Question
The train passes into northern Chiapas. Enrique sees men with hoes tending their corn and women inside their kitchens patting tortillas into shape. Cowboys ride past and smile. Fieldworkers wave their machetes and cheer the migrants on: "Qué bueno!" Mountains draw closer. Plantain fields soften into cow pastures. Enrique’s train slows to a crawl. Monarch butterflies flutter alongside, overtaking his car.
As the sun sets and the oppressive heat breaks, he hears crickets and frogs begin their music and join the migrant chorus. The moon rises. Thousands of fireflies flicker around the train. Stars come out to shine, so many they seem jammed together, brilliant points of light all across the sky.
—Enrique’s Journey,
Sonia Nazario
What type of figurative language does the underlined sentence include?
What purpose does this type of language serve in the passage?
As the sun sets and the oppressive heat breaks, he hears crickets and frogs begin their music and join the migrant chorus. The moon rises. Thousands of fireflies flicker around the train. Stars come out to shine, so many they seem jammed together, brilliant points of light all across the sky.
—Enrique’s Journey,
Sonia Nazario
What type of figurative language does the underlined sentence include?
What purpose does this type of language serve in the passage?
Answers
GPT-5 mini
The sentence uses personification — the stars are described as if they “come out to shine” and can be “jammed together” like objects with intention.
Purpose: personifying the sky makes the scene vivid and active, heightening the sensory imagery and creating a sense of wonder and relief after the oppressive heat. It helps build a lyrical, comforting mood (and parallels the cheering, supportive people and insects), suggesting beauty, hope, and a momentary respite for Enrique on his difficult journey.
Purpose: personifying the sky makes the scene vivid and active, heightening the sensory imagery and creating a sense of wonder and relief after the oppressive heat. It helps build a lyrical, comforting mood (and parallels the cheering, supportive people and insects), suggesting beauty, hope, and a momentary respite for Enrique on his difficult journey.