On the ability to metaphorize: Talking trees and singing tigers in the English classroom

This article reviews and discusses how metaphor as a trope has been regarded as an essential element in rhetorical approaches to reading and to writing. In addition it considers the extent to which, while metaphor-making is a fundamental cognitive capacity, a metaphorizing habit of mind may be especially pertinent to some aspects of aesthetic activity in English and it has salience also in a multimodal environment. There is exploration of how contemporary practice in the English classroom could accommodate and consolidate the ability to metaphorize.

'Purity of Diction in English Verse' (on literary criticism)

Essay on literary criticism.

Tracing Inspiration in Proverbial Material: From 'The Royal Dictionary' (1699 & 1729) of Abel Boyer to 'The English-Irish Dictionary' (1732) of Begley-McCurtin.

This metalexicographic study examines the relationship between the proverbial material in The English-Irish Dictionary (1732) of Begley and McCurtin, Abel Boyer’s The Royal Dictionary (First edition 1699, second edition 1729), and Nathaniel Bailey’s An Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721). It will show, for the first time, that both the English macrostructure and microstructure of the proverbial entries in Begley and McCurtin (1732) were reproduced directly from Boyer’s dictionary and, in spite of claims to the contrary, the impact of Bailey’s (1721) dictionary was negligible. Furthermore, empirical data gleaned from a comparative linguistic analysis of the various editions of The Royal Dictionary prior to 1732, will prove that it was the second official edition (1729) that was used as the framework for The English-Irish Dictionary. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the nature of the proverbial entries will also outline the various translation strategies that were used to compose the Irish material— particularly literal translation—and show that there are extremely high-levels of borrowings from Boyer (1729), both in terms of the English entries under the lemma, and the French entries in the comment.

Social Participation and Maintaining Recommended Waist Circumference: Prospective Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Aging

Objectives: To investigate whether older adults participating in social activities are more likely to maintain or achieve recommended waist circumference (WC) levels. Method: A total of 4,280 older adults who participated in Wave 2 (baseline) and Wave 4 (follow-up) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. WC was measured by a nurse in both study waves. Results: Participation in education, arts, music groups, evening classes, and in charitable associations was associated with maintaining recommended WC only in those men whose WC was in the recommended range at baseline. Participation in social activities was not associated with achieving recommended WC in women or men with initially large waist. Discussion: Participation in cultural and charitable activities may help in maintaining a recommended level of WC in older men with WC originally in the recommended range.