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Identify at least three pieces of figurative language in the following passage. Be sure to both state the type of figurative language and

provide the word/phrase (i.e. Simile - "Quote it"). Please note that you do not need four different types of figurative language in your
response.
"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull,
heavy, monotonous clang; and when its minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came forth from the
brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that,
at each lapse of an hour, the musicians in the orchestra were constrained to pause, momently, in their performance, to harken to the sound;
and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of
the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and that the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if
in confused reverie or meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians
looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming
of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six
hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness
and meditation as before.

User David Culp
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

In the passage from 'The Masque of the Red Death' by Edgar Allan Poe, there are three examples of figurative language: a simile, personification, and hyperbole.


Step-by-step explanation:

In the passage from 'The Masque of the Red Death' by Edgar Allan Poe, there are several examples of figurative language. Here are three:

  1. Simile: The description of the pendulum swinging 'to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang' compares the motion of the pendulum to the sound it produces.
  2. Personification: The phrase 'the brazen lungs of the clock' attributes human qualities, such as the ability to produce sound, to an inanimate object.
  3. Hyperbole: The statement that 'the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion' exaggerates the expectation that the musicians will not be affected by the sound of the clock chiming.

These examples of figurative language help create a vivid and atmospheric description of the scene in the story.


Learn more about Figurative language in 'The Masque of the Red Death'

User Alex Ferg
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