Absolute complex sentence

[fish-able]

I was reading a story then this complex sentence appeared:
"She sadly gathered up the undiscovered universe like jewels in a jasper cup"
Is this a comparison between the woman and the jewels? Or what? And what does it mean?

 

[Rover_KE]

What is the source of that very obscure sentence?

 

[fish-able]

From GMAT reading comprehension quizzes. I know it's kind of an eloquence but I need to learn English as Native speakers do.
;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

Most native speakers aren't taught English through incomprehensible sentences like that.

 

[SoothingDave]

She gathered up the universe in a way that one might gather up jewels into a "jasper cup." (Whatever that is.)

The sentence is odd because it compares a singular thing (the undiscovered universe) to a plural thing (the jewels).

 

[Raymott]

It's true, Dave, that the universe is singular, but if you're gathering one up, I'm sure it would be done in a piece by piece method - as you have clarified with your paraphrase. I agree the original is deficient, and the surrounding literary context would help.
A jasper cup is a cup made of jasper. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/473280

 

[SoothingDave]

The Jasper Cup sounds like something they would play hockey or soccer for. And if you Google it, it is.

 

[fish-able]

Come on guys! This sentence gets over you with that ease! Figure out the explanation.
First of all, this is a Simile and in short, the passage was about a rule model woman.

 

[Raymott]

Of course it's a simile.
You've been given the answer in post #5. It has nothing to do with comparing a woman to jewels. It is a comparison of how "she gathered up the undiscovered universe" with how a person might gather up jewels in a jasper cup. It's a comparison between two actions, not two things.

What's a "rule model woman"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Come on guys! This sentence gets over you with that ease! Figure out the explanation.

You might want to reconsider next time you decide to be quite so impolite to those of us who are trying to help you. We are under no obligation to do anything and things like the underlined sentence make me far less inclined to respond to your posts in the future.