

• Literal Analogy : Compares two similar things or classes of things that have the same relationship. For example, “Just as a sword is the weapon of a warrior, a pen is the weapon of a writer.”
• Figurative Analogy : Involves a comparison between two things that are different in nature, often used to explain a concept or to persuade. For instance, comparing the mind to a computer.
• Relational Analogy : Focuses on the relationship between pairs of words. For example, “Hand is to glove as foot is to sock.” The relationship is about things that cover.
• Personal Analogy : Requires imagining oneself as an object or a situation. It’s often used in problem-solving to look at things from a different perspective.
• Predictive Analogy : Used to predict the outcome of some actions by comparing it to known outcomes in similar scenarios. For example, “If you overwater a plant, it dies; similarly, too much of anything, even a good thing, can be harmful.”
• Analogical Argument : Used in persuasive writing and speech, where an analogy is used as an argument or as a part of an argument.
• Negative Analogy : Focuses on comparing dissimilarities between two things. For example, “Arguing on the internet is unlike a sports competition; there are no clear winners.”
• Medical Analogy : Common in medical fields, where symptoms or conditions of a patient are compared to typical cases to diagnose or treat.
• Historical Analogy : Draws a comparison between historical events to explain or predict current events. For example, comparing modern political situations to historical ones.
• Mathematical Analogy : Involves comparing mathematical relationships, often used in teaching complex mathematical concepts.

How to Write an Analogy

• Identify the Core Idea or Concept : Begin by determining the main idea or concept you want to explain or enhance through the analogy.
• Find a Relatable Comparison : Choose a familiar or easily understandable object, situation, or concept that shares similarities or relationships with your core idea.
• Establish a Clear Relationship : Ensure that the relationship between the two entities in your analogy is clear and logical. The comparison should highlight the similarities or explain the concept effectively.
• Use Simple and Effective Language : The effectiveness of an analogy often lies in its simplicity. Use language that is easy to understand and avoids complexity.
• Be Consistent : Maintain consistency in the elements of your analogy. Mixing different metaphors or comparisons can lead to confusion.
• Test Your Analogy : Before finalizing, test your analogy to see if it makes the concept clearer and is understandable to your intended audience.

When to Use Analogy

• To Simplify Complex Ideas : Analogies are excellent for breaking down complex or abstract concepts into simpler, more relatable terms.
• In Teaching and Education : They are used to explain new or difficult subjects by relating them to something familiar to the students.
• To Persuade or Argue : In rhetoric and writing, analogies can make arguments more persuasive by drawing parallels that the audience can easily understand.
• To Enhance Writing : Writers often use analogies to add depth, creativity, and imagery to their writing, making it more engaging and vivid.
• In Problem-Solving : Analogies can help in seeing problems from a new perspective, leading to innovative solutions.

How Does Analogy Work

• By Establishing Relationships : Analogies work by drawing a parallel between two disparate entities, emphasizing their similarities in relation to each other.
• Through Familiarity and Understanding : They often use familiar concepts to explain unfamiliar ones, making new or complex information more digestible and easier to grasp.
• Creating Mental Images : Good analogies create vivid mental images, which can be more effective in communication than abstract concepts.
• Enhancing Memory and Retention : Because they often involve storytelling or imagery, analogies can be more memorable than straightforward explanations, aiding in better retention of the information.
• Building on Prior Knowledge : Analogies leverage the audience’s existing knowledge or experience, providing a foundation for understanding new information.

Analogies, when used effectively, can be powerful tools for communication, learning, and creativity, bridging gaps in understanding by connecting the unknown to the

25 Examples of Analogies

1. life is like a race.

2. Finding a Good Man is Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack

3. Just as a Sword is the Weapon of a Warrior, a Pen is the Weapon of a Writer

4. That’s as Useful as Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic.

5. How a Doctor Diagnoses Diseases are Like How a Detective Investigates Crimes

6. Explaining a Joke is Like Dissecting a Frog

7. Just as a Caterpillar Comes out of its Cocoon, So we Must Come out of our Comfort Zone

8. A Movie is a Roller Coaster Ride of Emotions.

9. You are as Annoying as Nails on a Chalkboard.

10. Life is Like a Box of Chocolates – You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get!

11. Reasoning Analogy

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12. Analogy as the Core of Cognition

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13. Analogy by Similarity Example

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14. Semantic Analogy Example

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15. Teaching by Analogy Example

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16. Animal Analogies Example

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17. The Principle of Analogy

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18. Analogy as Exploration

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19. Science Analogy Example

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20. Practice Analogy Questions

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21. The Reaction Against Analogy

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22. Transformational Analogy Example

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23. Curve Analogies Template

24. Analogy and Transfer

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25. Analogy in Thinking Example

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What is an Analogy?

A  figurative analogy is used when you compare two completely different ideas or things and use its similarities to give an explanation of things that are hard to understand or are too sensitive. Analogies are often used in thesis , essay writing , report writing , and even in speeches .

Step 1: Identify the Two or More Things You Want to Compare

To start is to identify two or more words or phrases you may want to compare. This is the first step to writing your analogy. You must also be careful with the analogy you are going to be using, if your audiences are children, you can use analogy for kids . The important thing is to be able to explain the idea or the concept.

Step 2: Do Your Research on the Similarities

In order for you to explain and understand the similarities between the words or phrases that you are using for analogy, you must first do your research about it. Simply writing two words together to compare is not enough. It is also important for you to understand what these two words mean and how similar are they in order for them to be compared.

Step 3: Make the Analogies

Make or create the analogies once you have figured out the similarities of the words you have written. If you have not, go back to the second step and continue until you found them. The analogy must be in a simple sentence or a simple statement. Avoid using technical jargon that defeats the purpose of the analogy.

Step 4: Give the Explanation of the Chosen Analogies

The last step is to give out the explanation of the chosen analogies. The explanation will help give the reader the idea of what they are reading and can grasp the information from the analogies. Provided the fact that these chosen analogies details and examples to back it.

What is the difference with analogy, simile and metaphor?

More often than not, an analogy is sometimes mistaken with the other figures of  speech examples , namely  simile  and  metaphor , because these are used to seek relationships between concepts and things. The  figurative language  simile compares two objects that use comparison words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ where the whole metaphor would compare two objects with the use of the said comparison words.

What are the elements of an analogy?

What you can expect in the elements of an analogy are as follows: the two or more concepts that need to be compared, the shared characteristics of these concepts, the differences of the concepts, the purpose, the clarification, and lastly the creativity.

What is the difference between analogy and idioms?

An analogy is a comparison of two or more things, topics or concepts that helps explain the topic. An idiom is a phrase that has a figurative language or meaning to it.

Analogy compares two completely different things and look for similarities between two things or concepts and it only focuses on that angle. The use and purpose of analogies may baffle any reader at first but once they would realize how analogies can help writers in making difficult and sensitive topics or things understandable, analogies might be used frequently.

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

10 Examples of Public speaking

20 Examples of Gas lighting

Metaphors and Analogies: How to Use Them in Your Academic Life

Certain Experiences in life can't be captured in simple words. Especially if you are a writer trying to connect with your audience, you will need special threads to evoke exact feelings.

There are many literary devices to spark the readers' imagination, and analogies and metaphors are one of that magical arsenal. They enrich your text and give it the exact depth it will need to increase your readers' heartbeat.

Taking a particular characteristic and associating it with the other not only enriches your text's linguistic quality but gives the reader a correct pathway to deeper layers of a writer's psyche.

In this article, we are going to take a good look at the difference between analogy and metaphor and how to use them in your academic writing, and you will find some of the most powerful examples for each. Learn more about this and other vital linguistic tools on our essay writer service website.

What are Metaphors: Understanding the Concept

Let's discuss the metaphors definition. Metaphors are a figure of speech that compares two unrelated concepts or ideas to create a deeper and more profound meaning. They are a powerful tool in academic writing to express abstract concepts using different analogies, which can improve the reader's understanding of complex topics. Metaphors enable writers to paint vivid pictures in the reader's mind by comparing something familiar with an abstract concept that is harder to grasp.

The following are some of the most famous metaphors and their meanings:

• The world is your oyster - the world is full of opportunities just waiting for you to grab them
• Time is money - time is a valuable commodity that must be spent wisely
• A heart of stone - someone who is emotionally cold and unfeeling

Analogies Meaning: Mastering the Essence

Analogies, on the other hand, are a comparison of two concepts or ideas that have some similarity in their features. They are used to clarify complex ideas or to make a new concept more relatable by comparing it to something that is already familiar.

Analogies are often followed by an explanation of how the two concepts are similar, which helps the reader to understand and make connections between seemingly disparate ideas. For example, in academic writing, if you were explaining the function of a cell membrane, you might use an analogy, such as comparing it to a security gate that regulates what enters and exits a building.

Check out these famous analogies examples:

• Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.
• Teaching a child without education is like building a house without a foundation.
• A good friend is like a four-leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have.

Benefits of Metaphors and Analogies in Writing

Chances are you are wondering why we use analogies and metaphors in academic writing anyway?

