Cambridge IGCSETechnique 2 of 5

Extended metaphors

One-off metaphors decorate a description. An extended metaphor holds the whole piece together. Cambridge examiners describe top-band work as “sustained” and “controlled” - sustained is what a good extended metaphor provides.

Step 1 - Choose a controlling image

Before you write, answer this question: If the scene I am describing were something else, what would it be?

Good controlling images share three properties. They are concrete (you can picture them), dynamic (they can change or move), and emotionally flexible (they can feel hopeful or sinister depending on how you steer them).

A city as a living animal
A beach as an abandoned room
A storm as an orchestra
A forest as a cathedral
A market as a river

Step 2 - Return to the image, don’t repeat it

A weak extended metaphor keeps saying the same thing. A strong extended metaphor evolves. If the city is an animal, it first wakes, then breathes, then feeds, then dreams. The image is the same. The verb is different.

A useful test: can a reader identify your controlling image by paragraph 2 without the word itself being repeated?

Step 3 - Invert the image at the end

The single move that separates Band 4 from Band 5 in examiner reports is returning to the opening image and changing it. If the city began as an animal waking, let it end as an animal falling back to sleep. The scene has moved, but the image remembers where it started.

Three worked examples

A crowded city at rush hour

as a living animal

1“The city inhaled at eight and held its breath.”
2“Commuters flooded the arteries of Victoria Station, platelets in a grey bloodstream.”
3“By nine, the great creature had swallowed its meal and gone still again.”

A thunderstorm

as an orchestra tuning, then playing

1“The wind practised its scales first, tuneless and hesitant, high in the wires.”
2“Thunder took up its part, low brass, impatient.”
3“Then the rain came in on the downbeat, violins and cymbals together, and the street became the stage.”

An empty classroom

as an abandoned theatre

1“The chalkboard was the rear curtain, still marked with the last lines the cast had spoken.”
2“Twenty empty chairs faced the stage in expectant rows.”
3“Only the dust, catching the last of the afternoon light, was still performing.”

Common traps

Mixed metaphors. Don’t let the city be an animal in paragraph one and then an engine in paragraph two. Pick one and commit.
Over-explaining. You do not need to write “it was like an animal” every time. Trust the reader - use verbs and nouns that belong to the image.
Clichés. The heart as a prison, tears as rivers, life as a journey. Any image your classmates will also use is worth replacing.

Back to descriptive

Cambridge IGCSETechnique 2 of 5

Extended metaphors

Step 1 - Choose a controlling image

Before you write, answer this question: If the scene I am describing were something else, what would it be?

A city as a living animal
A beach as an abandoned room
A storm as an orchestra
A forest as a cathedral
A market as a river

Step 2 - Return to the image, don’t repeat it

A useful test: can a reader identify your controlling image by paragraph 2 without the word itself being repeated?

Step 3 - Invert the image at the end

Three worked examples

A crowded city at rush hour

as a living animal

1“The city inhaled at eight and held its breath.”
2“Commuters flooded the arteries of Victoria Station, platelets in a grey bloodstream.”
3“By nine, the great creature had swallowed its meal and gone still again.”

A thunderstorm

as an orchestra tuning, then playing

1“The wind practised its scales first, tuneless and hesitant, high in the wires.”
2“Thunder took up its part, low brass, impatient.”
3“Then the rain came in on the downbeat, violins and cymbals together, and the street became the stage.”

An empty classroom

as an abandoned theatre

1“The chalkboard was the rear curtain, still marked with the last lines the cast had spoken.”
2“Twenty empty chairs faced the stage in expectant rows.”
3“Only the dust, catching the last of the afternoon light, was still performing.”

Common traps

Mixed metaphors. Don’t let the city be an animal in paragraph one and then an engine in paragraph two. Pick one and commit.
Over-explaining. You do not need to write “it was like an animal” every time. Trust the reader - use verbs and nouns that belong to the image.
Clichés. The heart as a prison, tears as rivers, life as a journey. Any image your classmates will also use is worth replacing.

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Extended metaphors

Three worked examples

Common traps

Extended metaphors

Three worked examples

Common traps