by Alejandro Morales
Rodia, who had built the two towers, was born in 1879 in the Campagna region of Southern Italy. Rodia’s family farmed a small parcel of land that required Simon and his sister to work long hours. Simon probably did not receive any schooling and probably could not read. It is unclear why at around the age of fourteen he came to America. From Campagna he had walked and rode on public carts to Naples, where he joined a group of twelve children escorted by Benedictine nuns destined for New York. While in Naples he often snuck away from the Benedictine eye to explore the great historical layers of the city: on the surface lay a modern city, and underground the Roman and Greek cities. Young Rodia was astonished at the magnificent buildings, plazas, gardens, palaces and churches in Naples. He marveled at the towering obelisks built throughout Naples. They became his points of reference and remained in his mind as both monuments and landmarks of the wondrous city. The twelve children steamed away from the port of Naples on a freighter overloaded with barrels of wine, olive oil and tons of pasta. The ship traveled to Palermo, Cagliari, Sardinia and Valencia, then to Málaga and Cádiz. In the month the ship took to arrive at Cádiz, Rodia made friends with the eleven children he traveled with. The Benedictine sisters evaluated the children’s reading, writing and mathematics skills and provided daily instruction in these areas. For Simon this was his first and only schooling. In Cádiz, half of the children stayed. Simon and five companions with two nuns sailed on a Portuguese freighter to the Canary Islands and then to New York.
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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which excerpt from the passage includes an example of metonymy?
(1 point)
Responses
“The work was hard, but worse was the constant cough he developed from the fine coal dust, the cold and dampness from the pits and mines.”
“The work was hard, but worse was the constant cough he developed from the fine coal dust, the cold and dampness from the pits and mines.”
“From Campagna he had walked and rode on public carts to Naples, where he joined a group of twelve children escorted by Benedictine nuns destined for New York.”
“From Campagna he had walked and rode on public carts to Naples, where he joined a group of twelve children escorted by Benedictine nuns destined for New York.”
“The twelve children steamed away from the port of Naples on a freighter overloaded with barrels of wine, olive oil and tons of pasta.”
“The twelve children steamed away from the port of Naples on a freighter overloaded with barrels of wine, olive oil and tons of pasta.”
“In Cádiz, half of the children stayed. Simon and five companions with two nuns sailed on a Portuguese freighter to the Canary Islands and then to New York.”
“In Cádiz, half of the children stayed. Simon and five companions with two nuns sailed on a Portuguese freighter to the Canary Islands and then to New York.”
1 answer
The excerpt that includes an example of metonymy is:
“The work was hard, but worse was the constant cough he developed from the fine coal dust, the cold and dampness from the pits and mines.”
In this context, "the pits and mines" can be seen as metonymy because it refers to the coal mining industry and environment as a whole, using a specific aspect (the pits and mines) to represent the entire experience and hardships associated with coal mining.
