Figurative Language in Informational Text

Read lines 44-47.

We paused, we seemed to breathe the smell Of limewash and of tar, Familiar as our daily breath, As though it were some strange scent of death:

What does the simile in lines 44-47 reveal to the reader about the speaker and his comrades?

• It shows their apprehension despite the seemingly ordinary appearance of the lighthouse.

• It shows their displeasure with the condition of the lighthouse in its current state of decline

• It shows their sense of ease at the lighthouse having been there numerous times previously.

• It shows their discovery of clues related to the disappearances of the lighthouse watchmen.

We hunted high, we hunted low; And soon ransacked the empty house; Then o’er the Island, to and fro, We ranged, to listen and to look

What does ransacked mean as it is used in line 72?

• escaped

• looted

• observed

• scoured

Read the sentence from paragraph 1.

She went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario, not because she had been baptized with that name or given to it by her mother, but because she had searched until she found the poetry of “beauty” and “twilight” and cloaked herself in it.

What does the personification in the sentence convey to the reader about Belisa?

• It emphasizes that poetry is Belisa’s main form of written and verbal communication.

• It illustrates that words are not just her profession but a part of Belisa’s identity.

• It reveals that Belisa purports herself to be something that she is not.

• It shows that Belisa desires to erase the people and memories associated with her past.

Read the sentence from paragraph 4.

But Charles remembered Daresbury Parsonage as a happy spot, an “island farm, ’midst seas of corn.”

How does the author use rhetoric to support his views about Dodgson?

• The author uses personification to express Dodgson’s preference for solitude.

• The author uses metaphor to illustrate Dodgson’s nostalgia for his family home.

• The author uses irony to emphasize Dodgson’s ability to see the ordinary as exciting.

• The author uses hyperbole to show Dodgson’s connection to nature.

He seems to have coped with the emotional discomforts of his life by presenting a cold, remote face to those he did not know well.

What does the author mean when he describes Dodgson as “presenting a cold, remote face to those he did not know well” in paragraph 10?

• Dodgson refused to talk to anyone other than friends

• Dodgson was disliked by most people.

• Dodgson appeared aloof to strangers.

• Dodgson preferred to be by himself.

1 Fats.

2 They’re the black-hatted bad guys of nutrition, the most demonized of all nutrients.…

3 But is fat really all that bad? Does it deserve to be so maligned?

4 This may come as a surprise to you, but fats are mostly good guys in nutrition. You need them to survive. In fact, there are a slew of “good” fats with astonishing powers to outwit disease and keep you healthy for a lifetime. Sure, there are some health-risky fats, but even some of those are needed in small amounts for good health. When you’re dealing with fats, the key is to control not only the amount you eat but also the kind of fat you eat.

5 To get a handle on how fats affect your heath, it helps to learn some basic facts about this most misunderstood of all nutrients.

How does the author use rhetoric in paragraphs 1-5 to establish the purpose of the passage?

• The author uses formal scientific language to present information about fats.

• The author uses irony to encourage increased consumption of fats.

• The author uses satire to ridicule people who refuse to consume fats.

• The author uses figurative language to clarify the misconceptions about fats.

Read paragraph 23.

Like two riders trying to hop into the same taxi, synthetic fats compete with essential fatty acids for entry into your metabolic pathways, with processed fats muscling essential fats out of the way most of the time. This metabolic mix-up undermines the healing powers of essential fatty acids.

What is the effect of the simile on the overall passage?

• It draws a connection between the nutritional values of synthetic fats and essential fatty acids.

• It highlights that synthetic fats are more prevalent and accessible than most essential fatty acids.

• It poses a topic for future scientific inquiry about the relationships between synthetic fats and essential fatty acids.

• It expresses the scientific point that consuming synthetic fats leaves little room for the nourishment provided by essential fatty acids.

Read the excerpt from paragraph 1.

Change I had known before, and it had been gradual. My father had been a headman once, a person of consequence in our village: I had lived to see him relinquish this importance, but the alteration was so slow that we hardly knew when it came.

I had seen both my parents sink into old age and death, and here too there was no violence. But the change that now came into my life, into all our lives, blasting its way into our village, seemed wrought in the twinkling of an eye.

How does the author use figurative language to contribute to the meaning of the passage?

• by illustrating the close relationship between the narrator and her parents

• by highlighting the contrast between slow and abrupt changes

• by describing the destruction inflicted upon the village

• by summarizing the important experiences that shaped the narrator’s life

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair—

The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing—

And Winter slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

5 And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing, Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

What is the purpose of the personification of Winter in lines 3-4?

• to illustrate the positive effect of having a goal

• to provide visual imagery of the speaker’s surroundings

• to reinforce the overall whimsical tone of the poem

• to relay a natural phenomenon using a poetic device

It was a bitter and cruel experience, and it plunged them into an agony of despair. Such a time, of all times, for them to have it, when their hearts were made tender! Such a pitiful beginning it was for their married life; they loved each other so, and they could not have the briefest respite! It was a time when everything cried out to them that they ought to be happy; when wonder burned in their hearts, and leaped into flame at the slightest breath. They were shaken to the depths of them, with the awe of love realized—and was it so very weak of them that they cried out for a little peace? They had opened their hearts, like flowers to the springtime, and the merciless winter had fallen upon them

Read this sentence from paragraph 2.

They had opened their hearts, like flowers to the springtime, and the merciless winter had fallen upon them.

How does the author use figurative language in the sentence to contribute to the meaning of the passage?

• to convey a sense of beauty about the couple’s relationship

• to emphasize the short time the couple experienced together

• to illustrate how nature played a part in the couple’s relationship

• to contrast the expectations of the couple with the reality they experience