Metaphor Quality Scale*
Directions:
Score one point for each attribute of the metaphor observed. Tally the points and compare the totals with the descriptions that follow. (Note, the "recipient" of the metaphor is a listener or reader to whom the metaphor is being communicated.)
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The items being compared can be identified by the recipient.
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The metaphor does not distort the truth or present false facts. (For example, planets have close-to-circular orbits around the sun, but a teacher might indicate that their path is like a rubber band. Students could interpret this comparison to mean that the orbit has a long and narrow shape. This interpretation would give a false impression of planetary pathways and thereby weaken the comparison.)
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When taken literally, the metaphor is false. (For example, we claim that a test is a bear, but the test is not actually a black, grizzly, brown, or polar bear. We turn the expression into a simile in our minds: "The test was very challenging, just as it would be difficult to confront a bear." For a metaphor to be strong, it can’t be literally true. Otherwise, the target is just a synonym: "The canine is a dog." This example doesn’t force us to transfer concepts between domains, which is the definition of a metaphor.)
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The items being compared exist in different domains. (For example, if the first item is a form of weather, the target comparison cannot be another form of weather: "Wow, this rainstorm is like a blizzard!" To be effective, the comparison should add to, not just restate, the recipient's understanding.)
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The metaphor engages the recipient personally; it's clever, insightful, and sometimes witty. (In other words, the recipient has some familiarity with the concepts being compared; a high school athlete might understand a baseball metaphor or students in an English class might grasp the comparison between a character in a novel and a character in a popular television show.)
Scale:
0–2 points: Weak metaphor. It’s ineffective. It doesn’t further or clarify thinking in a helpful way. The metaphor generates a response from the audience such as "Huh?" or "Why did the comparison repeat the topic without much thought, wasting words and time?"
3 points: Moderately effective metaphor. We can guess what the user intended but it requires "filling in" by the recipient. The recipient has to really think about it to understand what the user meant.
4–5 points: Strong metaphor. It clarifies and strengthens the recipient's understanding. It might even be clever and a model for others to follow
*Reprinted from Rick Wormeli's book Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject. Copyright 2009 Stenhouse Publishers. No reproduction without written permission from the publisher.