The reason why metaphors are beneficial to writers, especially in the academic field, is that they offer an effective approach to clarifying intricate concepts and enriching comprehension by linking them to more familiar ideas. Through the use of relatable frames of reference, these figures of speech help authors communicate complicated notions in an appealing and comprehensible way.

Additionally, analogies and metaphors are a way of artistic expression. They bring creativity and imagination to your writing, making it engaging and memorable for your readers. Beautiful words connect with readers on a deeper emotional level, allowing them to better retain and appreciate the information being presented. Such linguistic devices allow readers to open doors for imagination and create visual images in their minds, creating a more individualized experience.

However, one must be mindful not to plagiarize famous analogies and always use original ideas or appropriately cite sources when necessary. Overall, metaphors and analogies add depth and beauty to write-ups, making them memorable for years to come.

Understanding the Difference Between Analogy and Metaphor

While metaphors and analogies serve the similar purpose of clarifying otherwise complex ideas, they are not quite the same. Follow the article and learn how they differ from each other.

One way to differentiate between analogies and metaphors is through the use of 'as' and 'like.' Analogies make an explicit comparison using these words, while metaphors imply a comparison without any overt indication.

There is an obvious difference between their structure. An analogy has two parts; the primary subject, which is unfamiliar, and a secondary subject which is familiar to the reader. For example, 'Life is like a box of chocolates.' The two subjects are compared, highlighting their similarities in order to explain an entire concept.

On the other hand, a metaphor describes an object or idea by referring to something else that is not literally applicable but shares some common features. For example, 'He drowned in a sea of grief.'

The structural difference also defines the difference in their usage. Analogies are often used in academic writing where hard concepts need to be aligned with an easier and more familiar concept. This assists the reader in comprehending complex ideas more effortlessly. Metaphors, on the other hand, are more often used in creative writing or literature. They bring depth and nuance to language, allowing for abstract ideas to be communicated in a more engaging and imaginative way.

Keep reading and discover examples of metaphors and analogies in both academic and creative writing. While you are at it, our expert writers are ready to provide custom essays and papers which incorporate these literary devices in a seamless and effective way.

Using Famous Analogies Can Raise Plagiarism Concerns!

To avoid the trouble, use our online plagiarism checker and be sure that your work is original before submitting it.

Analogies and Metaphors Examples

There were a few analogies and metaphors examples mentioned along the way, but let's explore a few more to truly understand their power. Below you will find the list of metaphors and analogies, and you will never mistake one for the other again.

• Love is like a rose, beautiful but with thorns.
• The human body is like a machine, with many intricate parts working together in harmony.
• The structure of an atom is similar to a miniature solar system, with electrons orbiting around the nucleus.
• A computer's motherboard is like a city's central system, coordinating and communicating all functions.
• The brain is like a muscle that needs constant exercise to function at its best.
• Studying for exams is like training for a marathon; it requires endurance and preparation.
• Explaining a complex scientific concept is like explaining a foreign language to someone who doesn't speak it.
• A successful team is like a well-oiled machine, with each member playing a crucial role.
• Learning a new skill is like planting a seed; it requires nurturing and patience to see growth.
• Navigating through life is like sailing a ship with unpredictable currents and changing winds.
• Life is a journey with many twists and turns along the way
• The world's a stage, and we are all mere players.
• Her eyes were pools of sorrow, reflecting the pain she felt.
• Time is a thief, stealing away moments we can never recapture.
• Love is a flame, burning brightly but at risk of being extinguished.
• His words were daggers piercing through my heart.
• She had a heart of stone, unable to feel empathy or compassion.
• The city was a jungle, teeming with life and activity.
• Hope is a beacon, guiding us through the darkest of times.
• His anger was a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

How to Use Metaphors and Analogies in Writing: Helpful Tips

If you want your readers to have a memorable and engaging experience, you should give them some level of autonomy within your own text. Metaphors and analogies are powerful tools to let your audience do their personal interpretation and logical conclusion while still guiding them in the right direction.

First, learn about your audience and their level of familiarity with the topic you're writing about. Incorporate metaphors and analogies with familiar references. Remember, literary devices should cleverly explain complex concepts. To achieve the goal, remain coherent with the theme of the paper. But be careful not to overuse metaphors or analogies, as too much of a good thing can make your writing feel overloaded.

Use figurative language to evoke visual imagery and breathe life into your paper. Multiple metaphors can turn your paper into a movie. Visualizing ideas will help readers better understand and retain the information.

In conclusion, anytime is a great time to extend your text's impact by adding a well-chosen metaphor or analogy. But perfection is on the border of good and bad, so keep in mind to remain coherent with the theme and not overuse any literary device.

Metaphors: Unveiling Their Cultural Significance

Metaphors are not limited to just academic writing but can also be found in various forms of culture, such as art, music, film, and television. Metaphors have been a popular element in creative expression for centuries and continue to play a significant role in modern-day culture. For instance, metaphors can help artists convey complex emotions through their music or paintings.

Metaphors are often like time capsules, reflecting the cultural and societal values of a particular era. They shelter the prevailing beliefs, ideals, and philosophies of their time - from the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to modern-day pop culture.

Metaphors often frame our perception of the world and can shape our understanding of our surroundings. Certain words can take on new meanings when used metaphorically in certain cultural contexts and can assimilate to the phenomenon it is often compared to.

Here you can find a list of literature and poems with metaphors:

• William Shakespeare loved using metaphors, and here's one from his infamous Macbeth: 'It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.'
• Victor Hugo offers a timeless metaphor in Les Misérables: 'She is a rose, delicate and beautiful, but with thorns to protect her.'
• Robert Frost reminds us of his genius in the poem The Road Not Traveled: 'The road less traveled.'

Movies also contain a wide range of English metaphors:

• A famous metaphor from Toy Story: 'There's a snake in my boot!'
• A metaphor from the famous movie Silver Lining Playbook: 'Life is a game, and true love is a trophy.'
• An all-encompassing and iconic metaphor from the movie Star Wars: 'Fear is the path to the dark side.'

Don't forget about famous songs with beautiful metaphors!

• Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind uses a powerful metaphor when he asks: 'How many roads must a man walk down?'
• A metaphor from Johnny Cash's song Ring of Fire: 'Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring.'
• Bonnie Tyler's famous lyrics from Total Eclipse of the Heart make a great metaphor: 'Love is a mystery, everyone must stand alone.'

Keep reading the article to find out how to write an essay with the effective use of metaphors in academic writing.

Exploring Types of Metaphors

There is a wide variety of metaphors used in academic writing, literature, music, and film. Different types of metaphors can be used to convey different meanings and create a specific impact or evoke a vivid image.

Some common types of metaphors include similes / simple metaphors, implicit metaphors, explicit metaphors, extended metaphors, mixed metaphors, and dead metaphors. Let's take a closer look at some of these types.

Simple metaphors or similes highlight the similarity between two things using 'like' or 'as.' For example, 'Her eyes were as bright as the stars.'

Implicit metaphors do not make a direct comparison. Instead, they imply the similarity between the two concepts. An example of an implicit metaphor is 'Her words cut deep,' where the similarity between words and a knife is implied. Good metaphors are often implicit since they require the reader to use their own understanding and imagination to understand the comparison being made.

Explicit metaphors are straightforward, making a clear comparison between two things. For instance, 'He is a shining star.'

An extended metaphor, on the other hand, stretches the comparison throughout an entire literary work or section of a text. This type of metaphor allows the writer to create a more complex and elaborate comparison, enhancing the reader's understanding of the subject.

Mixed metaphors combine two or more unrelated metaphors, often leading to confusion and lack of clarity. If you are not an expert on the subject, try to avoid using confusing literary devices.

Dead metaphors are another danger. These are metaphors that have been overused to the extent that they have lost their original impact, becoming clichés and not being able to evoke original visual images.

In academic writing, metaphors create a powerful impact on the reader, adding color and depth to everyday language. However, they need to be well-placed and intentional. Using an inappropriate or irrelevant metaphor may confuse readers and distract them from the main message. If you want to avoid trouble, pay for essay writing service that can help you use metaphors effectively in your academic writing.

Exploring Types of Analogies

Like metaphors, analogies are divided into several categories. Some of the common types include literal analogies, figurative analogies, descriptive analogies, causal analogies, and false/dubious analogies. In academic writing, analogies are useful for explaining complex ideas or phenomena in a way that is easy to understand.

Literal analogies are direct comparisons of two things with similar characteristics or features. For instance, 'The brain is like a computer.'

Figurative analogies, on the other hand, compare two unrelated things to highlight a particular characteristic. For example, 'The mind is a garden that needs to be tended.'

Descriptive analogies focus on the detailed similarities between two things, even if they are not immediately apparent. For example, 'The relationship between a supervisor and an employee is like that of a coach and a player, where the coach guides the player to perform at their best.'

Causal analogies are used to explain the relationship between a cause and an effect. For instance, 'The increase in global temperatures is like a fever caused by environmental pollution.'

Finally, false/dubious analogies are comparisons that suggest a similarity between two things that actually have little in common. For example, 'Getting a college degree is like winning the lottery.'

If you are trying to explain a foreign concept to an audience that may not be familiar with it, analogies can help create a bridge and make the concept more relatable. However, coming up with a perfect analogy takes a lot of time. If you are looking for ways on how to write an essay fast , explore our blog and learn even more.

