Analogy examples hold clue
to why students must write them

Publishers do a brisk business in products that give analogy examples and analogy practice to help students do well on blacken-the-bubble standardized tests.

As a result, most students learn to dislike analogies. That dislike puts them at a definite disadvantage in college and career where the ability to create analogies is tremendously useful.

What is an analogy?

The definition of analogy is an expression of similarity between two unlike things. Usually the comparison involves two or more comparison points.

In real life, analogies are used to explain and teach. Their most common uses are to

• Explain something unknown in terms of something known.

• Explain something unfamiliar in terms of something familiar.

• Explain something unseen in terms of something seen.

An analogy usually does more than describe the appearance of something; it explains how something works. Analogies usually oversimplify to give an frame of reference in which detail may be understood.

Three analogy examples

1) If you've poked around this website, you've seen me explain transition sentences by analogy to bridges. Readers might never have heard the term transition sentence, but they understand what a bridge is. I explained the unknown in terms of something known.

2) I recently took an e-mail course in which the operation of stockmarkets was explained by analogy to auctions. That's an example of the familiar being used to explain something unfamiliar. Thanks to the analogy, I understand how a stockmarket works.

3) Elsewhere I described the organization of the introduction paragraph as analogous to a funnel. The "shape" of the organization of an introduction is invisible, so I drew an analogy to examples of funnels which people have seen.

Analogy use in teaching concepts

In teaching writing, you should use analogies often. Examples are useful to students who already understand a concept. Analogies, on the other hand, help students understand concepts.

The table below summarizes the differences between an analogy and an example.

An analogy	An example
Explains something unknown in terms of something known.	Explains something known in terms of something known.
Explains something unfamiliar in terms of something familiar.	Explain something familiar in terms of something familiar.
Explains something unseen in terms of something seen.	Explain something seen in terms of something seen.

Analogy examples can be created only by people who understand a concept well. That's why using analogies is considered a higher level thinking skill.

Analogy creation tests understanding

No one who just parrots a definition can create an analogy. The ability to create an analogy is a test of understanding. It tests understanding of two things:

1. The concept.

2. The audience.

Clearly you have to know something very well before you can explain its workings to someone who is unfamiliar with it.

Because the creation of analogies requires thorough understanding, asking students to use analogy (not only examples) is an excellent test of how well students have mastered your course content.

Less obvious, perhaps, is the fact that you cannot create a useful analogy unless you know what kinds of information your audience is likely to already know. Successful writers, speakers, and teachers know their audiences as well as their subjects and they tailor their analogies to those audiences.

If you think your audience knows about playing Nintendo when the only games they've played are horseshoes and Old Maid, your analogies are not going to be successful.