• Exciting news! With our new Ad-Free Premium Subscription you can enjoy a distraction-free browsing experience while supporting our site's growth. Without ads, you have less distractions and enjoy faster page load times. Upgrade is optional. Find out more here, and enjoy ad-free learning with us!

Literary Term Question

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Howyoudoin952

Guest
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.
 

Tdol

Editor, UsingEnglish.com
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Simile.

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

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Howyoudoin952 said:
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. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top