Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes - each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands. Deep within me, words pile up in huge drifts.
Mountains of phrases and sentences and connected ideas. Clever expressions. Jokes.
Love songs.
From the time I was really little - maybe just a few months old - words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance.
My parents always blanketed me with conversation. They chattered and babbled. They verbalized and vocalized. My father sang to me. My mother whispered strength into my ear. Every word my, parents spoke to me or about me l absorbed and kept and remembered.
Write a RARE response in which you identify at least 2 examples of figurative language from the passage and explain their meaning.
(4 points)
1. "Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes" - In this comparison, the author is likening words to snowflakes, highlighting the delicate and unique nature of each word. Just like snowflakes, words fall around the author in a swirling, ethereal manner, emphasizing the multitude and intricacy of language.
2. "From the time I was really little - maybe just a few months old - words were like sweet, liquid gifts" - Here, the author uses the metaphor of words being "sweet, liquid gifts" to convey the idea that words were not just a means of communication, but something precious and nourishing. The comparison to gifts and the descriptor "sweet" suggest that words brought comfort, joy, and sustenance to the author from a very young age.