If you want your academic papers to stand out and be engaging for the reader, using metaphors and analogies can be a powerful tool. Now that you know the difference between analogy and metaphor, you can use them wisely to create a bridge between complex ideas and your audience.

Explore our blog for more information on different writing techniques, and check out our essay writing service for more help on crafting the perfect papers.

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is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

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The Value of Analogies in Writing and Speech

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

An  analogy  is a type of  composition  (or, more commonly, a  part  of an  essay  or  speech ) in which one idea, process, or thing is explained by  comparing  it to something else.

Extended  analogies are commonly used to make a complex process or idea easier to understand. "One good analogy," said American attorney Dudley Field Malone, "is worth three hours' discussion."

"Analogies prove nothing, that is true," wrote Sigmund Freud, "but they can make one feel more at home." In this article, we examine the characteristics of effective analogies and consider the value of using analogies in our writing.

An analogy is "reasoning or explaining from parallel cases." Put another way, an analogy is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity. As Freud suggested, an analogy won't settle an argument , but a good one may help to clarify the issues.

In the following example of an effective analogy, science writer Claudia Kalb relies on the computer to explain how our brains process memories:

Some basic facts about memory are clear. Your short-term memory is like the RAM on a computer: it records the information in front of you right now. Some of what you experience seems to evaporate--like words that go missing when you turn off your computer without hitting SAVE. But other short-term memories go through a molecular process called consolidation: they're downloaded onto the hard drive. These long-term memories, filled with past loves and losses and fears, stay dormant until you call them up. ("To Pluck a Rooted Sorrow," Newsweek , April 27, 2009)

Does this mean that human memory functions exactly like a computer in all ways? Certainly not. By its nature, an analogy offers a simplified view of an idea or process—an illustration rather than a detailed examination.

Analogy and Metaphor

Despite certain similarities, an analogy is not the same as a metaphor . As Bradford Stull observes in The Elements of Figurative Language (Longman, 2002), the analogy "is a figure of language that expresses a set of like relationships among two sets of terms. In essence, the analogy does not claim total identification, which is the property of the metaphor. It claims a similarity of relationships."

Comparison & Contrast

An analogy is not quite the same as comparison and contrast either, although both are methods of explanation that set things side by side. Writing in The Bedford Reader (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), X.J. and Dorothy Kennedy explain the difference:

You might show, in writing a comparison and contrast, how San Francisco is quite unlike Boston in history, climate, and predominant lifestyles, but like it in being a seaport and a city proud of its own (and neighboring) colleges. That isn't the way an analogy works. In an analogy, you yoke together two unlike things (eye and camera, the task of navigating a spacecraft and the task of sinking a putt), and all you care about is their major similarities.

The most effective analogies are usually brief and to the point—developed in just a few sentences. That said, in the hands of a talented writer, an extended analogy can be illuminating. See, for example, Robert Benchley's comic analogy involving writing and ice skating in "Advice to Writers."

Argument From Analogy

Whether it takes a few sentences or an entire essay to develop an analogy, we should be careful not to push it too far. As we've seen, just because two subjects have one or two points in common doesn't mean that they are the same in other respects as well. When Homer Simpson says to Bart, "Son, a woman is a lot like a refrigerator," we can be fairly certain that a breakdown in logic will follow. And sure enough: "They're about six feet tall, 300 pounds. They make ice, and . . . um . . . Oh, wait a minute. Actually, a woman is more like a beer." This sort of logical fallacy is called the argument from analogy or false analogy .

Examples of Analogies

Judge for yourself the effectiveness of each of these three analogies.

Pupils are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we knew how to cultivate them with ardor and persistence. ( Sydney J. Harris, "What True Education Should Do," 1964)

Think of Wikipedia's community of volunteer editors as a family of bunnies left to roam freely over an abundant green prairie. In early, fat times, their numbers grow geometrically. More bunnies consume more resources, though, and at some point, the prairie becomes depleted, and the population crashes. Instead of prairie grasses, Wikipedia's natural resource is an emotion. "There's the rush of joy that you get the first time you make an edit to Wikipedia, and you realize that 330 million people are seeing it live," says Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation's executive director. In Wikipedia's early days, every new addition to the site had a roughly equal chance of surviving editors' scrutiny. Over time, though, a class system emerged; now revisions made by infrequent contributors are much likelier to be undone by élite Wikipedians. Chi also notes the rise of wiki-lawyering: for your edits to stick, you've got to learn to cite the complex laws of Wikipedia in arguments with other editors. Together, these changes have created a community not very hospitable to newcomers. Chi says, "People begin to wonder, 'Why should I contribute anymore?'"--and suddenly, like rabbits out of food, Wikipedia's population stops growing. (Farhad Manjoo, "Where Wikipedia Ends." Time , Sep. 28, 2009)

The "great Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona, is not usually associated with the theory of monetary policy," Mervyn King explained to an audience in the City of London two years ago. But the player's performance for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup perfectly summarized modern central banking, the Bank of England's sport-loving governor added.

Maradona's infamous "hand of God" goal, which should have been disallowed, reflected old-fashioned central banking, Mr. King said. It was full of mystique and "he was lucky to get away with it." But the second goal, where Maradona beat five players before scoring, even though he ran in a straight line, was an example of the modern practice. "How can you beat five players by running in a straight line? The answer is that the English defenders reacted to what they expected Maradona to do. . . . Monetary policy works in a similar way. Market interest rates react to what the central bank is expected to do." (Chris Giles, "Alone Among Governors." Financial Times . Sep. 8-9, 2007)

Finally, keep in mind Mark Nichter's analogical observation: "A good analogy is like a plow which can prepare a population's field of associations for the planting of a new idea" ( Anthropology and International Health , 1989).

• Understanding Analogy
• What Is Clarity in Composition?
• False Analogy (Fallacy)
• Definition and Examples of Parody in English
• 30 Writing Topics: Analogy
• Heuristics in Rhetoric and Composition
• What Is Colloquial Style or Language?
• Hypercorrection in Grammar and Pronunciation
• Logos (Rhetoric)
• Using the Simple Sentence in Writing
• The Basic Characteristics of Effective Writing
• Learn About Précis Through Definition and Examples
• Euphuism (Prose Style)
• Definition and Examples of an Ad Hominem Fallacy
• Graphics in Business Writing, Technical Communication
• Definition and Examples of Bilingualism

50 Examples Of Analogies For Critical Thinking

By forcing students to distill one relationship in order to understand another, it’s almost impossible to solve analogies without understanding.

What Are The Best Examples Of Analogies For Critical Thinking?

by Terry Heick

In our guide to teaching with analogies , we offered ideas, definitions, categories, and examples of analogies.

This post is a more specific version of that article where we focus specifically on types and examples of analogies rather than looking at teaching with analogies more broadly. Below, we offer more than 20 different types of analogies and examples of type of analogy as well–which results in nearly 100 examples of analogies overall.

Note that because an analogy is simply a pattern established by the nature of a relationship between two ‘things,’ there are an infinite number of kinds of analogies. You could, for example, set up an analogy by pairing two objects only loosely connected–brick and road, for example: a brick is to a road as…

Of course, analogies are best solved by creating a sentence that accurately captures the ‘truest and best’ essence of the relationship of the first two items in the analogy. So in the above brick/road example, you might say that ‘bricks used to be used to create roads,’ at which point all kinds of possibilities emerge: Bricks used to be used to create roads as glass used to be used to create bottles, yielding the analogy:

Bricks : Road :: Glass : Bottle

You could also use this in a specific content area–Social Studies, for example:

Bricks : Road :: Pamphlets : Propaganda

Language Arts?

Bricks : Roads :: Couplets : Sonnets? Maybe, but this leaves out the critical ‘used to be…’ bit.

You get the idea. By forcing students to distill one relationship in order to understand another, it’s almost impossible to accurately solve analogies without at least some kind of understanding–unless you use multiple-choice, in which case a lucky guess could do the trick.

Now, that’s a purposely far-fetched example. In most teaching and learning circumstances like courses and classrooms, analogies are used in common forms that are more or less obvious: part to whole, cause and effect, synonym and antonym, etc. This makes them less subjective and creative and easier to score on a multiple-choice question and can reduce the subjectivity of actually nailing down the uncertain relationship between ‘bricks’ and ‘roads.’ It becomes much easier when you use something with a more clear relationship, like ‘sapling is to tree as zygote is to…’

Of course, this misses the genius of analogies: asking students to see–and sometimes even create–the relationship between things rather than ‘choosing’ the ‘type’ of analogy. Analogies are brilliant teaching and learning tools that we use all of the time in everyday life to explain something by explaining something else .

(If you’d like to read more about this idea, I discussed it in some in ‘ Why Questions Are More Important Than Answers .’) And it’s at this point that it feels like exploring how to use analogies for critical thinking might be more interesting than merely offering types of analogies, but for the sake of packaging and time, I’ll finish this post and re-address the ‘analogies for critical thinking’ bit later.

