English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Metaphor and Simile 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains an extended metaphor?
- Life is a journey with many unexpected detours, dead ends, and scenic routes we never planned to take. (Correct answer)
- She ran as fast as the wind.
- The dog barked loudly at the stranger.
- He felt cold and tired after the long walk.
Correct answer: Life is a journey with many unexpected detours, dead ends, and scenic routes we never planned to take.
An extended metaphor develops a single comparison across multiple details, as in comparing life to a journey with detours, dead ends, and scenic routes.
Question 2: In the phrase 'her voice was silk,' what effect does the metaphor primarily create?
- It conveys a sensory impression of smoothness and elegance. (Correct answer)
- It emphasizes the volume of her voice.
- It suggests she spoke in a foreign language.
- It implies she was nervous when speaking.
Correct answer: It conveys a sensory impression of smoothness and elegance.
Comparing a voice to silk transfers tactile qualities—smoothness and elegance—to an auditory experience.
Question 3: A simile differs from a metaphor primarily because a simile:
- Uses 'like' or 'as' to signal the comparison explicitly. (Correct answer)
- Compares two things from the same category.
- Always involves personification of an object.
- Is limited to poetry and cannot appear in prose.
Correct answer: Uses 'like' or 'as' to signal the comparison explicitly.
Similes use connecting words such as 'like' or 'as' to make comparisons explicit, while metaphors state comparisons directly.
Question 4: Which rhetorical purpose is BEST served by a sustained metaphor comparing a nation to a sinking ship?
- To create urgency and emotional investment in a political argument. (Correct answer)
- To provide statistical evidence for economic decline.
- To offer a technical analysis of naval engineering.
- To entertain readers with a humorous comparison.
Correct answer: To create urgency and emotional investment in a political argument.
A sustained metaphor of a sinking ship evokes danger and helplessness, generating urgency that supports a political argument emotionally.
Question 5: When a writer says 'the classroom was a zoo,' the metaphor implies:
- The students were chaotic and difficult to control. (Correct answer)
- The room contained exotic animals.
- The teacher used zoological examples in the lesson.
- The classroom was located near a wildlife park.
Correct answer: The students were chaotic and difficult to control.
Comparing a classroom to a zoo implies wild, noisy, uncontrolled behavior among the students.
Question 6: Which of the following is a DEAD metaphor?
- The leg of the table. (Correct answer)
- Her smile was a sunrise.
- He fought like a lion.
- Time is a thief that steals our youth.
Correct answer: The leg of the table.
A dead metaphor is one so overused that speakers no longer recognize it as figurative, such as 'the leg of the table.'
Question 7: In AP rhetorical analysis, identifying a metaphor serves primarily to:
- Explain how the author shapes meaning and influences the audience's perception. (Correct answer)
- Count the number of figurative devices in a passage.
- Prove that the author copied language from another text.
- Determine whether the passage is fiction or nonfiction.
Correct answer: Explain how the author shapes meaning and influences the audience's perception.
Identifying a metaphor in rhetorical analysis helps students explain how authors construct meaning and affect their audiences.
English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Metaphor and Simile 2
Which sentence contains an extended metaphor?