1. "There he stood, like a great iceberg blocking my path" is a SIMILE because it uses the word "like" to compare a man to an iceberg.
2. "There he stood, a great iceberg blocking my path" is a METAPHOR because it says that he IS an iceberg.
3. "Throughout my life, my brother has always been like that annoying itch beside the shoulder blade, the one you can never quite reach" is a SIMILE because it compares the brother to an annoying itch.
4. "Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky, like a patient etherized upon a table" is a SIMILE because it uses the word "like" to compare the spreading of the evening upon the sky to a patient falling asleep (from anesthetic) on a table, their body slowly spreading out as they go limp.
5. "We thought we were safe and warm, but a tree branch crashed through the roof" contains an the word "crashed" which is an ONOMATOPOEIA because it represents that song that the tree branch made.
6. "Death stands above me, whispering low I know not what into my ear" is a personification of death and it is also a metaphor for one who is near death, but, primarily, it is a use of IMAGERY to create an image in the mind of the reader.
7. "The sound of his blows was like an axe striking a rotten log in the distance" is a SIMILE because it compares the sound of a man hitting something/someone to that of an axe striking a rotten log.
8. "The fog comes on little cat feet" is a METAPHOR because it describes the fog approaching quietly by comparing it to the soft way that a cat walks.