Analogies

The preceding essay needed more vivid analogies, didn’t it? More donkeys pulling carts, tennis balls soaked halfway in the swamp, or children crying in airports. I use analogies all the time in conversation about ideas, but tend not to put them in writing. Pity. I’m good at it, but analogies always threaten to lengthen essays horribly. In live discussion, I can see immediately if hearers find it promising and narrow the focus appropriately. In writing, it is hard to see what people might misinterpret, necessitating a fuller explanation to close the possible escapes.