Final answer:
The sentence has no direct object because the verb 'danced' is intransitive in the context of the sentence. The tumbleweed is the subject, and it's being compared to a ballerina, which is a figurative description, not an object.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asks about the object in the sentence 'The tumbleweed danced like a ballerina in a recital.' To identify the object, we first need to find the verb. The main verb here is 'danced.' The sentence is a simile, comparing the tumbleweed's movement to that of a dancer. However, there is no direct object receiving the action of the verb because 'danced' is an intransitive verb in this context. Instead, it's the subject 'the tumbleweed' that performs the action of dancing. The comparison to a ballerina in a recital is using figurative language to describe how the tumbleweed moves, but it does not function as an object within the sentence structure.