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Study Island Assignment #5

 

Using Figurative Language

 

In My Heart's Shelf
By A. Gautam

She's yellowing in the palm,
spotted, and wrinkled
around the edges.
The creases and crevasses
of wisdom are scattered
along the sagging skin.

She's transforming.
My favorite book of poems�
leather-bound, ornamented,
sprinkled with gold,
more beautiful than old.
She's wizened.

Her bookmarks are my visas�
journeys stamped in rhymes.
Her toothless smile
is like a lost index page.
Even the wind can shuffle her,
as she sits by the window.

But, oh the music bursts
out of her words�
the soothing, haunting sounds,
melodies of her breath
in sighs and lullabies.
My mother is my epic.

1. 

Read these lines from the poem:

Her toothless smile / is like a lost index page.



What does this simile mean?

 

 

Select answer AA.

She appears to have lost both her teeth and her index finger.

Select answer BB.

She appears like a book that is missing the last page.

Select answer CC.

She appears to need dentures to fix her toothless smile.

Select answer DD.

She appears like a book that has its charm and novelty.

 

2. 

In this poem, what does the speaker compare his or her mother to?

 

Select answer AA.

An old music record

Select answer BB.

An old book of poems

Select answer CC.

An ornament of gold

Select answer DD.

A wrinkled passport

 

 

 

     It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cougars were due to bat with the score tied at three apiece. I couldn't believe we had advanced this far in the playoffs. Right off the bat, the starting pitcher walked the first two players. I was due up next. As I practiced my swing in the on-deck circle, the butterflies in my stomach wouldn't settle down. The Cougars needed a solid hit to score the runner from second and win the game. I wanted to be the hero; I wanted it so badly I could taste it. The stone-faced pitcher reeled back and unleashed the ball. I had no idea what pitch to expect. Fastball, curve, change-up, who knew? I just closed my eyes, gripped the bat tightly, and dug in my heels. I hoped to connect and send the pitch over the third baseman's head.

3. 

What is the meaning of stone-faced pitcher?

 

 

Select answer AA.

A face that shows lots of expression

Select answer BB.

A face with many lines and wrinkles

Select answer CC.

A face that looks like a boulder

Select answer DD.

A face showing no expression

4. 

What is the meaning of so badly I could taste it?

 

Select answer AA.

Desire something strongly

Select answer BB.

Be afraid of something

Select answer CC.

Get a bad taste in your mouth

Select answer DD.

Perform something in a poor manner

5. 

What is the meaning of right off the bat?

 

Select answer AA.

The first thing that happened

Select answer BB.

After a little while

Select answer CC.

Before a pitch is thrown

Select answer DD.

After allowing a base hit

6. 

Why do you think someone who is learning English as a foreign language might have trouble understanding an idiomatic expression?

 

Select answer AA.

Words in an idiom are often very difficult to pronounce.

Select answer BB.

Words in an idiom don't have their usual meaning.

Select answer CC.

An idiom is difficult to read.

Select answer DD.

An idiom is difficult to spell.

 

     Timmy had always been small, and as a result, he had been the object of ridicule. The larger boys were constantly picking on him, and even some of the girls would cut in front of him in the lunch line, laughing. On Thursday, walking home from school, Felix came up behind and knocked his books out of hands. That was the last straw for Timmy. He didn�t care if Felix were four inches taller and outweighed him by 20 pounds, enough was enough. Instead of kneeling down to pick up his books, Timmy suddenly turned on Felix, and with his fists and arms churning like the beaters in an electric mixer, he plowed into the bigger boy. Catching Felix off guard, he swung at him, and as he backed up to avoid getting hit, he tripped and sprawled backwards. Timmy jumped on him in an instant, like ugly on an ape. At that moment, two of Timmy�s friends appeared and pulled him off Felix, who scrambled to his feet and ran away.

7. 

What is meant by the simile "like ugly on an ape"?

