Metaphor, Analogy, or Simile

What is the appropriate use of these commonly mixed up words? Let's compare.

Metaphor: a figure of speech that uses a image, story, or tangible thing to represent another thing or some intangible quality or idea. For example, "All the world's a stage." -Shakespeare

Simile: compares two different things to create a new meaning. Often uses the words "like" or "as". For example, the world is like a stage.

Analogy: a comparison between two things that might seem different. Often used in standardized tests in the form "A is to B as C is to D".

Thanks Yahoo Answers

Condusive?

Just finished writing a email and wanted to use the word "condusive". Despite being used quite frequently in the spoken word, this word is not condusive to proper grammar. The word that one would want to use in the written word is "conductive".

Conductive: tending to produce; conducing; contributive; helpful; favorable (usually fol. by "to"): Good eating habits are conducive to good health.

Beginning a sentance with "this"

Is beginning a sentence with "this" grammatically correct?

Short answer, yes.

However, it is imperative that it is clear what the "this" is referring to. "This" should refer to something in the previous sentence. Additionally, beginning too many sentences with "this" can make your writing have a monotonous tone.

Thanks for the help other bloggers!

Way it goes...

An Important Lesson

Function for how long it takes your supervisor to return your document with comments:

t = (p x c) / (wd - sd)

where

t = time (days) until your document is returned
p = pages of document
wd = non-holiday weekdays this month
c = # of cats your supervisor owns
sd = # of sunny days in the last 20 days

If this isn't a PhD comic, it should be.

Not sure which word to use? Combine all three.

http://i.imgur.com/OlxBq.jpg

Upcoming Posts

Just got done grading a good group of Environmental Science 400-level essays. Some of the common mistakes I saw made that will make good upcoming posts are:
-excessive use of transition words and phrases
-improper word order
-failing to use the "conversation test"
-going for sheer # of features in a paragraph without merit, conciseness, or stress of important features

These will be discussed in upcoming posts along with some posts I have been keeping in my back pocket:
-need for creative thought
-expressing creative process/thought throughout your writing/research
-writing moods/modes
-solid science introductions
-framing a research question or goal

Zotero the Reference Manager

I have previously used Refworks for my reference manager, but I am not a fan of the "write and cite" manager in Microsoft word. My laboratory has access to the proprietary software Endnote, but I find that equally as frustrating. In starting with a new PhD topic, I thought a new, more user friendly, reference manger might be appropriate. I shopped around and found zotero. Zotero is an online reference manager that is fused with Mozilla Firefox. So when you are searching on something like JSTOR or Science Direct, you can click a link in the toolbar and it will automatically add it to the reference manager. Easy to use, produces a variety of bibliographies. Stored/backed-up on a cloud.

There are some known issues.

I think I will give it a whirl.