L. Han
Otis stood outside the department store where the row of shoeshine boys worked like bees in a hive, and he waited for his next customer. He had just shined the shoes of an Italian man who was visiting New York from Rome. Otis liked how his job let him meet people of every age and background.
A steady tapping reached Otis's ears, and he looked up to see a blind man coming toward him, his walking stick playing a rhythm on the sidewalk in front of him. When the man got near the shoeshine boys, he asked, "Is someone available to shine my shoes?"
Otis stepped forward and said, "Yes, sir," and he helped the man get seated in the chair. He cleaned and shined the man's fine leather shoes until they were a mirror reflecting the boy's face.
Before the man got up, he asked Otis what the headlines were in the paper that day, and Otis told him. He thanked the boy and then said, "You have a fine speaking voice, son. I work in radio, and we are always looking for good voices." Then he gave Otis his business card. "Look me up if you're interested in a radio job."
When the man had left, Otis daydreamed. My voice would be heard on the radio by thousands of people, he thought. Who knows? I might even make enough money to buy a pair of leather shoes.
Question
The detail "the row of shoeshine boys worked like bees in a hive" is an example of—
Responses
A personificationpersonification
B hyperbolehyperbole
C metaphormetaphor
D simile
1 answer
The detail "the row of shoeshine boys worked like bees in a hive" is an example of—
D) simile
This is because it uses "like" to make a comparison between the shoeshine boys and bees in a hive, indicating the diligent and organized nature of their work.
