Figures of Speech
Figures of Speech Review:

Similes compare two things using the words like, as, and than.

Metaphors also compare two things, but they don't use like, as, and than like
similes do. They make more direct comparisons.

Personification is a human element put into something not human. When we
use personification we make a thing like a person.
For each selection below, underline the figure of speech. Then label the selection
simile, metaphor, or personification.
1) As they moved closer, more men in dark uniforms got out of the cars and truck cabs. They
made a perfect half circle in front of the synagogue doors, like a steel trap with gaping jaws ready
to be sprung.
2) Somewhere a child cried out that she had to go to the bathroom. A little while later, a smell
announced that she had.
3) The stench in the powerful boxcar was overwhelming, a powerful stew of human perspiration
and fear and the smell of children being sick.
4) “Yes, Masha is right, beaten unmercifully. And the blood on the snow, my Uncle Moishe who
was there said, was like rose petals falling. Rose petals, he said,” the man concluded. 8
5) The boxcars traveled for four days and nights; the only difference that Hannah could tell was in
the heat. Under the midday sun, it was like standing in an oven, an oven that smelled of human
sweat and urine and feces.
6) Fayge’s white wedding dress was badly stained, front and back, and she was as pale as paper.
7) Shifre’s two pale braids came off whole, landing with a soft thud-thud on the floor. She
touched one with a bare foot, as if the plait were some sort of unknown animals. 94
The Devil’s Arithmetic - English Review
Chapters 10-11
Sentence Structure Review:
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate. An independent
clause also has a complete thought, making it a complete sentence. A dependent
clause has the subject and predicate, but is missing the complete thought.
 One independent clause creates a simple sentence.
 Two independent clauses (will be joined by a comma and coordinating
conjunction) create a compound sentence.
 One independent clause with one depending clause is a complex sentence.
 Two independent clauses with one dependent clause creates a
compound-complex sentence.
For each selection below, label the subjects and predicates. Then label the
sentence as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.
1) Gitl’s arm tightened on her shoulder, and the villagers began to murmur among themselves.
2) Fayge’s beaded headdress and her earrings were gone.
3) They stood raggedly, and the soldiers herded them toward two stationary boxcars.
4) As she looked around, she could see how weakened everyone was.
5) If she did have such memories, she would have shared them, and they could all fear
together.