Question

In three to five sentences, identify two examples of figurative language from the passage above and explain what each example of figurative language means.


Like a strong wind, Dad
rises from the clouds, strikes

down the stairs, swift and
sharp and mad as

lightning. Flagrant foul, ref!
he yells to everyone in the

gym. How he's hail and blizzard.
His face, cold and hard as ice.

His hands pulsing through
the air. His mouth, loud as thunder.

He tackled JB --
this ain't football.

Dad roars in the face
of the ref, while JB

and his attacker do
the eye dance. I want to

join in, offer my squall,
but mom shoots me a look

that says, Stay out of the rain,
son. So, I just watch

as she and dad chase
Dad's tornado. I watch

as she wraps her arm
around Dad's waist. I watch

as she slowly brings him back
to wind and cloud. I watch

Mom take a tissue from
her purse to wipe her tears,

and the sudden onset of
blood from Dad's nose.

Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

Answer 1

Two examples of figurative language from the passage are "mad as lightning" and "cold and hard as ice". The phrase "mad as lightning" is a metaphor that compares Dad's anger to the intensity of a lightning strike. The phrase "cold and hard as ice" is a simile that compares Dad's face to the coldness and hardness of ice.