Why Analogies Are Valuable For Learning

In the guide to teaching with analogies shown above, I explained that, “Academic analogies are useful for teaching and learning because they require students to analyze a thing (or things), and then transfer that analysis that analysis to another thing. This kind of transfer requires at least some kind of conceptual grasp–understanding.”

I went on to offer that “This makes them useful for assessment, but they can also be used as an effective learning strategy as well. As students create incorrect analogies, analyze the relationships their analogies are suggesting, and then correct them accordingly, students are grappling with ideas, monitoring and revising their thinking, and otherwise actively consider the often complex relationships between disparate things.”

In fact, we’ve begun using analogies in our TeachThought University courses. They’re genius little tools to both cause and measure understanding. And while there are some common types of analogies that you (and students) will see most commonly, (antonyms, categories, part to whole, cause and effect, etc.), the truth is that unless two objects or ideas represent an entirely unique circumstance that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the universe, there should always be an analogous pairing or counterpart somewhere. They even function strongly as psychology-based critical thinking strategies .

Put another way, there are nearly an infinite number of analogies and an uncountable number of types of analogies. Consider the following:

Father : Pops :: Henry VIII : ______?

Tissue: Kleenex :: ______ : ______?

You could call these ‘slang’ analogies but the latter isn’t really slang. You could say also call them ‘more commonly known as’ analogies or even synonyms but that’s entirely the essence of the relationship either. This is a unique relationship–as so many are. You get the point: That there are an impossible number of things and relationships so there aren’t a set number of ‘types of analogies.’

The question for you, as a teacher, is which are the most helpful for you to cause and measure understanding with students? So for now, we’ve included the most common types of analogies and then added in some less common but still useful types of analogies. We’ve tried to make some simple and some more complex just to demonstrate the range and value of analogies in critical thinking.

Some, I’ve added commentary to. Others, I just included the examples. The general pattern I’ve used is to start with a simple example and then create a more complex analogy.

Note, there may be some disagreement about some of the ‘answers’ here–either from you as a reader or your students. That’s good! If your students are arguing that democracies aren’t actually the ‘opposite’ of a dictatorship, that means they likely at least vaguely grasp each and arguing about the similarities and differences!

What more can you ask for in introducing or reviewing content?

50+ Examples Of Analogies For Critical Thinking

1. Synonym Analogies

Funny : Humorous :: Hardworking : Diligent

Lead : Guide :: Drawing : Illustration

Mom : Mother :: Dog : _______

Beginner : Novice :: Law : ______

2. Antonym Analogies

Night : Day :: Right : Left

Wet : Dry : Hot : Cold

Open: Closed :: Free : ______

Empiricism : ______ :: Small : Big

3. Part/Whole Analogies

Electron: Molecule :: Country : Continent

Toe : Foot :: Finger : Hand

Stars : Galaxy :: Molecules : Object

Data : Scientific Process :: Thesis Statement : ______

4. Cause/Effect Analogies

Spin : Dizzy :: Jump : Elevate

Honesty: Trust :: Light : Plant Growth

Itch : Scratch :: Virus : Cold

Read : Learn :: Try : Improve

Rise of Social Messaging : Demise of Email :: __________: French Revolution

Writing Process : Idea Organization :: Eye Contact : ______

5. Thing/Function Analogies

Broom : Sweep :: Paintbrush : Paint

Freezer: Freeze :: Paper Towel : Wipe

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” : Civil Rights :: ________ : LBGTQ rights

Gravity : Pull :: Conflict : ______

6. Thing/Characteristic Analogies

Democracy : Equality :: Monarchy : One Ruler

Water : Wet :: Concrete : Hard

Mountain : Tall :: Desert : Dry

Sugar : Sweet :: Cheetah : Fast

Water : Wet :: Circles : ______

Wall : Bricks :: Sonnet : Lines

Mountain : Tall :: Globalization : _____

7. Thing/Context Analogies (similar to Part/Whole and other categories of analogies)

Cello : Symphony :: Creek : Forest

Plane : Hangar :: Surfboard : Beach

Field : Farm :: Audience : Arena

Conflict : Story :: Emoji : Texting

8. Example/Type Analogies

Orange : Fruit :: Hydrogen : Element

Kangaroo : Marsupial : Dog :: Mammal

Ford Mustang : Muscle Car :: Subaru BRZ : Sports Car

Deontology : Ethics: Cubism : Art

______ : Immigration Policy :: iPhone : Smartphone

9. Category/Subcategory Analogies

Phylum : Kingdom :: Aisle : Department

Sonnet: Petrarchan Sonnet :: Rose : Red Rose

Shape : Quadrilateral :: _______ : Orbit

10. Object/Classification Analogies

Bowl : Dish :: Sword : Weapon

Cat : Feline :: Dog : Canine

Porsche 911 : Sports Car :: Alligator : Reptile

Rain : Precipitation :: ______ : Rhyme Scheme

12. Fact/Opinion Analogies

Wet : Soaked :: 7 Seconds : Fast

6′ 4″ : Tall :: Awake : Smart

It’s 93 degrees : It’s Hot :: ________ :

13. Step/Process Analogies

Evaporation : Water Cycle :: ______ : Evolution

Test Theory : Scientific Process :: Stir : Make Chocolate Milk

Revision : Writing Process :: ______ :

______ : Sentence Diagramming

14. Problem/Solution Analogies

Tape : Paper Tear :: Knee Scrape : Bandaid

Alliteracy : Habits :: Lack of Cardiovascular Endurance : Lack of Exercise

Climate Change : Reduce Greenhouse Gases :: ________ : Poverty

15. Symbol/Referent Analogies

Peace Sign : Hippies :: Red Cross: Medical Professional

To make that a bit more complex, consider Peace Sign : Vietnam :: _____ : ______ where it could be seen that rather just “The Peace Sign characterized Hippies as…” you instead of “The Peace Sign was seen as a counter-symbol to Vietnam as…”, and so on. The following example is equally complex:

Guillotine: French Revolution :: Faulkner’s use of setting in A Rose for Emily : ________

To answer that, you’d have to know whether or not it was commonly considered for the guillotine to ‘represent’ the Fresh Revolution and then further, exactly how Faulkner used setting in ‘A Rose for Emily.’

16. Producer/Product Analogies

Sheep : Wool :: Milk : Cow

As with others, the first analogy is simple:

Cow : Milk :: Beehive : Honey

The second sets up at simple (Producer/Product) but the second part asks the student to think (and know) more:

Cow: Milk :: Industrialism : _____

Clearly, these can be subjective but if you use this to your advantage (in a debate or discussion, or by asking the student to defend their choices, for example) that’s a good thing. You can also use a multiple-choice format to reduce some of this subjectivity if you need thinks nice and tidy in a lesson or assessment.

17. Noun/Adjective Analogies

Lemon : Yellow :: Snow : White

Flamingo : Pink :: Rhinoceros : Grey

Cardinal : Red :: Irony : ______

18. Task/Subtask Analogies

Kick : Soccer :: Dribble : Basketball

Plan : Prioritize :: Lead : Communicate

Drive : Steer :: Live : Breathe

19. Kinds Of Measurement Analogies

Vegetable Harvest : Bushels :: Liquid : Gallon

Geometric Shape : Degrees :: Marine Distance : Nautical Miles

City : Blocks :: Farms : Acres

20. Finish the Set or Sequence Analogies

Salt : Pepper :: Peas : Carrots

2 : 8 :: 5 : 20

21. Strength & Weakness Analogies

Lighthouse : Brightness :: Flashlight : Portability

Abundant Supply : Solar Energy :: Low Cost : Coal

Potential Profits : Capitalism :: ______ : Artificial Intelligence

Plastic : Pollution :: Greed : ______

22. Spatial Relationship (e.g., Geography) Analogies

South America : North America :: Ireland : ______

Floor : Ceiling :: Conclusion : Introduction

Peanut Butter : Bread :: Chapters : Book Covers

23. Increasing or Decreasing Intensity Analogies

Cool : Cold :: Warm : Hot

Aggressive : Fierce :: Amused : Elated

Instability : Turmoil :: Change : Revolution

Speed of Sound : Speed of Light :: ______ : Gammar Ray Bursts

24. Thing/Group Analogies (similar to Part/Whole Analogies)

Fish : School :: Lion : Pride

Flock : Birds :: Pack : Wolves

People : Community :: Tree : Forest

25. Rhyme Analogies

Jump : Bump :: Wire : Fire

Ship : Blip :: Stop : Lop

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What Is an Analogy?

Analogies are a type of figurative language that helps enhance understanding by comparing an unfamiliar topic with a familiar one.

What Are Analogies?

An analogy is a figure of speech that explains something unfamiliar by relating it to something familiar.

• “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” —Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

If your writing is a dirty window your readers can’t see through, then analogies are the glass cleaners that clear everything up.

Below, we’ll elaborate on what an analogy is and how it can be a useful rhetorical device.

Analogies: Explanation and Examples

An analogy is a figure of speech that helps your readers understand something that would otherwise be difficult to comprehend. There are different types of analogies, but most work by comparing two unrelated things or ideas.

Here’s an example of an analogy that is often attributed to Albert Einstein:

You see, wire telegraph is kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.

