Definition and Examples of Vehicles in Metaphors

In a metaphor, the vehicle is the figure of speech  itself--that is, the immediate image that embodies or carries the tenor (the subject of the metaphor). The interaction of vehicle and tenor results in the meaning of the  metaphor. For example, if you call a person  who spoils other peoples fun a wet blanket, wet blanket is the vehicle and the spoilsport is the tenor. The terms  vehicle  and  tenor  were introduced by British rhetorician  Ivor Armstrong  Richards in  The Philosophy of Rhetoric  (1936). Richards emphasized the tension that often exists between vehicle and tenor.   In the article Metaphor Shifting in the Dynamics of Talk, Lynne Cameron observes that the multiple possibilities evoked by a vehicle are both derived from and constrained by speakers experience of the world, their socio-cultural contexts, and their discourse purposes (Confronting Metaphor in Use, 2008).See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Dead MetaphorThe 100 Most Important Words in EnglishNew RhetoricSource DomainTenor13 Ways of Looking at a MetaphorWhat Is a Metaphor? Examples and Observations Tenor and VehicleBecause he was dissatisfied with the traditional grammatical and rhetorical account of metaphor, which he believed emphasized its merely decorative and embellishing powers, I. A. Richards in 1936 reintroduced this pair of terms . . . with the notion of a borrowing between and intercourse of thoughts. Since any metaphor at its simplest  gives two parts, the thing meant and the thing said, Richards used tenor to refer to the thing meant—purport, underlying meaning, or main subject of the metaphor—and  vehicle to mean the thing said—that which serves to carry or embody the tenor as the analogy brought to the subject. . . .The vehicle, [Richards said], is not normally mere embellishment of  a tenor  which is otherwise unchanged by it but . . . vehicle and tenor in cooperation give a meaning of more varied powers than can be ascribed to either.(Norman Friedman in  The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 4th ed., ed. by Roland Green e,  Stephen Cushman et al.  Princeton University Press, 2012)Time Bombs as Vehicles- Unambiguous vehicle terms are those that people agree about: there is consensus about what properties they represent. One example of an unambiguous vehicle is time bomb. People agree that time bomb epitomizes something that can cause considerable damage at some unpredictable time in the future.(Sam Glucksberg,  Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms. Oxford University Press, 2001)- Some three decades after China launched its highly controversial policy restricting families to having one child, the  government  may soon allow a two-child policy to curb a demographic time bomb. . . .The law is believed to have resulted in millions of forced abortions, and has left China with the combination of a rapidly ageing population, a shallow labour pool and an imbalance in the sex ratio. The result is a demographic time bomb.(Kashmira Gander, China May Scrap One-Child Policy to Cur b Demographic Time Bomb. The Independent [UK], July 23, 2015)- Wedged in the narrow space behind us was the umbrella stroller that held Teddy, slumped over in exhausted, jet-lagged sleep. We’d carried him up the stairs like a drunken rajah.We were all ravenous from our morning walk through the greenery of Yoyogi Koen, but I was acutely aware that the ticking time-bomb of the slumbering 1-year-old could interrupt our meal at any moment.(Bonnie Tsui, Traveling to Tokyo With Three Generations. The New York Times, December 3, 2015)Tenor and Vehicle in A Blackbird SingingBy tenor, [I.A. Richards] meant the purport or general drift of thought regarding the subject of a metaphor; by vehicle the image which embodies the tenor. In these lines from R.S. Thomass A Blackbird Singing, the tenor is the birds song, its tune; the vehicle is the fine smelting image in the fifth and sixth lines:It seems wrong that out of this bird,Black, bold, a suggestion of darkPlaces about it, there yet sho uld comeSuch rich music, as though the notesOre were changed to a rare metalAt one touch of that bright bill.(Tenor and Vehicle, J.A. Cuddon, A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Basil Blackwell, 1991)Tenor and Vehicle in William Staffords RecoilIn William Staffords poem Recoil, the first stanza is the vehicle and the second stanza is the tenor:The bow bent remembers home long,the years of its tree, the whineof wind all night conditioningit, and its answer-- Twang!To the people here who would fret me downtheir way and make me bend:By remembering hard I could startle for homeand be myself again.I.A. Richard and Vehicle and TenorA modern theory would object, first, that in many of the most important uses of metaphor, the co-presence of the vehicle and the tenor results in a meaning (to be clearly distinguished from the tenor) which is not attainable without their interaction. That the vehicle is not normally a mere embellishment of a tenor which is otherwise unchanged b y it but that vehicle and tenor in co-operation give a meaning of more varied powers that can be ascribed to either. And a modern theory would go on to point out that with different metaphors the relative importance of the contributions of vehicle and tenor to this resultant meaning varies immensely. At one extreme the vehicle may become almost a mere decoration or coloring of the tenor, at the other extreme, the tenor may become almost a mere excuse for the introduction of the vehicle, and so no longer be the principal subject. And the degree to which the tenor is imagined to be that very thing which it only resembles also varies immensely.(I.A. Richards, The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford University Press, 1936)Criticism of Richards Theory- As Manuel Bilsky points out, if someone says his mind is a river, mind is the tenor and river the vehicle; but in I walked into the river, what is the tenor and what is the vehicle? This criticism does not vitiate Richards theory; it does indic ate the kinds of problems that remained to be clarified.(J. P. Russo, I.A. Richards: His Life and Work. Taylor, 1989)- In her brief assessment of [I.A.] Richards approach, [Christine] Brooke-Rose also notes that the very terms tenor and vehicle destroy the interaction Richards seeks to stress.(Brian Caraher, Intimate Conflict. SUNY Press, 1992) Pronunciation: VEE-i-kul

