• Reread Erard’s essay. Use a different color pen or pencil to layer your active reading notes, one on the other. Write Blog #2 (200-400 words) comparing your second reading experience with your first. Did you notice something new? Did you react differently to one of the author’s claims? Did you read something critically when, at first, you read it as a believer or vice versa? Continue to “clear the fog.” Look up at least two more terms or references that you don’t know. Please elaborate on one moment that “clearing the fog” helped you better understand the author’s argument. Finally, please include a hyperlink to at least one resource you used to “clear the fog.” Remember: when seeking definitions or glossary terms, you don’t need to be too particular about your source. Feel free to use Wikipedia or the Dictionary.com. Remember, you aren’t conducting research, just trying to clarify a reference or term that you can’t initially place.

While rereading Erard’s essay I started out differently than the first time I read it. I was agreeing with the author more and developed a better understanding of the use of metaphors. I noticed that making pseudo-mistakes is such a large task in the metaphor world. The first time reading through the essay, I did not notice the words “pseudo-mistake.” After going through it again, I noticed that there is almost a whole page explaining how making pseudo-mistakes plays such a large role in developing metaphors. Every time you make a new pseudo-mistake, it has to be tested and that is a large task. I also liked the metaphor for metaphor description better. A metaphor is described as being a room. I now see what it means to add furniture to that room, and I think that a great metaphor would not need any furniture because the metaphor would be understood on its own. I love that way of thinking because I can grasp it so easily. I cleared the fog on the word “abated” which means to stop or decrease. This helped me understand how the test on a set of candidates on the street responded to the metaphor “skills are like ropes.” Before using the metaphor, the candidates were mumbling. After the metaphor was given, the conclusion stated that “…the fumbling abated” with the candidates. Now I have a clearer vision of how the metaphor really gave people a nudge to a better understanding. I also cleared the fog on the word “provocations.” This was a word used to descibe metaphors, after looking it up it makes perfect sense. It means “stimulates,” which is what metaphors do to the brain when introduced.