Question

question 2 of 10
read this passage from
otes of a native son\:

when one slapped ones child in anger the recoil in the
heart reverberated through heaven and became part of the
pain of the universe.

what rhetorical device is james baldwin most clearly using in this passage?

a. parallelism

b. allusion

c. imagery

d. figurative language

Explanation:

The passage describes a personal action (slapping a child) having a cosmic - scale effect (recoil in the heart reverberating through heaven and becoming part of the universe's pain), which goes beyond literal meaning. Parallelism involves similar grammatical structures, allusion refers to indirect references, and imagery is about sensory details. Here, the non - literal, imaginative description fits figurative language.

Answer:

D. Figurative language