Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on considering and emulating the use of extended analogies in non-fiction texts.

My name's Dr.

Clayton and I'm going to guide you through your learning journey today.

So today's lesson's all about extended analogies.

So we're gonna spend a little bit of time defining what an extended analogy is.

Now think about why they might be useful in non-fiction writing.

Then we're gonna practise identifying and analysing an extended analogy.

Then we're gonna break down the use of that extended analogy so you can then emulate the method and craft your own extended analogy.

So if you're ready, grab your pen and laptop, whatever you use for this lesson, and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to identify, analyse, and emulate the use of extended analogies for effect in non-fiction writing.

So we have five words there we're going to focus on as our keywords.

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point 'em out to as well so you can see them being used in context.

Now, first keyword is effective, which means successful in producing a desired or intended result.

So by the end of the lesson, we're going to aim to produce effective extended analogies, which means we need to identify and analyse what makes successful extended analogy in order to produce our own.

Our second keyword is extended analogy, which means a comparison between two things to develop a point, that's extended across a piece of writing.

As I said, we're gonna spend some time talking through extended analogies more broadly before we start to identify and analyse the use of extended analogies.

Our third keyword is communicate, which means to share or exchange information, news or ideas.

We're going to be considering how extended analogies link the idea of sharing ideas or information.

Our fourth keyword is semantic field, which means a group of words or expressions that are related in meaning.

We're going to be thinking about how we might use semantic fields to produce effective extended analogies.

Finally, our fifth keyword is emulate which match or surpass a personal achievement, typically by imitation.

We're going to be thinking about how we can emulate effective extended analogies in our second learning cycle.

Now, I'll just give you a few moments to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to consider extended analogies, and by that we mean we're gonna think about what an extended analogy is, and why it might be useful within non-fiction writing before identifying, analyse use of extended analogies within an extract from a non-fiction text.

Our second learning cycle, is all about crafting extended analogy.

So in order to do this, we're gonna break down why our example of extended analogy was successful.

Then we're gonna use that breakdown as a formula for you to craft your own extended analogies.

So let's begin by making sure we're clear on what an extended analogy is.

So the definition of an analogy is a comparison between one thing and another.

Then we make an extended analogy by developing and continuing that comparison throughout the piece of work.

So continually drawing the reader's attention back to that comparison.

Now you might be thinking the definition of an analogy sounds awfully the definition of a metaphor, and you're right.

Both an analogy and a metaphor involve comparing one thing to another.

However, the crucial difference is that an analogy specifically is to explain or clarify something to the audience.

While a metaphor might be used to create an emotion or an image for the audience.

For example, an analogy for raising children might be to compare 'em to growing a garden.

You need to nurture them, feed them, introduce them to light and darkness, have patience, give them room to grow and then you'll see them blossom.

So here, we've taken the somewhat abstract and complicated topic, the work of raising children.

We've explained it through the comparison of tending to a garden.

So even people who have never raised children begin to understand the care and complexity of the task.

Thanks to the use of an analogy.

So always keep in mind, analogy is a comparison designed to explain something to the reader.

You're making something clear for them to understand.

So now that we've thought about what an extended analogy is, I'd like to think about why a writer might want to use an extended analogy in non-fiction writing.

Now, non-fiction writing is defined as prose writing that's informative or factual rather than fictional.

So fictional writing is telling us a story, whereas we might say the purpose of non-fiction writing is to inform, persuade, or educate people about something.

Now, if going through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

If it's by yourself, you might just think about ideas.

So pause the video.

Discuss why a writer might want to use an extended analogy in non-fiction writing.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people going back to the idea that analogy is all about using comparison to explain or clarify idea to the reader.

It's all about communicating with the audience.

Now, communication is our keyword, is to share exchange information, news, or ideas.

So an analogy is all about sharing, exchanging ideas.

Therefore, as Oak people Izzy says, "An extended analogy might help the audience understand the intended idea or message that the writer is trying to communicate.

It might help them take an abstract or unfamiliar topic and explain it away for the reader it to understand".

Now, for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that extended analogies are a useful tool in non-fiction writing? Pause the video, make your selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's true.

