Figurative Language in Out of the Dust

What two things are being compared in the following simile? "On Sunday,/winds came,/ bringing a red dust/ like prairie fire" (Hesse 46).

• fire and winds

• winds and dust

• prairie and fire

• dust and fire

What is the figurative meaning of the following simile? What does it really mean? "It wasn't until the dust turned toward the house,/ like a fired locomotive,/ and I fled,/ barefoot and breathless, back inside" (Hesse 32).

• This simile means that the dust came toward the house very forcefully.

• This simile means that the dust blew gently toward the house.

• This simile means that the dust was in the shape of a train as it blew toward the house.

• This simile means that the train conductor blew his horn as a warning that the dust was coming.

What type of figurative language is used in the following sentence?

"it wasn't until the dust/ hissed against the windows" (Hesse 32).

• metaphor

• imagery

• personification

• simile

What type of figurative language compares two unlike things using like or as?

• personification

• metaphor

• simile

• imagery

Karen Hesse compares Billie Jo's pregnant ma to a melon and pear (55) to help the reader

• A. think about the apples that she planted

• B. visualize her shape

• C. understand that Ma is ready for the baby to arrive

• D. None of these

What type of figurative language is used in the following sentence?

"It wasn't until the dust/hissed against the windows"

• personification

• metaphor

• imagery

• simile

Sorrow climbs up our front steps, is an example of what type of figurative language?

• Metaphor

• Idiom

• Onomatopoeia

• Personification

Why does Karen Hesse describe the falling apple blossoms as "... a blizzard of sweet flowers" (43)?

• to help the reader visualize them

• because the blossoms and snow blizzards are both white

• because blossoms are falling like snowflakes

• all of these

Karen Hesse compares Billie Jo's pregnant ma to a melon and pear to help the reader

• think about the apples that she planted

• visualize her shape

• understand that Ma is ready for the baby to arrive

• None of these

"Ma make a rope of fire" (60) and "Ma was a column of fire" (61)are similar because

• they are both metaphors

• they both help the reader visualize the shape of the fire

• Both A and B

• None of these