Answer:
Imagery.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author developed the style of his writing, imagery using the literary device onomatopoeia (which is formation of words from associated sounds) to achieve it.
The author first begins by informing the readers about the effect the lady harpist was having in her immediate surroundings and how everything changed when she stopped playing to take a rest.
The effect of the harpist pausing her play of the harp on the family of Lin eating soup and how it sounded. He compared the sound of the Lin family consuming soup to the sound of tides on a rocky beach.
He used imagery to project the reader to the story and the accompanying sounds of the Lin family eating soup because like tides on a rocky beach when the water drains from the little pools, the sounds of their eating sounded like "shloop shloop shloop".