Question

Read the following excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver’s "Life Without Go-Go Boots" and answer the question.

I have a feeling the day might come when my daughter will beg to be a slave of conventional fashion. I’m inclined to resist, if it happens. To press on her the larger truths I finally absorbed from my own wise parents: that she can find her own path. That she will be more valued for inward individuality than outward conformity. … But a small corner of my heart still harbors the Bride of Frankenstein, eleven years of age, haunting me in her brogues and petticoats. Always and forever, the ghosts of past anguish compel us to live through our children. If my daughter ever asks for the nineties equivalent of go-go boots, I’ll cave in.
In about 75 words, identify and discuss the figurative language used in the above excerpt.
A. Metaphor
B. Simile
C. Hyperbole
D. Personification

Answer 1

The figurative language used in the excerpt is metaphor, comparing the daughter's desire for fashion conformity to being a slave, and the lingering impact of past anguish to spectral entities. Option A is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

The figurative language used in the excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver's "Life Without Go-Go Boots" is metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as." In this excerpt, the author compares her daughter's desire to conform to conventional fashion with being a slave, emphasizing her own resistance to such conformity. The line "Always and forever, the ghosts of past anguish compel us to live through our children" is another metaphor, comparing the lingering impact of past anguish to spectral entities that influence our actions.