THINKER'S ALMANAC - March 13

Why did a public service announcement featuring an egg frying in a pan become one of the most successful PSAs of all time?

Subject:  Analogies - SAT

Event:  Analogies removed from the SAT, 2005

In 2005, the College Board removed analogy questions from the SAT.  These problems tested students’ ability to recognize vocabulary and make logical comparisons.  

For example, 

STORY : FABLE :: POEM : _______ 

(A. POET, B. NOVEL, C. RHYME, D. SONNET).  

Using analogical thinking, a student would see the relationship:  a FABLE is a type of STORY, and a SONNET is a type of POEM.

Writing in The New York Times on this day in 2005, Adam Cohen wrote an obituary of sorts for the SAT analogy, mourning its loss:

Intentionally misleading comparisons are becoming the dominant mode of public discourse.  The ability to tell true analogies from false ones has never been more important. (1)

Although analogies may no longer be a test item on the SAT, they remain a key strategy for thinkers and writers, both for clarifying their own thinking and for communicating their thinking to others.

An analogy uses comparison and ratio to reason to some conclusion.  In this 

sense, an analogy is less figurative than a metaphor or a simile, but a bit more logical.

For example, in an essay about nail-biting, the writer Suzannah Showler uses an analogy to show her readers that we should not go to extremes by labeling all nail-biters as obsessive-compulsives:

But just as the specter of hoarding shouldn’t rule out collecting as a hobby, not every nibbled nail should be judged by the end-stage diagnosis.

In another example, Joseph Addison uses an analogy to describe the benefits of reading:

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.  As by the one, health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated; by the other, virtue -- which is the health of the mind -- is kept alive, cherished, and confirmed. 

Notice how Addison’s explanation echoes an almost mathematical relationship:  

Reading : Mind :: Exercise : Body

One of the most successful public service announcements ever produced employed a visual analogy comparing drug abuse to a fried egg.  The PSA was produced by the Ad Council in 1987. It featured the simple image of a single egg in a frying pan along with a concise message of just 15 words:  “This is your brain. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”

Analogies are an excellent way to teach your reader and to avoid the curse of knowledge (see THINKER’S ALMANAC - January 2).  Look at your topic from your audience’s point of view.  Think about what they know and what they don’t know.  Like a teacher who tries to build a bridge between a student’s prior knowledge and a new concept, try to arrange an analogy that helps the reader to see the unknown through the lens of the known.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is an analogy, and how can it help you overcome the curse of knowledge?

Challenge - The Annals of Analogy:  What is an example of an excellent analogy that you have seen used by a great thinker or writer?  Identify the analogy, and explain why you think it works.

Sources:

1-Cohen, Adam. “An SAT Without Analogies Is Like: (A) A Confused Citizenry…” The New York Times 13 March 2005.