Lord of the Flies Group

Question:

piggy4life
piggy4life
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In chapter 4, what literary term is used in the following quotation: "The sun gazed down like an angry eye"?

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Posted by piggy4life on Wednesday April 15, 2009 at 11:24 AM and tagged with angry eye, chapter 4, literary term, lord of the flies.

Answers:


  1. troutmiller Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    The literary term used is personification.  Personification occurs when any non-human thing takes on the qualities of a human or "person."  This example shows the sun gazing down.  The sun doesn't really have eyes like we do to gaze.  It also doesn't have emotions like we do to feel "angry."  So the sun is being personified here in this quotation.  It gives the reader the feeling that the sun is unrelenting and harsh.  It must be very hot and the sun's intensity is quite high.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/personification

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    Posted by troutmiller on Wednesday April 15, 2009 at 11:54 AM

  2. mbomengen
    mrsmonica Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    In addition to personification of the sun, this type of figurative language is also anthropomorphism (attribution of human characteristics to a non-human object, such as a force of nature). It is, further, a simile (direct comparison of two objects using the word "like" or "as").

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/simile

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    Posted by mrsmonica on Wednesday April 15, 2009 at 12:04 PM