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An Investigation Into the Presence, Prevalence, and Functions of Metaphor in Scientific Journal Articles Susan Lee Booker Iowa State University

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An Investigation Into the Presence, Prevalence, and Functions of Metaphor in Scientific Journal Articles Susan Lee Booker Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1995 Two ideas for one: an investigation into the presence, prevalence, and functions of metaphor in scientific journal articles Susan Lee Booker Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Booker, Susan Lee, "Two ideas for one: an investigation into the presence, prevalence, and functions of metaphor in scientific ourj nal articles" (1995). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 7077. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/7077 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Two ideas for one: An investigation into the presence, prevalence, and functions of metaphor in scientific journal articles hy Susan Lee Booker A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department: English Major; English (Rhetoric and Composition) Signatures have been redacted for privacy Signatures have been redacted for privacy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1995 11 Table ofContents Acknowledgments v Abstract vi Chapter One/Introductionand Review ofliterature l Explanation of the Project 2 Research question posed by this project 5 What this study offers 7 Factors complicating this study 8 A Review of the Literature 11 What metaphor is and what it does 13 Metaphor's place in scientific writing 20 The social nature of the scientific community and its influence over convention 26 The role of audience in uses of metaphor 31 Assumptions Underlying this Project 37 Preview of Remaining Chapters 39 ChapterTwo/Methods ofInvestigatingMetaphor IN SOENTinC ARITCLES 40 Selecting Scientist-authors and Language Experts 44 Selecting Scientific Articles with Metaphor 46 Designing Training Materials for Metaphor Identification 48 Desigiung a Process for Metaphor Identification 57 Creating a process for training 57 Conducting pilot tests 58 Considering general results of pilot tests 59 Revising based on pilot tests 60 Conducting Metaphor Identification Sessions 61 Conducting practice sessions with participants 62 Events preceding practice sessions 62 Events during practice sessions 63 Events following practice sessions 63 Ill Reconsidering the study's emphasis 64 Conducting follow-up interviews 65 ChapterThree/Results OF InvestigatingMetaphor IN SciENTinc Articles 68 Results ofData Collected 69 Unanticipated results 69 Participants' comments about the project 70 Numeric results of metaphor identification 74 Scientist-authors' results 74 Language experts' results 76 Descriptive results of metaphor identification 78 Functions of metaphor identified by participants 79 Metaphors that clarify or describe 79 Metaphors that ornament 87 Metaphors that emphasize 89 Metaphors that persuade 90 Preview of Remaining Chapter 92 Chapter Four/Discussionand Implicationsfor FurtherResearch 93 Complicating Factors 93 Metaphors that Qarifyor Describe 95 How definitions of metaphor influence metaphors that clarify or describe 97 How disciplinary conventions affect metaphors that clarify or describe 98 How the role of audience influences metaphors that clarify or describe 99 Metaphors that Ornament 100 How definitions of metaphor influence metaphors that ornament 101 How disciplinary conventions affect metaphors that ornament 102 Metaphors that Emphasize 103 How definitions of metaphor influence metaphors that emphasize 104 How the role of audience influences metaphors that emphasize 105 IV Metaphors that Persuade 105 How definitions of metaphor influence metaphors that persuade 106 Responses to the Studjr's Research Question 108 As related to complicating factors in metaphor identification 109 As related to metaphor's definition and place in scientific writing 109 As related to disciplinary influences on metaphor's use 110 As related to audience's role in metaphor use 110 As related to metaphor's functions in scientific texts 110 Implications for Further Research Ill Varying the number and type of participants 112 Focusing on pedagogical applications 113 Concentrating on complicating factors 113 Concluding Remarks 114 WORKS Qted 115 Appendix A/Articlefor Review/Practice Sessions 119 Appendix B/Articles for Review/Metaphor IdentificationTask 125 Appendix C/Training document. 151 Appendix DAVorksheet 158 Appendix e/Guidelinesfor Marking Metaphors 158 Appendix F/Interview Instruments 160 acknowledgments Many thanks go to the members of this thesis committeefDr. Michael Mendelson, Professor Fern Kupfer, and Dr. Elwood Hart. The greatest thanks go to Dr. Rebecca E. Burnett who served as thesis director, advisor—and much more. Without Dr. Bumetfs support both professionally ^d personally, this thesis would be much delayed and far less thorough. I am forever in your debt Scientist-authors, language experts, and pilot testers practiced patience and commitment to this project beyond what could ever have been expected of volunteer participants. Special thanks, too, to family and friends in Iowa and Virginia—and points in between and beyond—^for tender and loving care doled out in enormous amounts. Gatherings and cotmtless phone calls among members of the Thesis Support Group—^Kate Molitor, Janet Renze, Carla Weiner, and especially Christianna White—^renewed me always. VI Abstract In response to this study's guiding research question. Why are writers of scientific texts using metaphor?, botanists and language experts searched scientific journal articles to identify instances of metaphoric language. This examination of metaphor's nature and function focused on four areas; 1) factors that complicate metaphor identification; 2) perceptions about definitions of metaphor and its functions in scientific texts; 3) the social character of the scientific community as a disciplinary influence; and 4) the role of audience in the scientist-authors' perception and use of metaphor. Conclusions I drew represented each of those four areas. First, participants' identification of metaphors was complicated by factors such as connotations, synonyms, and references to human characteristics. Second, participants struggled to agree about what a metaphor is and does regardless of how well acquainted they were with definitions of metaphor and or how well trained to recognize metaphor. Participants' mental images or "senses" about metaphor worked as effectively in the task as exposure to examples and classifications of metaphor's characteristics. Third, participants' place in the discipline seemed to influence ability to identify metaphors because disciplinary conventions seemed to erase metaphoricity. Finally, scientist-authors said they use more metaphors when communicating with less technically aware audiences, although they also used metaphors when writing for professional colleagues. According to participants, metaphors appeared to function in the scientific journal articles in the following ways: clarifying or describing, ornamenting, emphasizing, and persuading. Chapter One iNTRODUCnON AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE The words of Samuel Johnson title this document because they reflect what I believe is an essential characteristic and benefit of metaphor: an unparalleled combination of concision, clarity, and inventiveness. Johnson said, "As to metaphorical expression, that is a great excellence in style, when it is used with propriety, for it gives you two ideas for one" ("Metaphor/' Princeton 491). Johnson broached several important caveats in that statement. First, metaphor is (or is perceived to be) a matter of style. Next, metaphor must be managed with care. And, finally, if care is given, understanding comes in the form of two ideas instead of just one. That temptation to mine metaphor for more, as posed by Johnson, is curbed by a complication raised by a contemporary researcher and technical editor. Joseph Harmon examined metaphor in scientific citations and discovered the difficulty of coimting metaphors in context. His words reflect different—^but equally compelling—considerations about metaphor: ". metaphor (as well as simile and analogy) is easy to define but not always easy to recognize when you see it" (181). Harmon's assertion that knowing a definition and being able to apply it in context embraces the two distinctive (and difficult) tasks that I revisit in the following pages. Those tasks, knowing what metaphor is and recognizing its presence, enrich what this document maintains as fundamental principles about metaphor. According to Johnson and Harmon, those principles offer that metaphor may benefit those who read it and write it and that those who use metaphor may not even be aware of its presence or realize the deeds it accomplishes in their work. The figure's attraction to scholars of not only rhetoric and professional communication but alsoof psychology, linguistics, and philosophy appears to be substantial. The sentiments of Samuel Johnson are echoed with only slight variation by Harmon and many others. Correspondingly, the histories of metaphor are shaped by perceptions of the natureand functions of the figure. This document reveals that those histories
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