Quarter 3: Week 3, Post A

VOCAB:


scimitars (75): Curved Asian swords with the edges on the convex sides
querulously (51): in a peevish or complaining manner

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:


1. "Gripping each other's hands, awkward as a three-legged race, we approached Mom's coffin" (91). This is an example of a simile. Since Clare and Nikki aren't very close, it's very awkward for them to hold hands. The author compares their awkwardness to that of two people competing in a three-legged race.

2. "...the sun had become a broken, bleeding red yolk" (61). This is an example of a metaphor in the story. As dusk begins to fall on the night of her mother's murder, Nikki describes the sun as it sinks in the sky. She compares it to the yolk of an egg. She is feeling broken and bleeding herself, which explains why she uses these words.

3. "Later, we embraced. Like drowning women clutching helplessly at each other" (63). This is another example of figurative language in the novel. Nikki describes a hug with her sister in the aftermath of their mother's murder. Using a simile, she compares their desperate grief to that of people who are drowning.

QUOTE:


" Clare had begun to cry, bitterly. Yet not hiding her face as you'd expect, just sitting rigid and furious, fists clenched at her sides. I knew that I was expected to cry with my sister, to hug her tight, but my arms were like lead, my legs were like lead, I hadn't the strength to turn to her, couldn't move an inch. She might have been on the far side of the room" (82). This quote shows the shock Nikki feels in the aftermath of discovering her mother's body. Her sister is able to grieve, to cry, but Nikki can't. I think this shows that the situation is different for Nikki since she was the one to discover her mom's broken and bruised body, to see their house torn apart, and to call the police.

THEME:


The theme seems to be focusing more now on the struggles of dealing with grief in the aftermath of the death of a loved one.