This analogy makes a complex subject—the way telegraph and radio work—easier to understand by comparing it to the meow of a (long) cat.

Different Types of Analogies

The two most common types of analogies are one that conveys an identical relationship and another that identifies a shared abstraction.

Identical Relationship

The formula for this type of analogy is: A is to B as C is to D.

A dog is to a cat as sunshine is to rain.

This analogy expresses the comparable relationship between a dog and cat, sunshine and rain: they’re considered opposites.

Shared Abstraction

This type of analogy is one that brings clarity by comparing two unrelated topics and identifying a similar idea, pattern, or attribute.

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

This famous analogy draws a parallel between eating a box of chocolates and life: Sometimes you don’t know which chocolate you’re going to eat, like in life, in which you don’t know what’s going to happen to you.

This analogy starts with a simile , but its last sentence, which adds further explanation, is what makes it an analogy . We’ll elaborate below.

Analogies, Similes, and Metaphors: What’s The Difference?

Analogies, similes, and metaphors are all similar figures of speech that make comparisons. Similes and metaphors can be used to make an analogy . The difference between them is that analogies take the comparison a step further by adding an explanation.

• Simile: She is like the sun.
• Metaphor: She is my sun.
• Analogy: “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” —Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina)

How To Write an Analogy

Analogies are a powerful tool that can enhance your writing by making things that are usually obscure and complex easier to understand.

If you’re writing about something that may be considered uncommon to your readers, use analogies to make it easier to comprehend. A good analogy:

• Draws a clear parallel between the familiar and unfamiliar topic or idea.
• Elaborates on the comparison to enhance understanding.

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Writing An Analogy

TIP Sheet WRITING AN ANALOGY

An analogy is an extended comparison between two things usually thought of as unlike. Analogies illustrate and explain by moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar, comparing several points, each of which has a counterpoint. For example, here is an analogy in which an engineering student explains something relatively unknown (loading a tanker) by using her knowledge of something known (filling pop bottles):

A tank truck usually holds between 4,000 and 6,000 gallons of gasoline. Depending on the tanker, three to six individual compartments hold 600 to 900 gallons of gasoline apiece. The tank that contains the compartments is elliptically shaped to distribute the pressure equally and to allow a more complete flow of air when the gasoline is delivered.

Until recently the only way to load a tanker was to climb up on top, where the openings to the compartments are located. You can easily picture this by visualizing six pop bottles lined up in single file on a table. A man wants to fill up bottle three, so he takes the cap off. He then inserts a small hose into the neck of the bottle and turns on a faucet which is connected to the hose.

A gasoline tanker is loaded in a similar way, but on a much larger scale. A man climbs on top of the tanker and opens a particular compartment by removing the cap. He then takes a hose with a four-foot metal pipe down into the "bottle" (the compartment hole), which measures four inches in diameter. A pump is then turned on, allowing the gasoline to flow into the compartment.

Know your audience In the (admittedly unlikely) event her readers had no prior knowledge of pop bottles, however, this analogy might not be particularly informative. The writer chose this analogy based on the likely knowledge of her audience. When you construct an analogy, be certain that the familiar or known side of the analogy is really familiar and known to your reader. It is useless to explain a mineral's crystal-lattice structure by reference to analytic geometry if your reader knows nothing about analytic geometry.

All of us know many things that we can use to help a reader understand an idea better. Here a geology major shows how the oil seismograph works by comparing it to shouting at a cliff wall:

The oil seismograph is a small portable electronic instrument that detects and measures artificial earthquakes. The purpose of the instrument is to find geological structures that may contain oil. The oil seismograph instrument is not mysterious because it can be compared to shouting at a cliff wall.

Imagine yourself standing near the base of a large cliff. If you shout at the cliff face, you will get an echo because the sound waves bounce back from the "interface" where air meets rock. The sound waves travel at 1,100 feet per second. You can find out how far you are standing from the cliff by measuring the time it takes for your shout to travel from you to the cliff and back again, and then by solving a simple formula for distance.

The function of the oil seismograph is to find out how far down in the earth the horizontal layers of rock are. To discover this distance, the oil seismologist digs a deep hole (usually 100-200 feet). At the bottom of the hole, he explodes a heavy charge of dynamite. Ground waves travel from the explosion down to the layers of rock. At each major interface between the layers, the waves bounce back to the surface. The explosion is similar to shouting at the cliff. Just as sound travels through the air at a certain speed, ground waves travel through the earth, although much faster. Ground waves bounce from rock interfaces as sound waves bounce from a cliff face. And the seismologist can determine distance just as you can determine the distance between you and the cliff.

Know your limits It is said that all analogies limp, that is, they are useful for illustration only as far as they remain reasonable. Therefore, do not try to stretch an analogy too far. Like the fabled camel who first put his nose in the man's tent, then his head and finally his whole body, pushing the man out of the tent, analogies can get out of control unless you know when to stop. Cut out or explain any points that cannot be logically compared.

For example, it might be a fair analogy to say that some professional athletes are treated like kings, that they receive special homage from the public and exemption from some rules, that they are more an expense and a pampered group than an asset to the community. But, except for comic effect, it would be overstatement to compare the equestrian charge of a king at an enemy with a football lineman's charge from the line of scrimmage. Likewise, it would be ridiculous to claim that modern athletes believe themselves divinely ordained to lead their country, or that professional athlete-ship is handed down from father to son by divine right. Just because certain similarities between athletes and kings exist, it doesn't follow that every kingly attribute manifests in modern-day athletes. Do not overconnect the subjects being compared.

Good analogies are vivid and logical, and while they cannot prove an argument, they can offer a picture that is very persuasive.

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How do you make a good analogy.

I’ve long argued that good analogies are a key to learning well. Abstract subjects like math, science and philosophy are difficult to learn because they aren’t anchored to anything in our experience. Analogies moor these ideas adrift.

But analogies are also hard to construct. They’re a creative act, so there’s no step-by-step which will produce them reliably. Their formation also depends on the very insight they are trying to generate. Therefore, a good analogy can be impossible to make when it is needed most.

I want to share my thoughts on what makes an analogy good, as a learning tool. Then, I’d like to share some tricks I’ve found to make them.

What Makes an Analogy Good?

A good analogy is a compromise between two conflicting goals: familiarity and representativeness.

Good analogies are familiar. They express an abstract idea in terms of a familiar one. The odometer and speedometer on a car are a good analogy for a function and its derivative, because we all understand how speedometers work, but maybe not calculus.

Concrete experiences are good breeding grounds for analogies because they can be appreciated by anyone. When I say voltage is to the electric force what height is to the gravitational force, that is helpful because height is more concrete than electric potential.

But a good analogy doesn’t need to be concrete, it only needs to be expressed in terms of an idea you already know deeply. One of my favorites was from an MIT ecology class which expressed the idea of biological niche as a section of an n-dimensional feature space. If you didn’t study linear algebra, that may not make any sense, but it was widely appreciated by the audience who had a stronger math background.

That latter fact is important when creating analogies for yourself. Concreteness is good, but as long as you understand the analogous domain well, anything works.

Good analogies are also representative. They match at least some of the features of the idea you’re trying to explain. More matches means the analogy has more intuitive power. Fewer means you need to be careful about applying the analogy to understand new situations.

Making new analogies is like making a key for a lock you haven’t seen before. You’re limited by your past experience as to what kind of keys you can make. New key designs take a lot longer to learn than borrowing old ones. That’s familiarity.

But you also want the key to fit the lock. If the key shape deviates too much, it won’t open the lock. That’s representativeness.

How to Think of Good Analogies

Good analogies are like inventions. You can learn some rules to help dream them up, but ultimately it’s a creative act and can’t be fully controlled.

Like inventions, the best analogies aren’t invented wholesale, but built upon the work of others. When you’re learning something abstract, first try to look for other analogies people have generated.

If you can’t find one, you’ll have to make one. That process can be daunting, but there are a few steps to make it easier:

1. Gather examples

Examples are easier than making imaginative analogies which hop domains. In some areas, they may even be better. I always found economics and philosophy to be more amenable to examples than more cosmopolitan analogies which travel beyond their native subject.

Sometimes the analogy is an example. Speedometers aren’t just an analogy of derivatives, that’s what they actually are! Nothing will be more representative of an idea than an example of the idea itself.

Even if you desire a more creative hook to hang your thoughts, examples become a gateway to more imaginative understandings.

2. Pick fertile ground

My next step, if I want to force an analogy out of a concept, is to look for a setting where I might be able to generate one. There are some grounds which are more fertile for harvesting analogies than others. Here are some of my favorites:

• Children playing . The rules of games children play can be very flexible to fit many different patterns and the games themselves are easy to imagine. I once used this to remember the Cournot competition model by imagining a game where children had balloons which they could steal from each other to get more, but doing so would also pop some of them.
• Soap-opera drama . Affairs, romance and class systems are also good fertilizer for analogies. Imagining the periodic table of elements as a town where the inhabitants have different personalities—an affluent class of noble gases, coercive halogens and gullible alkali metals.
• Simple physical systems . Unusual systems can be described using more familiar physical ones. Electric circuits are a system of pipes with bottlenecks (resistors), pumps (batteries), water flow (current) and different heights (voltage).

