Chapter 1-3

Tony带水

Reader: 英语2302班阳佳玲
Reading Time: 5.3-5.4
Reading Task: Chapter1-3
Summary of the Content: Before reading this book, I used AI to make a mind map and got a general understanding of the content of the entire book. Then I chose to read the first three chapters of the book. It mentions that most people believe that metaphor is a tool of poetry and rhetoric, having nothing to do with everyday language, thoughts and actions. But in fact, metaphor is everywhere in daily life. It not only exists in language, but also plays a fundamental role in thought and action. Through the metaphor "ARGUMENT IS WAR", the authors demonstrate the profound influence of metaphor on behavior and ways of thinking. It also talks about that metaphorical concepts are systematic. They are interrelated through language expression and form a system. The systematicity of metaphorical concepts enables us to understand one concept from one aspect of another, but at the same time it hides other aspects of the concept. Although some metaphors are applicable in certain situations, they conceal the importance of the context in communication.

Evaluation: When expounding the complex metaphor theory, the authors widely employ common examples in life, such as expressions related to concepts like arguments, time, and money, making the abstract theory concrete and perceptible. And as they explain the metaphor "ARGUMENT IS WAR", a series of expressions in daily arguments are listed. This method reduces the difficulty of understanding the theory.
From pointing out the popularity of metaphor in life, to elaborating the systematicity of the metaphorical concepts, and then to analyzing the highlighting and concealing, the logic between chapters is tight, gradually and deeply revealing the essence and characteristics of metaphor. In each chapter, the authors first present viewpoints and then demonstrate them through specific examples, enabling us to follow their thought and gradually gain a deeper understanding of the metaphor theory.

Reflection: The book indicates that language is not merely a symbolic system, but is closely linked to our cognition and life experiences. Metaphor, as a cognitive tool, influences our understanding and expression of the world. This suggests that when linguists study language, they should not only focus on language itself, but also deeply explore the interrelationships between language and factors such as cognition, culture and society, so as to explain language phenomena more comprehensively. Traditional semantic research often focuses on the literal meaning and objective definition of words. However, the research on metaphor in this book shows us that the meanings of many words are constructed through metaphor, and this kind of meaning is situational and relative. This prompts semantic research to pay more attention to the process of semantic generation and understanding, and consider the influence of factors such as metaphor on semantics, thereby improving the theories and methods of semantic research.

Tony带水

A Mind Map Made by Doubao