What is the effect of the bolded figurative language on the passage?
"No... I just remembered that today's my birthday."
I was thirty. **Before me stretched the portentous, menacing road of a new decade.**
O The alliteration reveals that the speaker believes birthdays are repetitive.
The metaphor reflects the speaker's negative attitude toward growing older.
O The personification of the birthday makes the reader realize the speaker's age.
O The simile positively compares birthdays to a long and winding road.
To determine the effect of the bolded figurative language in the passage, we need to analyze the words and phrases used and see how they contribute to the overall meaning and tone.
First, let's identify the figurative language used in the passage.
The phrase "stretched the portentous, menacing road" contains two forms of figurative language: metaphor and adjectives.
Now, let's consider the effect of this figurative language:
1. Metaphor: The phrase "stretched the portentous, menacing road" compares the speaker's future journey into a new decade to a road. This comparison suggests that the speaker views entering this new decade as a challenging and daunting undertaking. It conveys a sense of foreboding or apprehension about what lies ahead.
2. Adjectives: The choice of adjectives, "portentous" and "menacing," further emphasizes the negative connotation associated with the road, reinforcing the idea that the speaker sees their upcoming journey into the new decade as something threatening or ominous.
Considering these effects, we can conclude that the metaphor and the choice of adjectives reflect the speaker's negative attitude toward growing older. Therefore, the correct answer is: The metaphor reflects the speaker's negative attitude toward growing older.