When reading Erard’s essay the second time I feel it was easier to continuously read the essay and discover other passages and lines that stand out. The second time reading I noticed how much Erard includes information and ideas from other scholars, professors, and philosophers to establish ethos in his essay. The claim explaining metaphors as a room I agreed with partially to begin with, and after reading it again and following the metaphor throughout the essay I disagree with it more. Erard sees the window sash color as a danger to a new metaphor and how if they are present they can cause people to discard the entire metaphor. I feel that if someone was going to discard the metaphor and not truly view it then they would not step foot in the room. The decision would be made when they pass the room. Something such as the window trim or sash color will not cause someone to completely disregard the meaning, it instead may create a new train of thoughts for them to follow. Maybe someone has a positive or negative association with the color green and this past experience can create a whole new discovery for this person. This would result in a new interpretation of the metaphor which I see as a positive effect.
One term that caught my attention was prototypical, which is the original or typical form of something. I inferred it had some relation to prototype but I had never heard it before when describing a word. Knowing this cleared up the pump and paintbrush example that confused me the first time I read the essay. The understanding of this example then clarified the pseudo-mistakes. Initially your brain does not see a paintbrush relating to a pump, but when thinking of the prototypical member of items that move liquid category it is clarified. Provocation was another term that I had to look up for better understanding. When the word is searched two definitions are given one being the noun definition and the other is provocation pertaining to medicine. I found it interesting that the way Erard uses the word fits with both definitions. Personally I like the medical definition which states “testing to see a particular response or reflex” (“Provocation: Definition…”). To me metaphor designers are doing just this. They create a metaphor and test it to see how someone reacts and interprets it.
Works Cited
Erard, Michael. “How to Build a Metaphor to Change People’s Minds – Michael Erard: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 8 Sept. 2019, aeon.co/essays/how-to-build-a-metaphor-to-change-people-s-minds.
“Prototypical.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prototypical.
“Provocation: Definition of Provocation by Lexico.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, www.lexico.com/en/definition/provocation.
I love that you critically engage with Erard’s room metaphor, and your annotations look great. Keep up the fantastic work!