This story (told in an English class) illustrates this:

A man born blind heard loud wailing from the neighbour’s house. When he asked about the reason, he was told that the neighbour’s child choked on milk and died. He asked,’What is milk?’ The other guy said.’Milk is white like a crane.’ This lead to,’What is a crane?’. The other guy put the fingers of his hand together, bends the hand at the wrist to make the shape of the head and neck of a crane, and tells the blind man to feel it, saying,’the crane is like this’.

The blind man runs his hand over the hand and arm and says, ‘ It is perfectly clear now. Even an adult will choke to death if he swallows That!’

Analogies are useful devices if handled right.

example..

fish is to water AS bird is to sky

pretty is to ugly AS black is to white

carnivore is to meats AS herbivore is to plants