The key is to start with a fertile domain and then start matching features. For the Cournot competition model, I started with children playing, then added:

• They need to be competing over something. Let’s make it toys.
• They need to be able to act selfishly. They can steal the toys too.
• They need to reduce the total when they act selfishly. Switch toys to balloons, now some pop when there’s stealing.

3. Compare and contrast.

No analogy is perfectly representative, unless it is actually the idea itself. Even examples fail to generalize perfectly, which is why we have abstractions in the first place. A speedometer may be a derivative, but it doesn’t go negative when you change directions.

One way around this is to examine the metaphor more closely. Where does it match the idea? Where does it not? Just doing this exercise will improve your understanding, even if you don’t modify your analogy as a result.

My last example used balloons and children to explain an economics model. But some features of the model are hard to force into this analogy. The model says that firms make their decisions in advance, that doesn’t correspond well to children playing. In the model, nobody is stealing, rather it’s their decision to produce more which increases supply and reduces prices for everyone. In my analogy, children are presumably stealing from a specific person, not a general pool.

Going meta, keys and locks are an analogy of analogies and ideas. Keys have features which attempt to match the features of the lock (similarity). But a lock either opens completely or not at all, whereas an analogy can give a partial explanation for some parts and not others (difference).

An Appreciation for Good Analogies

I appreciate good analogies like art or inventions. An analogy compromises between familiarity and representativeness, with good analogies choosing just the right amount for the context.

The best analogies not only explain, they inspire. They pour color into a featureless void and breathe life into something static. They make the entire subject they cover more beautiful and interesting. Good analogies aren’t just tools, they’re art.

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Mastering the Art of Analogies: Examples and Tips for Nonfiction Writers

by Harry Wallett

In this blog post, we’ll explore the ins and outs of using analogies to create vivid, memorable, and easy-to-understand pieces that resonate with your readers.

Picture this: you’re trying to explain a complex idea or concept to your readers, and you can see their eyes glazing over as they struggle to grasp your point. Frustrating, isn’t it? That’s where analogies come in.

By comparing your complicated idea to something more familiar and relatable, you can help your readers understand and retain the information you’re sharing.

In fact, analogies are an incredibly valuable addition to your writer’s toolbox. To help you master this technique, we’ll cover the basics of what an analogy is and how it differs from metaphors and similes.

We’ll then delve into the different types of analogies and provide examples from various nonfiction sources to show you how it’s done.

Let’s get started!

What is an analogy?

An analogy is a comparison between two things that are alike in some way, usually to explain a complex idea or concept in simpler terms.

Unlike metaphors and similes, which compare two things directly, analogies highlight the relationship between the two things being compared.

For example, you could say that writing is like cooking: both require skill, creativity, and the right ingredients (words or ideas) to create a satisfying result.

Types of Analogies

Understanding the different types of analogies can help you use them more effectively in your nonfiction writing. By recognizing the various forms that analogies can take, you’ll be better equipped to select the right type of analogy for your specific writing needs.

Here, we’ll explore the three main types of analogies commonly used in nonfiction writing:

Structural Analogies

Structural analogies focus on the similarities in the structure or organization of the two things being compared.

These analogies help to draw parallels between the arrangement or composition of different entities, making it easier for your readers to understand the underlying structure of a complex system.

For example, you might compare the hierarchy of a company to a military chain of command. In this analogy, the CEO is like a general, middle managers are like officers, and frontline employees are like enlisted soldiers.

This comparison can help your readers visualize the organizational structure of a company and understand the relationships between different levels of management.

Functional Analogies

Functional analogies highlight the similarities in how two things work or perform. These types of analogies help to explain the purpose or function of something by comparing it to another object or system with a similar function.

For instance, you could compare the human heart to a pump, as both have the primary function of moving fluid through a system. The heart pumps blood throughout the body, while a mechanical pump might move water through pipes.

By drawing this parallel, your readers can better understand the role of the heart in the circulatory system.

Conceptual Analogies

Conceptual analogies explore the similarities in the underlying concepts or ideas of the two things being compared.

These analogies can be particularly useful for explaining abstract ideas or theories by connecting them to more concrete or familiar concepts.

An example might be comparing the internet to a library, as both serve as repositories of information.

While the internet is a vast digital network that connects users to websites, articles, and other resources, a library is a physical space housing books, journals, and other sources of knowledge.

This analogy can help your readers understand the broader concept of the internet as a massive, interconnected storehouse of information.

How to Create Effective Analogies

Crafting the perfect analogy can be a bit of an art form, but with practice and a few guiding principles, you can create powerful comparisons that will elevate your nonfiction writing.

Here are some key tips to keep in mind when creating effective analogies:

Choose relatable and easily understood comparisons

The success of an analogy often hinges on its relatability. To help your readers grasp a complex concept, choose comparisons that are familiar and easily understood.

When your analogy is based on common experiences or objects, it becomes more accessible, allowing your readers to quickly make connections between the two ideas.

Consider your target audience’s background, interests, and experiences when selecting a comparison, and opt for analogies that will resonate with them.

Ensure the analogy supports your main point

An effective analogy should serve to clarify your argument or idea, not distract from it. Be sure that your chosen comparison supports your main point and enhances your readers’ understanding of the topic.

If an analogy seems to muddy the waters or lead your readers away from your central message, it’s best to rethink your approach and choose a different comparison that better aligns with your goals.

Be concise and avoid over-complicating the analogy

While it can be tempting to get lost in the details of a comparison, remember that the goal of an analogy is to simplify a complex concept for your readers. Aim to be concise and avoid over-complicating the analogy, as this can lead to confusion rather than clarification.

Focus on the most relevant and impactful similarities between the two ideas, and leave out extraneous details that might detract from your main point.

Test your analogy for effectiveness

Before committing to an analogy in your writing, it’s a good idea to test it for effectiveness. Consider running your analogy by a trusted friend, colleague, or editor, and ask for their feedback.

Does the analogy help them understand the concept better? Is it clear and concise? Their input can be invaluable in determining whether your analogy is hitting the mark or if it needs further refinement.

Don’t overuse analogies

While analogies can be powerful tools in nonfiction writing, it’s important not to overuse them. Relying too heavily on analogies can make your writing feel repetitive or overly simplistic.

Strike a balance by using analogies judiciously, reserving them for instances where they truly enhance your readers’ understanding of a complex idea or concept.

Examples of Analogies in Nonfiction Writing

Let’s take a look at some examples:

• In his book “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell compares the spread of ideas and trends to the spread of a virus, highlighting how certain factors can cause ideas to “infect” large numbers of people quickly and seemingly without warning.
• In an article on climate change, you might use the analogy of a bathtub filling with water to explain how greenhouse gas emissions accumulate in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.
• Martin Luther King Jr., in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, used the analogy of a “bad check” to represent the unfulfilled promises of justice and equality for African Americans in the United States.

Tips for using analogies in your writing

Here are three handy tips for incorporating analogies into your nonfiction writing:

Know your audience: Make sure your analogies are appropriate for your target readers and consider their background knowledge and experiences.

Use analogies sparingly and intentionally: While they can be powerful tools, overusing analogies can make your writing feel cluttered or forced. Use them when they genuinely enhance your message.

Revise and refine your analogies for clarity and impact: Don’t be afraid to tweak or even scrap an analogy if it’s not working as well as you’d like. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find the perfect comparison.

Benefits of using analogies in nonfiction writing

So, why should you bother incorporating analogies into your writing? There’s a multitude of reasons, and the benefits are too good to ignore.

Let’s dive into some of the key advantages of using analogies in your nonfiction work:

They enhance understanding and retention of complex concepts

Analogies are a fantastic way to break down complicated ideas into more digestible chunks. By comparing complex concepts to familiar and relatable experiences or objects, you make it easier for your readers to understand and remember your message.

This can be especially helpful when you’re tackling subjects that may be unfamiliar or difficult for your audience to grasp, like scientific or technical concepts.

They engage your reader’s imagination and emotions

By drawing on familiar experiences or images, you create vivid mental pictures that can capture your reader’s attention and make your writing more engaging and memorable.

This emotional connection can also help your readers to empathize with the subjects of your writing, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for your topic.

They strengthen your argument and persuade your reader

Analogies can serve as powerful rhetorical devices, helping to drive home your point and convince your reader of your perspective. When used effectively, an analogy can clarify your argument, making it more accessible and persuasive.

This is particularly useful when you’re trying to explain an abstract concept or idea, as it helps to ground your argument in more concrete terms that your readers can easily understand and relate to.

They can aid in creative problem-solving and critical thinking

Analogies can also help your readers see connections between seemingly unrelated concepts or ideas, fostering creative problem-solving and critical thinking.

By exploring similarities between different subjects, you can help your readers develop new perspectives and insights, broadening their understanding of the world around them.

This can lead to novel approaches to tackling challenges, as well as a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of various aspects of our lives.

They create a relatable and personable writing style

Incorporating analogies into your writing can also make your work feel more relatable and personable. This can be particularly beneficial in nonfiction writing, where the subject matter might be dry or technical.

By using analogies that resonate with your readers’ experiences or interests, you can create a more engaging and approachable tone, making your writing feel more like a conversation than a lecture.

