Just a week or so ago I came upon a group of people at work trying to figure out the meaning of rhetorical. Being the English major, I naturally was looked at to know the answer. After a quick English lesson, the definition I recounted was accurate and was even supported by the dictionary when one of my comrades read it aloud. today, my friend Lawrence and I were conversing over what the meaning of allegory was . I tried my hardest to come up with a somewhat logical definition, but soon conceded to the fact that, no, I didn’t know what the meaning was. Alas, my university education has left me short of one definition.
On with the lesson…
According to dictionary.com, allegory is a “symbolic narrative.” it is “a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.”
I also like this one from the same Dictionary.com look-up:
A story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning. Allegories are composed of several symbols or metaphors. For example, in The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan, the character named Christian struggles to escape from a bog or swamp. The story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. The “bog” is a metaphor or symbol of life’s hardships and distractions. Similarly, when Christian loses a heavy pack that he has been carrying on his back, this symbolizes his freedom from the weight of sin that he has been carrying.
Here’s some advice for all people involved in writing documents that others will see;
especially ones that are published to the world: Have a dictionary on hand and ready to go. Spellcheck is not going to catch everything, as I have found out a few times in the past, and we might all learn the
real definition of a few words in the process of looking them up. Subscribe to a word of the day, or read up on what an
etymologist is and dive head first into learning about words. Or, for a fuller, more
archetypal word experience, consult the omnipotent
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary; trust me, it’s worthwhile just taking a gander!
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