In Khullar’s article “The Trouble with Medicine’s Metaphors”, he discusses the way metaphors are being used in health care, more specifically diagnoses such as cancer, and how it affects the patient. Khullar starts by sharing his experience he had with a patient and how he said “we’ll fight this together”. This singular phrase that he told his patient suffering from leukemia started Khullar’s curiosity in how “fight”, along with several other metaphors, are used in the daily aspects of medicine, and how it will positively or negatively impact them. Khullar gives his readers insight on experiments and study’s done on how metaphors can alter peoples thoughts and actions. He then relates it back to the military language used in medicine and how it can both hinder the patient, such as making them more depressed, or benefit the patient. Khullar makes it clear in the article that metaphors in most cases can be used as a great tool in the medicine world, in order to display information and make things more clear for patients or collogues. He also makes clear by the end of the article that it is up to the patient and there state of being, for how the metaphor will be perceived.

In Khullar’s article, he goes back and fourth on the positives and negatives of the usage of metaphors, which I thought was very well thought. It made the article seem more factual than argumentative, where he didn’t necessarily choose a side (pro metaphor or against metaphor). This strategy allowed me as the reader to gather all of the evidence in order to reach my own conclusion.  I also enjoyed that this article displayed many studies on how metaphors in general are used, and can affect the audience. These studies enhanced my reading experience, giving me background on the effects of metaphors in a general setting, and how it can apply to medical settings.

A quote from Khullar’s article is “Ultimately, any metaphor-military or otherwise-is not inherently good or bad. Rather, the utility of each depends on  a patient’s culture, values, experiences, and preferences”. I liked this quote because it showed how metaphors involving medical purposes have pros and cons, and it really is about how the patient interprets the metaphor. In Erard’s article, I liked the quote “My metaphors close the gap in people’s ability to grasp something , or speed up what they’re already on track to see”. I liked this one because it showed me how Erard specifically views metaphors, and helps readers understand the direct purpose of why metaphors are here. In Geary’s article, I like the quote, “By bringing together what we know and what we don’t know through analogy, metaphorical thinking strikes the spark that ignites discovery”. I like this quote because it shows how metaphor can not only help people understand things they don’t get, but it allows them to discover things they otherwise would not.