So why are extended analogies useful in non-fiction writing? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said, "The purpose of non-fiction writing is to inform, persuade, or educate a reader, to communicate an idea to them.

An extended analogy can help a writer to communicate ideas." So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

We're now at the first task of the lesson.

So now that we've talked through what an extended analogy is and why it might be useful, we're going to practise identifying and analysing an extended analogy.

So Laura was asked to write a persuasive piece about the dangers of modern technology.

So it's a non-fiction text.

It's designed to persuade the audience that technology is a negative thing.

So Laura wrote, "In our modern lives, individuals find themselves unwitting prisoners to the attraction of technology ensnared by the digital threads woven into the fabric of daily existence.

Much like inmates confined within the walls of a sprawling prison complex, people navigate the corridors of their digital devices bound by invisible chains of connectivity." So what I would like you to do is read through Laura's answer again by yourselves, and then answer the following three questions.

So number one, "What extended analogy has Laura used?" Remember an extended analogy os a comparison between two things to explain the point to the reader, and this extended across a piece of writing.

Number two, "What idea is Laura trying to communicate?" So what idea is she trying to share with the audience? And number three, "Why is it effective?" So how is it accessible in sharing that idea to the audience? Pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I'm gonna share the ideas of one of our Oak people, Sofia.

I'd like you to consider how well they align with your ideas.

So how well they fit the ideas you had.

So question one, what extended analogy has Laura used? And Sofia said, "By using the words prisoners, ensnared, inmates, prison complex, bound and chains, Laura has created the extended analogy of comparing technology users to prisoners." Question two, what idea is Laura trying to communicate? And Sofia said, "I think she's trying to communicate the idea that technology has a negative impact on our lives." Number three, why is it effective? And Sofia said, "The comparison of technology users to prisoners immediately creates the negative sensation of being trapped.

It implies that technology limits our world view as well as limiting our freedom." So I'd like you to pause the video.

Consider how well Sofia's ideas fit with your ideas.

Welcome back everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

It was great to see people sharing their own thoughts on modern technology and how it does cause us juxtaposition between being free to connect with people and find information with a click of a button.

But equally, it does make us feel as if we can't live without it, and therefore we do become prisoners to it, as Laura's extended analogy suggested.

So now we've identified and analysed Laura's extended analogy, we're gonna break down how Laura created it, and then we're gonna have a go at crafting our own.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

With our second learning cycle, where we're gonna break down how Laura created an effective extended analogy.

Then we're going to consider how we can use that breakdown as a toolkit to create our own effective analogies.

So before we start to break down Laura's extended analogy, let's return to our definition of an analogy.

"An analogy is a comparison between one thing and another, typically for the use of communicating or explaining an idea." So what I'd like you to start off by thinking about is if an analogy is a comparison to then communicate or explain an idea, what do you think the first step in creating an analogy might be? Now, as before, if you're going through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

If you're through this by yourself, you might just think about ideas.

So pause the video, think about what the first step of creating an analogy might be.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people zooming in on that notion that what sets an analogy apart is that it's all about explaining something to the reader.

So as Oak people Sam says, "In order to create an analogy, we first need to decide what idea we want to communicate to the audience." So now let's return to Laura's extended analogy.

So Laura said, "In our modern lives, individuals find themselves unwitting prisoners to the attraction of technology, ensnared by the digital threads woven into the fabric of daily existence.

Much like inmates confined within the walls of a sprawling prison complex, people navigate the corridors of their digital devices bound by invisible chains of connectivity." So what I'd like you to think about is what idea did Laura want to communicate? So what do you think Laura first began with before she wrote her analogy? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone, some great discussions there.

Now people are absolutely right by saying the core of Laura's idea is a negative impact of technology.

And how it's detrimental to our lives.

So at the start of her analogy, Laura begin with saying technology has a negative impact.

So now we have our idea that we want to communicate to the audience.

What do you think the next step will be in creating an extended analogy? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people looking back at the definition of extended analogy to remind themselves as comparison to something else.