 

 

Select answer AA.

They were fighting like apes.

Select answer BB.

Timmy was all over Felix.

Select answer CC.

He surprised him like an ape.

Select answer DD.

It was going to be an ugly fight.

 

 

 

8. 

What is meant by the simile "like the beaters in an electric mixer"?

 

A.

Felix was caught off guard like flour in a mixer.

Select answer BB.

Timmy had had enough and was ready to mix it up.

Select answer CC.

Timmy was swinging his arms and fists rapidly.

Select answer DD.

Electricity was flowing through Timmy's torso.

9. 

Which pair of idioms below has similar meanings?

 

Select answer AA.

"Chew the fat" and "shoot the breeze"

Select answer BB.

"Bone to pick with you" and "pull yourself together"

Select answer CC.

"Pulling your leg" and "shake a leg"

Select answer DD.

"Hit the road" and " hit the hay"

 

      I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
      Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
      One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
      In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
      It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check�a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
I Have a Dream - March on Washington, August 28, 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

 

 

10. 

What does Martin Luther King, Jr. mean by "America has given the Negro people a bad check"?

 

 

Select answer AA.

America owes the Negro people money for denying them equal rights.

Select answer BB.

America lacks the funds to pay the Negro people what it owes them for years of using them as slaves and not paying them for the work they did.

Select answer CC.

The American government has mistreated the Negro people in all cases.

Select answer DD.

America has not followed up on its promise to give Negroes equal treatment afforded them by the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

 

 

 

 

11. 

Which of these is an example of a metaphor?

 

Select answer AA.

. . . in whose symbolic shadow we stand

Select answer BB.

Now is the time to rise from the dark . . .

Select answer CC.

This note was a promise . . .

Select answer DD.

Now is the time to lift our nation . . .

12. 

The jeweler was a vulture as he inspected the diamond.


What figure of speech does the author use in this sentence?

 

Select answer AA.

personification

Select answer BB.

idiom

Select answer CC.

simile

Select answer DD.

metaphor

     It was the last night of camp, and Maxon knew the other cabins would be playing practical jokes. He wasn't sure which cabin would start, but if he had to guess and go out on a limb, he thought it might be cabin 89. They were the first cabin to turn down their lights and go to sleep. It was only 9 in the evening, and it was too early for anyone to hit the hay, so that tipped off Maxon. The rest of the cabin wasn't ready. They were chatting and their voices were too loud to notice anything. Maxon called out to everyone in his cabin, "Put a sock in it, guys! You'll never be able to hear 89 if you keep talking!" The whole cabin quieted.
����� In the bushes, there was a rustling. Maxon listened. Thomas, one of the bunk mates, prepared for the raid by filling balloons with water. He held them, ready to launch them into the bushes. Maxon wasn't sure if it was 89. He didn't want to throw out the balloons and find out that the noise was a fox or rabbit. "Hold your horses," he whispered at Thomas. "I'm going to take a closer look. Wait for my signal." Thomas put the water balloons down. As Maxon crept around the cabin's back patio, he heard voices--and they weren't coming from his cabin! He crouched down and moved some brush away. There they were--cabin 89 in the flesh and blood! Maxon could see all of the kids from 89 gathered. They were talking about how they planned on raiding Maxon's cabin. Maxon crept back inside to warn his bunk mates.

13. 

What does the idiom "Put a sock in it" mean?

 

 

Select answer AA.

Be loyal

Select answer BB.

Be quiet

Select answer CC.

Be safe

Select answer DD.

Be sneaky

14. 

What does the idiom "flesh and blood" mean?

 

Select answer AA.

Hurting

Select answer BB.

In person

Select answer CC.

Wondering

Select answer DD.

Scared

15. 

What does the idiom "go out on a limb" mean?

 

Select answer AA.

To play in a tree

Select answer BB.

To leave

Select answer CC.

To guess

Select answer DD.

To forget