Rogers Writing and Rhetoric Blog

Source: Copilot. “create a comic strip drawing representing the fable boiling frogs” and “add a twist.” Microsoft, 9 Oct. 2025, copilot.microsoft.com/ URL

The phrase, “I’m cooked,” never had meaning to me until I started to reflect on burnout.

The fable of the boiling frog legs is a metaphor to describe burnout. The pot of water signifies the environment or setting such as a teacher and their school environment. The water itself represents the stimuli and what should be considered “part of the job” or expected job stress. Every job has its own demands and expectations. However, the added stress, workload, and demands, as well as unexpected situations that may or may not be part of the job, turn up the “heat.” The concept of time is subjective. How fast or slow the heat is turned up, and how an individual “gets used to the heat,” can depend on the type of stimuli that demand emotional reserves.

If the “heat” cannot be turned down or cooled off, the concept of boiling frog legs comes to its boiling point, where the frog is being “cooked.” At the point of no return, the only option is to metaphorically stay and suffer or get out and make a change. Find a new pot of water and start fresh.