So as what Oak people Izzy says, "Once we have the idea we want to communicate to the audience, we then need to decide on our initial analogy." So what is our initial comparison be, that we then want develop? So now let's turn to Laura's example.

Laura wants to communicate the negative impact of technology.

So what analogy did Laura come up with to explain that negative impact to the reader? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now as Oak people Izzy says, "Laura chose to compare technologies to prisoners now to show that technology keeps us trapped and imprisoned.

And I think Laura's extended analogy is so good 'cause it works in different levels and not only suggests we feel chained to our technological devices, but just technology stops us from growing as if we're somehow emotionally and mentally imprisoned by it." So now that we have our initial analogy of comparing technologies to prisoners, we then want to create an extended analogy by developing it throughout our text.

I think it's perhaps the most important step because you don't just want to repeat the same image which develop and grow it.

So what I'd like you to do is again return to Laura's answer and consider how she developed that initial comparison to prisoners.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now it's great to see people noticing that Laura didn't just repeat the word prisoners all through her work.

Instead, she used associated terminology such as prison complex.

Hence, the synonym for prisoners and the word inmates.

Now synonyms are words with similar meanings.

She's extending a comparison by using words with similar meanings, rather than repeating the same word.

You also might have said, she developed her analogy by feeding this idea that being a prisoner means you feel trapped to confined.

So to explain that to the reader, Laura's used a semantic field.

Now, semantic field is one of our key words.

It's words or phrase that relate to meaning.

So Laura's created a semantic field of being or feeling trapped.

The words such as ensnared, confined, bound in chains that really developed idea throughout her work.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell whether the following statement is true or false.

Is it true or false, that Laura used antonyms in her writing to develop her extended analogy.

Pause the video, make a selection now.

Now the correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now in antonym is a word with the opposite meaning.

Laura, however, used synonyms. She's used words with similar meanings.

She used the synonym for the word prisoner through the word inmate to extend the image throughout her writing.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now we've broken down Laura's use of extended analogy.

Might use it to create a toolkit that we can follow.

So now to emulate Laura's extended analogy, we might follow the following steps.

Now, emulate is one of our keywords, means to match or surpass a personal achievement, typically by imitation.

So we imitate Laura's extended analogy through the following steps.

Step one, consider what idea about technology it is we want to communicate.

So in Laura's example, she wants to communicate that technology has a negative impact.

?? Step two, consider what we might compare technology users to in order to communicate that idea.

So in Laura's examples, she chose to compare technology users to prisoners.

Step three, develop our analogy to an extended analogy, by using synonyms and semantic fields to communicate the data throughout.

So if you remember, Laura's synonym is inmate for prisoners, and she also used semantic field of feeling trapped through words as chained, bound, ensnared.

Now, in order to help you see you might approach using the steps, let's watch an example of this in action together.

So pause the video and click to watch the example now.

So here we're going to use our three steps to plan out an extended analogy around ideas of technology.

So the first thing you think about what idea about technology we want to communicate.

Now, in Laura's example, she had the idea of technology as having a negative impact on users.

So I think we'll do the opposite here and we'll have the idea that technology has a positive impact.

Now, Laura had the idea that technology is trapping people and stifling them.

So again, I think we'll lean into the opposite and we'll think about technology as creating ideas of connection, creativity, and innovation.

So now we have our idea about technology.

We need to think about what we're going to compare it to.

Now, when I think of connections, my mind automatically goes to the idea of a forest, but I don't necessarily think that fits with the idea of creativity and innovation.

So instead, I think I might go with the image of an orchestra, a musical instruments.

Because I think that explains Adobe technology, giving us the tools to create something beautiful and harmonising just like individual instruments do in an orchestra.

So now we have our idea that technology has a positive impact.

It creates ideas of, you know, creativity, innovation.

We have our initial analogy of comparing it to an orchestra and musical instruments within an orchestra.

Now we need to think about how we're going to extend it.

So we might use synonyms, semantic fields, to communicate this idea throughout our writing.

So for example, we might use musical terminology.

So we might refer to things such as the pitch and the tone throughout our writing.

We might just use different musical instruments.

