Literary Term Question

If these lines from a James Weldon Johnson poem (on a test), what "literary device" would you consider to be appropriate for labeling them?

This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby, |
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;


A.) Simile
B.) Metaphor
C.) Vivid Description
D.) Image
E.) None of the Above

My teacher put this on a test, and I want to see what people with objective opinions would select as the answer. Thanks for your help.

[RonBee]

It is clearly a simile.

:)

• Figure of Speech
  http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary...of-speech.html

[Tdol]

Simile.

Vivid description is a judgement, not a literary device. It is an image as well, but achieved through simile.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Howyoudoin952

If these lines from a James Weldon Johnson poem (on a test), what "literary device" would you consider to be appropriate for labeling them?

This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby, |
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;


A.) Simile
B.) Metaphor
C.) Vivid Description
D.) Image
E.) None of the Above

My teacher put this on a test, and I want to see what people with objective opinions would select as the answer. Thanks for your help.

Simile. It would be a metaphor if it said This great God was a mammy....
The "like" marks it as a simile. :)