The Weight of Silence - Figurative Language in literary texts (Grade 8)

The passage explicitly states, 'It felt like a stone he’d carried for months had finally been dropped,' using a simile to describe the weight of his secret.

The connotative meaning of 'ghost' in this context is something elusive, fleeting, and hard to pin down ('there one second, gone the next'). This creates a tone of frustration for Kendra, who is trying to solve a critical problem with unreliable information.

Kendra uses the metaphor 'a ghost' to explain that the readings are elusive and unpredictable, appearing and disappearing, not that they are literally supernatural or unreal.

The metaphor of a 'wall' is used to show that Levi's words are creating a barrier, preventing Kendra from having a productive conversation about the problem. He is shutting her down.

The word 'cracked' connotes brokenness and emotional strain, while 'whisper' suggests shame and a lack of confidence. Together, these words paint a picture of someone defeated and burdened by guilt, not anger or physical difficulty.

Option 0: 'a punctured lung' means the ship was losing air. Option 1: 'a wall' means his words were a barrier. Option 2: 'a heavy blanket' means the silence was suffocating. Option 3: 'a bridge' means the silence became a point of connection after the confession.

The phrases 'a heavy blanket,' 'a wall she couldn't climb,' and 'a punctured lung' describe the oppressive, blocked, and failing state of things while the secret was kept. The phrases 'a cracked whisper,' 'a bridge,' and 'a stone... dropped' describe Levi's broken confession, the new connection between the characters, and the release of the secret's weight after the truth came out.