Blog 14 – Metaphor analysis
My metaphor analysis is the article “How to Build a Better Democrat” written by Joe Klein
There area lot of metaphors in this article. For example, the author compares the greatest threats today to virus. Unlike before, when foreign policy could use military or economy to make a difference, the foreign policy has its new characteristics according to the new age. One significant feature is insidiousness. Sometimes the threat is invisible but big, so unlike actual war, it is hard to tell apparently.
The author’s argument of this article is “In an age of viral power, Democrats might argue, the U.S. has to be more than a hammer looking for nails. We have to find a way to act as a vaccine.” Here is another metaphor which is associated with the last metaphor of virus. He thinks “Good Democrat = vaccine”.
Vaccine is the medicine to protect people from viruses, so a better democrat should have the role to protect their people from any threat. Moreover, vaccine is not violent compared with surgery and other medical methods to cure diseases. So the author also means that a better democrat should not rely on its military power or economy to achieve this purpose, but to use a friendly and mild way.
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I just thought of this now, but in continuation of Klein’s metaphor, a virus can sometimes hold a potential threat of causing a pandemic that poses a global threat. I wonder if he views terrorism in the same light: something that could erupt violently if placed under certain circumstances.
Comment by kienecd | April 18, 2009
I like the fact that you realize some threats are invisible to the naked eye, and they turn out to be a large problem for the U.S.
Comment by horvatkz | April 19, 2009
I read the same article. I liked how you said some problems go unnoticed, kind of like a virus in many cases, but can cause a large problem
Comment by thumabr | April 21, 2009
Great Analysis! This was interesting and you show a clear understanding of the piece.
Comment by flygirl12 | April 21, 2009
It’s so true that some problems do go unnoticed. At the same time it’s kind of scary to think a problem could be going on in the US and we don’t even notice.
Comment by natalieng12 | April 21, 2009
I thought it was interesting that you see vaccines as something less violent. I suppose on the surface they seem peaceful, but on the inside, vaccines are actually attacking the viral agents. Maybe this could change your interpretation to that we are trying to act like we are being friendly about terrorism but really trying to attack it.
Comment by sutheraj | April 22, 2009
i like your point about how we used to use the brute force of our military and our powerful economy to sort of deal with international problems, but now we have to do it in sneakier ways.
Comment by automobilely | April 27, 2009
I like your idea of threats like a virus or terrorism being invisible to the naked eye. I did not think of that when I analyzed the article, good job.
Comment by vmd2012 | April 28, 2009
I liked that you not only say that the government is just searching around for an idea but that action needs to be taken. I think that if we just sit around (which is what politics is usually known for) than why even look at such a serious problem as poverty and terrorism at all?
Comment by vince2012 | April 29, 2009
You come at this article differently than everyone else in the class. You see the difference in military action rather than just general force. I also never tried to relate the title “How to Build a Better Democrat” to the paper. After seeing that, I feel like the author is not calling for reform of the United States’ foreign policy, he is calling for a reform on the Democratic position on U.S. foreign policy.
Comment by 08tcoc | April 30, 2009
You look at these metaphors very carefully. I feel that you definitely have an good understanding of these. I looked at the same article and I feel that we share many commonalities in our analyses.
Comment by stephenenglish112 | April 30, 2009