Metaphors and Symbols

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Institut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Anglophonie), course: Hauptseminar "New Eden, Paradise, The White Whale and Marilyn Monroe: Cultural Symbols and Icons in American Literature", language: English, abstract: This paper firstly treats the issue of metaphor and then proceeds with the discussion of the term symbol. To ensure consistency, the presentation of both terms follows the same structure: First of all the definition and etymology of each term is given; their principal characteristics are mentioned and explicated. Additionally the related concept of "similes" is defined and compared to metaphors. Due to the fact that the definitions of the term "metaphor" vary depending on the theories they are based on, a supplementary outline of these theories is required. Subsequently the terms are classified into categories in order to allow a more detailed analysis; examples are cited. The paper ends with a comparison of the two concepts.