As many Americans got ready to watch the Superbowl with friends and family, the Broncos and the Panthers were getting ready to play the football game of the year. Who would be the star quarterback in the game, Newton or Manning? Will Manning retire after this? Both questions circulated as the game was set to play, as well as while it was happening. Some felt as though Newton was unstoppable after the season he has had and others thought that the Broncos would be the one to win with their strong defense.
The title of the article “A Storybook Finish Falls Into Peyton Manning’s Lap” has a fitting metaphor in it. The metaphor says that the finish fell into his lap, allowing readers to get a sense of what the article is about and allows speculation into Manning’s future. The way the title starts off by saying “A Storybook Finish” is most likely alluding to the end of Manning’s career in football. I think the metaphor plays a significant role in this article because of its location, the title, it may interest others to read it and also allows viewers to get a feel for what the article will be centered on. In this case the article was centered on Peyton Manning and the Broncos Superbowl win, as well as what was supposedly to come next for Manning. Is it a storybook finish that fell into his lap or is his story not finished yet?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/peyton-manning-gets-perfect-finish-but-defense-is-star-1454907455?cb=logged0.5024105159100145
I thought it was great that you pointed out the “storybook finish” as a metaphor. When hearing storybook finish, I think of usually a happy ending or a kind of fairytale ending, but I like how you considered the various possibilities the metaphor could mean. That’s the beauty of using language as metaphors, how they have so many different meanings it could be referring to.
A storybook finish seems to be a fitting title, but at the same time could be confusing as a reader. While Manning has definitely had a career deserving of that storybook and hall of fame criteria as an athlete, it gives the reader the sense that Manning has ended his career with his Super Bowl win. While most people agree that Manning’s career is over, it isn’t fair for a newspaper to give this headline, because Manning hasn’t confirmed the ending to his career just yet.