We might have a flute, a piano, and a trumpet for example, just to carry that image throughout our writing and to really emphasise the idea of kind of different instruments coming together to create a harmonising whole.

Now, we also might want to use synonyms. So we might use synonyms for creativity and innovation.

So we might use words such as artistic, we might use original, and we might use imaginative, to again really explain those ideas to the audience.

So there we have it.

We've used our three steps to come up with a plan for an extended analogy to compare technology to using a musical instrument to create ideas of connection, creativity, and innovation.

So before we use our toolkit to create our own extended analogies, let's just do a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is fill in the gaps to complete our steps to writing the extended analogy.

So number one, consider what about technology it is we want to communicate.

Number two, consider what we might technology users to in order to communicate that idea.

And number three, develop our analogy to extended analogy by using synonyms and to communicate the idea throughout.

So pause the video and fill in the gaps now.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said, consider what ideas about technology we want to communicate.

Consider what we might compare technology users to in order to communicate that idea, and develop our analogy to an extended analogy, raising synonyms and semantic fields to communicate the idea throughout.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work everyone.

Now we're gonna bring everything from this lesson together in order to create our own extended analogies.

So I'd like you to write a paragraph that contains an extended analogy in response to this statement.

"Technology allows us greater freedom and has a positive influence on the world." Now you can choose to agree or disagree with this statement, and I want you to use an extended analogy to explain your idea to the reader.

So you might decide the statement is true, and therefore you wanna explain to the reader how technology offers us greater freedom through an extended analogy.

Or you might decide the statement is false, and you want to explain to the reader how actually technology gives us less freedom through the extended analogy.

Now remember that an extended analogy is a comparison between two things to develop a point, it's extended across a piece of writing.

We might use the following steps to help you in your creation.

So step one, consider what idea about technology it is you want to communicate.

Step two, consider what we might compare technology users to in order to communicate that idea.

And step three, develop our analogy into an extended analogy using synonyms and semantic fields to communicate the idea throughout.

So pause the video, write your paragraph containing extended analogy now.

Welcome back everyone.

I saw some fantastic work there.

Some really creative ideas on how to explain your ideas to the reader.

Now as a final part of the lesson, I'd like you to share your paragraph with a peer.

Now, I know sharing your creative work can feel intimidating, but I also think it's the best way for us to develop our writing skills, especially with an extended analogy, 'cause at their call that or by explaining idea.

So the only way to know if you're successful is to see if someone understands it.

So I'd like you to read each other's work and answer the following questions.

Number one, what idea about technology and technology users were they trying to communicate? Number two, can you identify the extended analogy in their work? And number three, do you think the extended analogy is effective in communicating their idea? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

As I said, I know it can be really intimidating to share our work, but hopefully it was useful to get some feedback 'cause the more we share our work, the more successful we'll become in creating writing that really speaks to other people, and lets communicate an idea to them.

You all did amazingly well today everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

"An extended analogy is a comparison between one thing and another that's developed and continued throughout a piece of work.

Remember that analogy differs from a metaphor 'cause it's purpose is to explain the idea to the audience.

A non-fiction piece of writing might use extended analogies to help communicate an idea to the audience.

So by comparing idea to something else might help the audience understand our idea.

This particular useful abstract concepts or concepts people may be unfamiliar with.

Always keep in mind a piece of non-fiction.

It's designed to inform, persuade, or educate.

So you need the audience to really understand your ideas.

To craft an extended analogy, we might begin by thinking about what idea it is we want to communicate.

So for example, Laura began with the idea that technology has a negative impact on users.

So once we have our idea, we might think about what comparison we can use to communicate this idea.

So in Laura's example, she compared technology users to prisoners to really communicate the idea that technology has a negative impact, and specifically, that it traps individuals and stops them from growing and reaching their full potential.

Now once we have our comparison, we might develop it into an extended analogy through synonyms and semantic fields.

So words with similar or related meanings that will really extend our idea, and help the audience understand it.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson everyone, and hopefully you'll be able to use these ideas and apply them to any non-fiction writing you might do in the future.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.