METAPHORIC COMPONENTS OF COMPOSING PROCESSES

This article describes metaphoric activity in the cognitive processes of nonfiction writers. Naturally occurring metaphors are an ongoing pa rt of the flow of thought. It stands to reason, then, that such metaph oric activity may often underlie the abstract and literal statements n onfiction writers make in texts. To capture traces of this elusive fig urative activity, periodic written thought samples were taken from 148 undergraduate writers as they composed essays. Writers who used metap hor extensively were also interviewed in order to understand metaphor' s role in the writers' overall ways of working. Through the cases of t hree writers presented here, underlying metaphors are shown playing a generative role in shaping concepts and structuring texts. Therefore, it appears that metaphoric activity is as much a part of nonfiction wr iting processes as a part of fiction writing, and writers must be taug ht to be aware of these figurative processes.