Secret Lion

The first passage is a simile. This can be supported by its definition. A simile means comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word. The passage is comparing junior high school to a roaring lion. You can see that junior high school is not like a lion itself but it is being compared to one.

The second passage is a personification. Personification means that something nonhuman is given human qualities. The passage states, "Nature seemed to keep pushing us around one way or another, teaching us the same thing every place we ended up." This means that nature is pushing the boys around, trying to teach them lessons. That is a human quality that is given to nature. Nature itself is not human.

The third passage is a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically not similar. The passage stated, "It was just perfect in the way it was that place, that whole going to that place, that whole junior high school lion." That meant going to that place was like a lion. That is what makes this passage a metaphor.

The fourth passage is a simile. The passage said that everything had changed. That it had changed so fast like the tablecloths magicians pull from under stuff on the table but the gasp from the audience makes it not matter. The passage was comparing going to junior high school to a tablecloth the magicians pull because junior high school was a big change to the boys. The gasp! from the audience meant the change did not matter because in the long run everything will be O.K.

The fifth and last passage is a personification. It is a personification because the passage is saying that the arroyo taught them to look the other way.

It stated, "That was the first time we stopped going to the arroyo. It taught us to look the other way."

--------------------------------------------------------------