I’m tinkering with metaphors to explain/teach discourse analysis to an undergrad human-centered design class. One way to explain it might be in terms of an iceberg. Discourse is sort of like an iceberg in the sense that there is a lot going on beneath the surface that we don’t see when we encounter talk and text in the world. Discourse analysis aims to expose this unseen stuff, explain how it influences talk and text, and, ultimately, change this influence. Here’s a sketch:
