Question

read the excerpt from flannery o’connor’s “the life you save may be your own.”
mr. shiftlet was so shocked that for about a hundred feet he drove along slowly with the door stiff open. a cloud, the exact color of the boy’s hat and shaped like a turnip, had descended over the sun, and another, worse looking, crouched behind the car. mr. shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him. he raised his arm and let it fall again to his breast. “oh lord!” he prayed. “break forth and wash the slime from this earth!”
the turnip continued slowly to descend. after a few minutes there was a guffawing peal of thunder from behind and fantastic raindrops, like tin - can tops, crashed over the rear of mr. shiftlet’s car.
which is a metaphor?
○ the turnip continued slowly to descend.
○ raindrops, like tin - can drops, crashed over the rear of mr. shiflet’s car.
○ mr. shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him.
○ he raised his arm and let it fall again to his breast.

Explanation:

To identify a metaphor, we look for a figure of speech that directly compares two unrelated things without "like" or "as" (unlike a simile).

• "The turnip continued slowly to descend" describes a cloud (referred to as a turnip) moving, but it's a simile - like description? No, wait, the cloud is called a turnip (metaphor? Wait, earlier it says "cloud, the exact color of the boy’s hat and shaped like a turnip" – so "the turnip" here is a metaphor for the cloud? Wait, no, the option "The turnip continued..." uses "turnip" to refer to the cloud (implied), but let's check other options.
• "raindrops, like tin - can drops..." uses "like", so it's a simile.
• "Mr. Shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him" – "rottenness of the world" is a metaphor, as it's giving the abstract concept of the world's moral decay a concrete quality (rottenness) that can "engulf" (a physical action), directly comparing the world's badness to something rotten and capable of engulfing.
• "He raised his arm..." is a literal action.

So the option with the metaphor is "Mr. Shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him."

Answer:

Mr. Shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him.