A practical method of analyzing metaphor
Determine conventional meaning, target meaning, resemblance and contextual indicator in order.
1. Establish the expression's assigned sense and relevant usage.
2. Identify the intended target in the utterance.
3. Explain the resemblance deliberately invoked.
4. Identify evidence that excludes the literal referent.
5. Say whether the analysis emphasizes lexical transfer or imaginative predication.
“I saw a lion shooting”: original sense, wild lion; target, brave human; similarity, courage; indicator, shooting. The intellectual gloss then represents the person as though included in the lion-kind to intensify the description.