Wrapping Things Up

Mastering the art of using analogies in your nonfiction writing can transform your work from good to great. By thoughtfully incorporating analogies, you’ll be able to break down complex concepts, engage your readers on a deeper level, and create memorable connections that will make your writing stand out in a sea of content.

But, as with any writing technique, the key to truly mastering analogies lies in practice and experimentation. Don’t be afraid to play around with different comparisons and ideas, and remember that finding the perfect analogy may take some time and effort.

Keep refining your approach, and you’ll soon discover that the power of analogies lies not only in their ability to explain and persuade but also in their capacity to reveal new insights and perspectives that can enrich both your writing and your readers’ understanding of the world.

Happy writing!

Harry Wallett is the Managing Director of Cascadia Author Services. He has a decade of experience as the Founder and Managing Director of Relay Publishing, which has sold over 3 million copies of books in all genres for its authors, and looks after a team of 50+ industry professionals working across the world.

Harry is inspired by the process of book creation and is passionate about the stories and characters behind the prose. He loves working with the writers and has shepherded 1000s of titles to publication over the years. He knows first-hand what it takes to not only create an unputdownable book, but also how to get it into the hands of the right readers for success.

Books are still one of the most powerful mediums to communicate ideas and establish indisputable authority in a field, boosting your reach and stature. But publishing isn’t a quick and easy process—nor should it be, or everyone would do it!

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177 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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• Knowledge Base
• College essay
• How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out | Tips & Examples

How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out | Tips & Examples

Published on October 25, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on August 14, 2023.

While admissions officers are interested in hearing about your experiences , they’re also interested in how you present them. An exceptionally written essay will stand out from the crowd, meaning that admissions officers will spend more time reading it.

To write a standout essay, you can use literary devices to pull the reader in and catch their attention. Literary devices often complement each other and can be woven together to craft an original, vivid, and creative personal essay. However, don’t overdo it; focus on using just a few devices well, rather than trying to use as many as possible.

Table of contents

Essay structure devices, storytelling devices, imagery devices, tone devices, sentence-level devices, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

You can frame your essay with symbolism or extended metaphors, which both work well in a montage or narrative essay structure .

Symbolism is the use of tangible objects to represent ideas. In your college essay, you can use one major symbol that represents your essay’s theme. Throughout your essay, you can also intentionally place related minor symbols to communicate ideas without explicitly stating them. The key is to use original, meaningful symbols that are not cliché.

For example, if your essay’s theme is “family,” your symbol could be a well-worn beloved Lord of the Rings Monopoly game set. Rather than directly saying, “The Lord of the Rings Monopoly game has brought my family happiness,” share stories with this game to demonstrate your family’s closeness, joy, and loyalty.

Supporting symbols:

• Story 1: Chipped and mismatching collectible Gandalf the Grey coffee mugs surround the Monopoly board during a lazy weekend
• Story 2: A folding card table supports our family’s mobile Monopoly game while the family plays at a campsite
• Story 3: An extended edition LOTR box set plays in the background during Thanksgiving feasts with extended family. We have a Monopoly competition after dinner.
• Story 4: Matching Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry Halloween outfits are proudly worn by me and my family members. We always play a game of Monopoly the afternoon before going out together to our town’s annual Halloween carnival.

In the example below, a student depicts “The Monster,” an imaginary symbolic figure that represents the student’s jealousy.

Main idea: I have been on a quest to slay the Monster, the toxic envy that overtakes me when I compare myself to one of my friends.

Narrative: I remember first encountering the Monster in second grade when Laurel bobbed her hair. Everybody raved about how cute she looked. The Monster had plenty to say about how ugly, unpopular, and undesirable I was compared to Laurel. After that day, the Monster never seemed to leave my side.

Extended metaphor

A metaphor directly compares two unrelated objects, giving deeper meaning and multi-dimensional imagery. Since metaphors create a new reality between two objects, use them sparingly throughout your essay to avoid overwhelming the reader with too many comparisons.

You can also use an extended metaphor, which builds upon a simple metaphor throughout the essay with other literary devices and more in-depth descriptions.

To brainstorm your extended metaphor, you should first identify feelings or values associated with your story and then brainstorm images associated with these feelings.

Keep the following in mind when crafting your extended metaphor:

• Keep the comparison simple.
• Use a few other literary devices such as imagery or anecdotes to enrich your extended metaphor.
• Avoid making cliché comparisons.
• Don’t exaggerate or make an unrealistic comparison.

In the example below, a student uses the extended metaphor of a museum to explore the theme of identity. Each anecdote is framed as an “exhibit” that tells us something about her life.

• The Sight Exhibit: Flashback illustrating how racial discrimination led to my identity as a writer
• The Sound Exhibit: Snapshots of musical memories, identity as a musical theater lover
• The Smell Exhibit: Scents of my family’s Thanksgiving meal, identity as a daughter, granddaughter, and member of the Arimoto family
• The Touch Exhibit: Feel of warm water washing away academic and extracurricular worries while washing dishes, identity as a level-headed honors student
• The Taste Exhibit: Taste of salty sweat while bike training with a friend, identity as an athlete

In the next example, a student uses the river as an extended metaphor for his educational journey. The different parts of the river’s course represent different challenges he has overcome.

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Here are the most effective literary devices to enrich your storytelling in college essays.

Into the midst of things, in medias res

In medias res , Latin for “into the midst of things,” is a device that involves starting in the middle of the action. Then, important details are added to fill in the story. Similar to the beginning of an action or thriller movie, in medias res immediately drops the reader into a scene, allowing them to discern the story through sensory imagery.

Unlike a linear chronological narrative, flashbacks can be used to transport your reader from the present moment to a key past event to give a clearer understanding of your current personality, values, and goals.

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. Using dialogue in your essay can sometimes create suspense, transport readers into a scene, or highlight an important message. However, it should be used sparingly and strategically to avoid an anti-climatic or redundant moment.

Famous quotes should be avoided since they are overused, but using quotes from important people in your life can be original, personal, and powerful. But make sure the quote adds value to your essay.

You can use both figurative and literal imagery throughout your essay to paint a clearer, richer image in your reader’s mind.

Similes , like metaphors, compare two unrelated objects but use the words “as” or “like.”

In a metaphor, the two objects are considered the same, but in a simile, the word “like” or “as” creates some distance between the objects.

Five senses

Illustrate your five senses with descriptive language to help your readers quickly imagine your story in a vivid, visceral way. Sensory language also helps to convey your interest and knowledge of a topic.

Personification

Personification uses human characteristics and behaviors to describe inanimate objects, animals, or ideas. This can help show your emotional connection to something in an original and poetic way.

Here are a few tone devices to help improve your essay’s authenticity and voice .

Colloquialisms

While most slang is too informal for college essays, regional colloquialisms can sometimes improve your essay’s authenticity when used strategically, enhancing your ability to connect with admissions officers and adding a memorable element.

However, you should ensure that they don’t seem shoehorned in or otherwise affect the flow, clarity, or professionalism of your essay. If applying to schools outside your region of origin (or if you’re applying as an international student ), be sure the colloquialism is one that will be widely understood.

Hyperbole is dramatic exaggeration to express the intensity of your feelings about something. Use hyperbole sparingly to ensure the greatest impact and avoid sounding overly dramatic. Make sure to be original, avoiding overused comparisons.

Sentence-level devices are useful for dramatic effect or to highlight a point. But use them sparingly to avoid sounding robotic, redundant, or awkward.

To have the greatest impact, use these devices against the backdrop of varying sentence structures and at a critical or vulnerable moment in your essay, especially during reflection.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

Though admissions officers are interested in hearing your story, they’re also interested in how you tell it. An exceptionally written essay will differentiate you from other applicants, meaning that admissions officers will spend more time reading it.

You can use literary devices to catch your reader’s attention and enrich your storytelling; however, focus on using just a few devices well, rather than trying to use as many as possible.

You can use humor in a college essay , but carefully consider its purpose and use it wisely. An effective use of humor involves unexpected, keen observations of the everyday, or speaks to a deeper theme. Humor shouldn’t be the main focus of the essay, but rather a tool to improve your storytelling.

Get a second opinion from a teacher, counselor, or essay coach on whether your essay’s humor is appropriate.

Avoid swearing in a college essay , since admissions officers’ opinions of profanity will vary. In some cases, it might be okay to use a vulgar word, such as in dialogue or quotes that make an important point in your essay. However, it’s safest to try to make the same point without swearing.

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Strong Personal Statements, Part 3: Extended Metaphors Add Cohesion

• August 22, 2018

We’re sharing exceptional personal statements from last year’s applicants to illustrate that a good personal statement can be on a variety of topics, but ultimately, showcases the student’s character, curiosity, and voice. These statements, written by students now enrolled at Emory University, were selected for a multitude of reasons, and we asked our admission staff to share what made each statement stand out.

This is one of a 5-part series on application writing; read  Part 1 here ,  Part 2 here , Part 4 here , and Part 5 here .

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

“It’ll die.”

“No it won’t, I’ll be careful, I promise!”

“Let it go, Chul-Soo”

“But mom !”

