"Besides, they are about as edible as the tough, dry bark in a long dead tree" is an example of which type of comparison?
- hyperbole
- metaphor
- oxymoron
- simile
The comparison of the author's food to tree bark uses the word "as", making it a simile. A simile is a type of figurative language that expresses a comparison between two entities/things using comparison words/terms such as "like", "as", "resembles", and "than". Therefore, its meaning is figurative, not literal. The meaning of a simile will always depend upon the context of its use (expresses a figurative meaning that literal words do not).