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simultaneous metaphor

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A metaphor that conveys multiple comparisons occurring at the same time

Detailed Definition
Simultaneous metaphor is a figurative construction where a single subject is described through multiple, coexisting metaphors that operate at once rather than sequentially; this layering—such as portraying a city as both “a beast” and “a cathedral”—creates rich ambiguity, allowing the object to embody contradictory qualities and inviting the reader to hold multiple interpretations in dynamic tension.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Emily Dickinson, “a funeral in my brain” combines psychological and ritual metaphors simultaneously; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” Nazi and vampire imagery form simultaneous metaphor; In Langston Hughes’s “Harlem,” dream and raisin operate as simultaneous metaphor; In John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” compass and lovers are simultaneous metaphor.
Additional Notes
simultaneous metaphor: A metaphor that blends two image spheres simultaneously; complex layering produces multivalent meaning.
Also Known As
Concurrent metaphor Overlapping trope Simultaneous figure Collateral metaphor
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