English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Metaphor and Simile 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a simile that appeals primarily to ethos?
- 'Like the founders who risked everything for principle, we too must stand firm.' (Correct answer)
- 'Her tears fell like rain on a summer afternoon.'
- 'The economy grew as fast as a weed in fertile soil.'
- 'The crowd roared like thunder across the stadium.'
Correct answer: 'Like the founders who risked everything for principle, we too must stand firm.'
Comparing the speaker's stance to the founding generation invokes moral authority and shared values, appealing to ethos.
Question 2: In analyzing a political speech, a student notes the metaphor 'our economy is a garden that needs tending.' This metaphor argues that the economy:
- Requires active, careful management by responsible stewards. (Correct answer)
- Will grow automatically without human intervention.
- Is natural and therefore cannot be controlled by policy.
- Is fragile and should be left entirely to experts.
Correct answer: Requires active, careful management by responsible stewards.
A garden metaphor implies the economy needs deliberate cultivation, positioning the speaker as a responsible steward who will nurture growth.
Question 3: Which of the following best explains why authors use concrete similes when discussing abstract topics?
- They make unfamiliar ideas accessible by grounding them in sensory experience. (Correct answer)
- They replace the need for logical evidence in an argument.
- They signal that the author is writing in an informal register.
- They allow the author to avoid taking a definitive position.
Correct answer: They make unfamiliar ideas accessible by grounding them in sensory experience.
Concrete similes anchor abstract ideas in familiar sensory experience, aiding comprehension and emotional engagement.
Question 4: Which technique does a writer use when saying 'he unleashed his argument like a caged animal finally set free'?
- A simile that conveys both the power and the pent-up force of the argument. (Correct answer)
- A metaphor that compares the argument to an animal trainer.
- Personification that gives the argument human emotional qualities.
- An allusion to a specific historical debate about animal rights.
Correct answer: A simile that conveys both the power and the pent-up force of the argument.
The 'like' signals a simile; the caged-animal vehicle conveys raw, restrained power suddenly released.
Question 5: In the context of AP rhetorical analysis, 'unpacking a metaphor' means:
- Explaining the implied meaning, the associations transferred, and the effect on the audience. (Correct answer)
- Listing all the metaphors found in a passage without further comment.
- Replacing the metaphor with a literal paraphrase to test its accuracy.
- Comparing two metaphors to determine which is more effective.
Correct answer: Explaining the implied meaning, the associations transferred, and the effect on the audience.
Unpacking a metaphor requires examining its implied meaning, the qualities transferred from vehicle to tenor, and its rhetorical effect.
Question 6: When E.B. White writes that New York is 'a poem whose every syllable counts,' he uses this metaphor to suggest:
- Every detail of the city is deliberate, precise, and contributes to a larger artistic whole. (Correct answer)
- New York is noisy and difficult to understand, like a complex poem.
- The city's residents are all poets and writers.
- New York is as brief and fleeting as a short lyric poem.
Correct answer: Every detail of the city is deliberate, precise, and contributes to a larger artistic whole.
Comparing New York to a poem in which every syllable counts suggests intentionality and interdependence among all the city's elements.
Question 7: Which of the following correctly identifies both the tenor and the vehicle in the metaphor 'Memory is a cracked mirror'?
- Tenor: memory; Vehicle: a cracked mirror. (Correct answer)
- Tenor: a cracked mirror; Vehicle: memory.
- Tenor: the mind; Vehicle: memory.
- Tenor: time; Vehicle: a cracked mirror.
Correct answer: Tenor: memory; Vehicle: a cracked mirror.
The tenor is the subject being described (memory) and the vehicle is the image used to describe it (a cracked mirror).
English Language and Composition Exam AP English Language and Composition Metaphor and Simile 5
Which sentence contains a simile that appeals primarily to ethos?