extended metaphor
Prolonged figurative parallel
An extended metaphor is a metaphor sustained across multiple sentences, paragraphs, or an entire work.
Where a simple metaphor makes a single comparison, an extended metaphor develops the comparison in detail, drawing out parallels and implications: Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" continues through the ages of man as different acts.
The technique allows writers to explore an idea thoroughly through a single controlling image.
Recounting events aloud
- themeCentral recurring concept
- arcCurved line segment
- foreshadowingHinting at later events
- motifRecurring thematic element
throughline · leitmotif · weaving · threading · development · progression · continuity · coherence
Instructive allegorical narrative
- fableMoral tale with animals
- moral taleStory conveying ethical instruction
- typologyClassification by shared traits
- epicImpressively grand in scope
mythology · Pilgrim's Progress · Animal Farm · didactic · teaching · lesson · cautionary tale · saga
Implicit meaning beneath words
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- allusionIndirect reference to something
significance · depth · symbolism · layered · underlying · interpretation · thematic · evocative
storytelling
Recounting events aloud
- themeCentral recurring concept
- arcCurved line segment
- foreshadowingHinting at later events
motif · throughline · leitmotif · weaving · threading · development · progression · continuity · coherence · unfolding
parable
Instructive allegorical narrative
- fableMoral tale with animals
- moral taleStory conveying ethical instruction
- typologyClassification by shared traits
epic · mythology · Pilgrim's Progress · Animal Farm · didactic · teaching · lesson · cautionary tale · saga · chronicle
subtext
Implicit meaning beneath words
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
allusion · significance · depth · symbolism · layered · underlying · interpretation · thematic · evocative · suggestive
- comparisonscomparison, compare, comparative, analogy, simile
- literary devicessimile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia
- allegoriesallegory, fable, parable, Animal Farm, Pilgrim's Progress
- allegoryAnimal Farm, Narnia, The Little Prince, religious allegory, political allegory
- artistic metaphorsymbolism, allegory, color symbolism, poetic imagery
- figurative languagesimile, figure of speech, analogy, personification, figures of speech
extend, metaphor, extension, extensive, extended, extending, extends, metaphorical, metaphoric