Cubas Relations with the United States Essay - 1361 Words

Cubas Relations with the United States In the early 1900’s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba. It was after Castro took power that the United States changed its way in which it dealt with Cuba dramatically. The United States decided it would†¦show more content†¦These problems along with the GNP of the country also dropping substantially caused Castro to start to look at how Communism might be able to help him out of these troubles. The United States did not just put sanctions on Cuba after Castro came to power but also was trying to exert it’s power over the country when Batista was in power. The US wanted Batista to give up his leadership of the country so a new government could take over but the State Department was unsure how to go about accomplishing this since there wasn’t enough information to show what group could lead the Cuban people. These decisions that were made follow, albeit loosely, along the line of two decision models we have studied: the Presidential model and the Administrative Model. When the revolution in Cuba started, Dwight Eisenhower took the lead in telling his advisors what he wanted done. First off, arms were given to Batista’s militia through Eisenhower’s orders and then after Batista turned them upon his own countrymen, it was Eisenhower’s decision to place arms sanctions against them. This meant that they would not be sent anymore of the USâ€℠¢s artillery. The President only made decisions when there was a heightened awareness of what was going on in Cuba and it affected the US in some way. Another time this model was shown was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy took matters into his own hands when itShow MoreRelatedCuba s Current Gross National Income Per Person Of $ 5890 ( Talley )1433 Words   |  6 PagesJason Lee Captain Czak History 300 21 October 2016 Cuba Cuba’s current gross national income per person of $5,890 (Talley), enormous debt, and other poor economic conditions can be explained by events tracing back post-World War II in 1945. The island of Cuba was inhabited by different Mesoamerican cultures but introduced to European cultures in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus. 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Poverty Most Serious Problem in the Whole World Free Essays

I choose poverty as my topic for my essay because poverty has been considered as the most serious problem not only In the United State, but also In the whole world. It has been playing an important role In developing the entire society. There are three different theories In analyzing how society Influences people, and how people Influence society, which are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic Interaction. We will write a custom essay sample on Poverty: Most Serious Problem in the Whole World or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are five social Institutions In functionalist perspective: family, government, economy, religion, and education. View poverty from functionalism perspective, It stops the development of the whole society. The effects of poverty to society Is a very long list. Illness, crime, and hunger are major effects of poverty on society as a whole. Some of these effects can also be considered as a cause for poverty. Poverty also can lead to poor education for those children who are effected by poverty. It also will lead o revolution from the lower class people, who are suffering poverty, against the government. Sometimes it will also cause terrorism. But on the other hand, poverty can also create some jobs opportunities. Manifest function, consequences which are intended and recognized by the participants in a system, of poverty is that it gets the â€Å"dirty work† done. Latent function, consequences that are neither intended nor recognized, of poverty is that it separates people from different classes. Latent dysfunction of the poverty is that it will only enlarge the gap between the rich and he poor. Conflict theory is more focused on controlling the scarce resources.. Apply conflict theory to poverty, the poor will try to get out of their situation while the rich will do their best to protect the scarce resource. In this case, the scarce resource is money, The struggling groups of poverty are the â€Å"have onto† , and these â€Å"haves†, rich people, gain a lot more power in this case. Rich people have more power In an economic way, money. They want to keep their benefits, and they can give their children some advantages in this way at the same time. If the poor wins more power In this struggle, one of the biggest changes In would be wages. In this society, more money produces more power, more power produces more money. The riches will get richer, the poor get poorer. The third theory Is symbolic Interaction. It relies on the symbolic meanings that people develop and rely upon In the process of social Interaction. In poverty, people who are labeled poor are always stigmatize as lazy, lack of motivation and education, or sometimes even criminal while wealthy people re always considered capable, hard working, well-educated and motivated. It separates people from different classes communicating with each other, that way It enlarges the disparity between the rich and the poor. In a conclusion, poverty Is one of the most rigorous issues right now In our society. It applies to these three different theories in different ways. The theory that I agree with the most is the people are really trying their best to narrow the gap between the rich and poor, but it really takes some sufferance to overcome those difficulties. How to cite Poverty: Most Serious Problem in the Whole World, Papers