Use the paragraph to complete the activity.
Melanie walked out onto the stage, and her stomach dropped like a free-falling elevator. She crept slowly over to the podium and bent the microphone toward her mouth, like the straw in her pink lemonade. She gathered up all her courage and began to speak, her voice an imposter as it boomed through the microphone. She flinched at its unfamiliarity and scanned the room for her mother's face.
In three to five sentences, identify two examples or figurative language from the passage above and explain what each example of figurative language means.
One example of figurative language in the passage is when Melanie's stomach dropped "like a free-falling elevator." This is a simile that compares the feeling in Melanie's stomach to the quick, sudden descent of an elevator. It conveys the intensity and suddenness of her nervousness.
Another example of figurative language is when Melanie bent the microphone toward her mouth "like the straw in her pink lemonade." This is a simile that compares Melanie's action of adjusting the microphone to how she would move a straw in her drink. It emphasizes her careful and delicate actions, highlighting her nervousness and the importance she places on her performance.