Twelve years ago, my dad’s studies moved my family across the Pacific to a small university in the quiet New Jersey suburbs. That first night, my parents and I were exploring the campus grounds when I spotted lights sleepily blinking amidst the trees like stars. These stars I could run through, reach out and touch, gaze at up close, they were fireflies. Growing up in the hustle and bustle of the largest city in Korea, I’d never seen these luminous creatures before. Their beauty sparked curiosity and wonder in my five-year old imagination. One drifted near, and I tiptoed towards it, heart beating a little faster with giddy excitement. “Gotcha!” I breathlessly watched my cupped hands flicker. “Mom! Can I keep it?”

“Sorry honey, you can’t.”

“Please?”

I was devastated to let the lightning bug go. It had been my first companion in America, where everything and everyone was unknown to me. I’d wanted so badly for it to stay…

I hold a lightning bug in my palms again for the first time in a long while. A high school senior now, I understand the firefly’s chemical secret: bioluminescence. And yet I find the same old captivation with its beauty, its way of whispering “let there be light” into the darkness. I now comprehend why my mother had insisted I let the firefly go – to preserve its fragile beauty. To protect its gift of light, not in an empty plastic water bottle where I alone could sit entranced by it, but rather somewhere it was free to inspire the rest of the world.

I see myself in this small glowing beetle – so miniscule in a large world yet still striving to find my own light. But rather than a self-made product of reactions between oxygen, adenosine triphosphate and luciferin, my lights come from the people in my life.

I stare at a blank canvas during the entire 40 minutes of class. I’m afraid…of paint. Afraid to mess up. In moments of doubt, my high school art teacher provided me with more than instruction. She asked me questions about the things in my life that made me distinctive: how was my sports team doing? What goals did I have for the future? She reminded me that my work gained meaning not only by way of craft and composition but each weight of line and shade of color that spoke true to my individuality, my own unique light.

My fingers stiffly play through the Beethoven piano sonata once, twice… after the fifth time, I stop. I have completed my finger exercises. While I was merely reading notes, my piano teacher gently swayed my body, demonstrating how to lean into stormy moments of appassionato and recline back in delicate moments of espressivo. She gave my emotions a voice, one that transcended notes and allowed my light to illuminate the entire stage.

A long day of shy class introductions as the new kid. The phone rings- a familiar name from my old area code. Though the amount of time I spent with some were short and the distance between us now great, the friends I made in New Jersey, in Michigan, and finally in Ohio opened my eyes to the light we all have in common. I still smile at their homecoming social media posts, laugh over the phone at the new drama updates, and cry with them at their struggles with high school pressures. These lifelong friends taught me how to find happiness in the memories we still share.

Confidence, passion, love… As I encounter more people, I continue to add reactants to the secret equation for my own bioluminescence. As I share energy and curiosity with others, together we make our light stronger and the world a little bit brighter.

Feedback from Admission Staff

As we read applications, each student has a team of admission staff assigned to their file to review it and assess the student’s potential. The staff responsible for this student’s file had this to say about the personal statement:

This essay starts out as a simple encounter with a firefly and evolves into story of growth, reflection, and connection. This student writes about first noticing the beauty of the firefly, then as they get older, learning more about how and why the firefly glows. They compare themselves to the firefly and discuss the people and experiences in their life that explain how and why they shine. This essay is textured, authentic, and beautifully written.

Don’t hesitate to connect with us by posting a comment to this blog, tweeting us @emoryadmission , or emailing us at [email protected] . We look forward to hearing from you!

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How to Develop a Personalized Metaphor for Your Applications

←How to Use Rhetorical Devices in Your College Essay

How to Get the Perfect Hook for Your College Essay→

Developing a Theme for Your Application

When you’re applying to competitive colleges, you need something that sets you apart from other applicants. This might be a special skill, an interesting characteristic, a unique experience, or even a circumstance beyond your control. One way to express this is through a personal metaphor in your essay. If you can come up with a defining metaphor that manifests throughout your application, you’ll be able to express your character more clearly and give colleges a better sense of who you are. This can tie your personal qualities and accomplishments together in a way that is more likely to resonate with admissions committees. Read on to learn how you can come up with a personalized metaphor for your essays that will set you apart.

How Can You Use a Metaphor in Your Essays

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things, tying something—an experience, a person, a thing, a place—to something else. At first glance, the comparison might seem unrelated but when the two ideas are juxtaposed, a new meaning emerges. Unlike a simile, your description doesn’t use “like” or “as,” so the comparison is more implicit. You might also use an analogy, which is similar to a metaphor in some respects. An analogy is another type of comparison, but instead of demonstrating how two things are completely similar, it highlights how two particular characteristics of those things are comparable, and often does use “like” or “as”. “I’m as tired as the day is long” is an example of an analogy, because rather than totally comparing oneself to the day, the speaker is focusing on one particular characteristic in each thing being compared—being tired and the length of the day.

In a metaphor, the comparison becomes a symbol to represent a larger experience or circumstance. Metaphors are commonly used as literary devices. For instance, Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It : “All the world’s a stage / And all the men and women merely players.” This is a quintessential example of a double metaphor, in which the stage represents the world, and players represent all the people—the implicit idea being that life is really a performance.

A metaphor can be a strong device to use in your college essays, but you’ll need to keep a few important considerations in mind. You’ll need to choose something unique to stand out, and describe it well. Use imagery and other rhetorical devices to frame your metaphor. Be descriptive. Also remember that admissions committees read many, many essays. While your experience doesn’t have to be completely unique, the way you describe it does. And you certainly don’t want to write an essay with overused clichés. Colleges have seen hundreds of essays describe how winning a sports game is like conquering life obstacles. Don’t be that person!

Consistency and cohesiveness are also important here. Choose something and stick to it. Don’t try to pack too much into a single thought, because then the metaphor might become too much of a leap. “I’m like bird, because I’m quick on my feet, adventurous, and like to sing” has too many elements. Try to focus on a particular thing—such as an adventurous spirit—and draw it out with examples, anecdotes, and imagery.

Thinking About our Pre-College Experiences Through the Lens of a Metaphor

You don’t have to climb Mount Everest to develop a meaningful metaphor. Colleges care more about how you describe and frame your experiences than the experiences themselves. However, you’re probably not going to find much inspiration from the Sunday you spent watching TV on the couch, so you should make an effort to seek out experiences that inspire you. To start, try pursuing something off the beaten path that interests you over the summer. For example, you might volunteer in another country, take on a unique internship, or gain experience in a profession you plan on pursuing. You might, then, use an aspect of the experience—say, animals you encountered in the wilderness—to highlight the new experiences and adventures you seek out in life: “Seeing a lion on a safari in Africa made me nervous at first, but I soon realized the fear came more from the unknown than the threat the lion posed to me.”

Or, on the flip side of this example, if you’ve had a particular struggle, is there a way to paint a metaphorical picture about it?

Making Your College Application Cohesive

Don’t stretch to hard to fit everything into the metaphor you choose, and don’t try to pack too much into it. You don’t want to make admissions committees have to work to understand what you’re trying to convey. For example, “Working with my teammates to defeat the rival school in football taught me collaboration conquers all” is a bit of a reach, not to mention cliché.

To help you come up with something that defines you and your experiences, make a list of your best qualities and what defines you as a student. Additionally, ask friends, family members, and teachers what they think of when they think about you. Then, make a list of extracurricular activities or other interests you’ve pursued, and try to determine the qualities from the first list each activity brings out. Select one that best exemplifies your personal experiences to write about in your essay. It’s also a good idea to think about particular experiences and anecdotes to illustrate the activity. Also think about imagery you associate with the activity. Does playing piano make you feel peaceful? What other images are associated with peace? Perhaps it transports you to a beach or some other calm setting. Is there a particular time when this feeling was exemplified during a performance or recital?

If you have a particular passion, describe why you love it and what you’ve done to hone and pursue it. Show colleges why it’s meaningful to you. Maybe you’re a writer and have participated in writing programs, contest, and clubs like the school newspaper. Is there an image that comes to mind that illustrates how you’ve made writing your focus?

If you can think of a literal object that works well with your talents and experiences, then great. You could also use a single event or activity to show who you are more generally. For example, you might use debate club to show how you feel like a small-time version of a Supreme Court judge. “One time, when I argued the merits of the public-school system, I pictured myself in a real courtroom, presiding over a trial that would determine the fate of Americans.”

Remember that consistency is key. In Well-Rounded or Specialized? , we explain how it is important to demonstrate passion for a particular specialty or area. Having that passion will help you develop your metaphor, because you will naturally have a theme to exemplify.

Final Thoughts on the Admissions Metaphor

A metaphor is an impressive way to capture the attention of the admissions committee. Remember, you want them to sit up and take notice, so you need to draw them in right away.

Also keep in mind that it’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. While having a solid academic record is important, you need to demonstrate that you are unique. That doesn’t mean you have to have had a unique experience. You might have a particularly insightful or interesting way of describing or looking at something—and that makes you unique! Plus, being able to describe the events of your life or your goals for the future through the frame of a metaphor is one way of showing that you are capable of thinking of general trends and patterns in life in a creative way.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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