NEW BOOK OUT NOW! - Unpacking Creativity: The Power of Figurative Communication in Advertising2/9/2021
Book description Figurative communication (the use of metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole and irony) provides economy of expression, clarity, persuasiveness, politeness, evaluation, and communication of emotions. However, it also increases the potential for misunderstanding in situations when people lack shared background knowledge. This book combines theoretical frameworks with empirical studies that measure the effectiveness of different approaches to the use of figurative language in advertisements, to show how to maximise the benefits of creative metaphor and metonymy in global advertising. It highlights how subtle differences in colour, layout, and combinations of different kinds of figurative language affect the reception and appreciation of creative advertising, shedding new light on the nature of figurative communication itself. With a balance between theory, experiments and practical case studies, this book is accessible for academics in linguistics and communication studies, as well as advertising and marketing professionals. Students and researchers in communication, linguistics, and cognitive linguistics as well as advertising researchers and practitioners will find the book interesting and informative. Reviews "Two recent developments in figurative language research are interwoven brilliantly in Paula Perez-Sobrino, Jeannette Littlemore, and Samantha Ford's Unpacking Creativity: The Power of Figurative Communication in Advertising. These are multimodal figurativity, and figurativity as a powerful means of performing social work (i.e., influence, persuasion, attitude change, identification, etc.). Through a cornucopia of juicy examples, the authors expose the multiple forms of isolated and blended figures underlying creative advertising, and what all the figurativity accomplishes." - Professor Herbert L. Colston, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta "This book provides an effective analysis of visual and language metaphors and their interaction, informed by astute application of cognitive science to a range of examples from advertising. Students and researchers in communication, linguistics, and cognitive linguistics as well as advertising researchers and practitioners will find the book interesting and informative. It is well-written and readable, and would be an excellent text for an advanced course in advertising, communication, or cognitive linguistics." - Professor L. David Ritchie - Department of Communication, Portland State University
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Dr Joe Spencer-Bennett, Head of Department, and Dr Marcus Perlman, Acting Director of Postgraduate Research, at the Department of English Language and Linguistics, University of Birmingham, gave testimonials about Samantha's activities and involvement in the postgraduate research community during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020/2021). They particularly commend Samantha's work in organising the department's postgraduate conference - BELP2021 (read more about it here).  Dr Joe Spencer-Bennett, Head of Department of English Language and Linguistics As Head of Department, I am extremely grateful to Samantha for her work as PhD student rep, and I know that other members of staff and students are too. "Samantha did a superb job as PhD student rep in English Language and Linguistics. She held this role during 2020 and 2021, the core of the Covid 19 pandemic. And, at a time when many of us were limiting our activities to the essentials, she invented new ways of doing pretty much everything that the role usually involves, and more; organising regular seminars, social events, and, with incredible success, a PhD conference. Samantha’s work over the year was really central to bringing our PhD students – from all over the world – together academically and socially, and I have no doubt that their work, and their experience of the year as a whole, benefitted from all that she did. As Head of Department, I am extremely grateful to Samantha, and I know that other members of staff and students are too."
"As Lead for Postgraduate Studies in the Department of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Birmingham, it is my pleasure to write on behalf of Samantha Ford to express my gratitude for her role as PhD Student Rep during the 2020/21 school year and as the lead organizer of the Birmingham English Language Postgraduate Conference. Samantha has represented the English Language Postgraduate students throughout the brunt of the Covid Pandemic, which left most students stranded from their normal daily postgrad community and support system. Samantha was brilliant in moving the year’s schedule of activities online, running an online weekly postgraduate seminar series and other social events, and working tirelessly to forge academic and social community throughout the year. She led an outstanding online conference – the yearly BELP Conference which had to be canceled the previous year – bringing together PhD researchers from across the department, and indeed from across the world, to discuss their research and the challenges they faced doing research during the pandemic. The event was also attended by many undergraduate students and staff, and was a resounding success. I am extremely grateful that Samantha volunteered for these duties this year, and I am sure that other members of staff postgraduate students are too."
The annual Undergraduate Research Scholarship has a range of academic projects that undergraduate students can apply to get involved with. The project I applied for in June and July in 2016 was called math, music and metaphor. It looked into the use of metaphor by children and teachers in math and music classes, specifically at how they use metaphors not only in their spoken language but also as part of their gestures, to aid learning.
In the video, Paula Perez-Sobrino, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, reflects on my assistance in the scholarship scheme. Working side by side and closely with such a promising student, Samantha, it was actually a really wonderful experience. "I wanted to have an insight into the academic world, and be able to work on a project with academics on a project that I was interested in, specifically about metaphor, and learn about the types and applications of metaphor in the spoken word, but also in gestures. It was that kind of information I could use for my future studies such as my dissertation now my master's degree next year." - Samantha Ford Paula Perez-Sobrino, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, reflects on Samantha's assistance in the scholarship scheme: "Thanks to Samantha's help, we were able to transcribe all the data we had at the time; we had a lot of hours of recording. And thanks to her help, we were able to put them together to annotate it. We're now putting together a proposal for ESRC and thanks to all the help within the scheme, we were able to be in a better position to apply for that sooner." "The project helped us as academic staff to forge closer relationship with the students and it was also highly rewarding to see how our personal research research interest is also inspiring university students that hopefully will become Junior researchers." "Working side by side and closely with such a promising student, Samantha, it was actually a really wonderful experience." |
