Examining Figures of Speech in “The Cold Equations”

Figurative language refers to words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of another and are not meant to be
taken literally. The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. A simile
is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like or as. A metaphor
makes the same type of comparison but without using words such as like or as. A personification is a figure of
speech in which an object or an animal is given human characteristics. Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or
effect.
Directions: Below are several examples of figurative language taken from the short story “The Cold Equations”. Read
each quote carefully. Identify what type of figure of speech it is and explain why the comparison is being made.

1. The control room was empty but for himself; there was no sound other than the murmur of the drives — but the
white hand had moved.” (9)
Hyperbole - because it’s talking about the murmur of the drives, its exaggeration
2. “He stared without speaking, his hand dropping away from the blaster, and acceptance of what he saw coming like
a heavy and unexpected physical blow.” (11)
What type of figure of speech is this?
Hyperbole - because its exaggerating how heavy it is
3. “She obeyed, his silence making the smile fade into the meek and guilty expression of a pup that has been
caught in mischief and knows it must be punished.” (11)
What type of figure of speech is this?

Metaphor- because it is comparing his smile fading like pup

4. “She sagged back against the wall, small and limp like a little rag doll, and all the protesting and disbelief gone.” (14)

smile - beacuse it's comparing her to a ragdoll by the way she is slumped against the wall

5. “She clutched the edge of the seat, her upturned face white under the brown hair and the lipstick standing out like
a blood-red cupid's bow.” (14)
simile - because its comparing it a blood-red cupid’s bow
6. “She was leaning forward a little in her eagerness as she waited for his answer.
‘No.’ The word was like the drop of a cold stone and she again leaned back against the wall, the hope and
eagerness leaving her face. ‘You’re sure — you know you’re sure?’ ” (15)
Simile - its comparing it to a cold stone
7. “It had been in the Western Sea that the tornado had originated, to strike with such fury at the camp and destroy
half their prefabricated buildings, including the one that housed the medical supplies.” (19)
Hyperbole - Because it's talking about how strong it was and that it was like a fury

8-10. “Woden was a ball, enshrouded in the blue haze of its atmosphere, swimming in space against the background of
star-sprinkled dead blackness.”
There are three separate figures of speech here. Explain each one.
They are all being compared to other objects

metaphor - it's comparing objects to other things

11. “She stopped occasionally, as though trying to find the right words to tell them what she wanted them to know; then
the pencil would resume its whispering to the paper.” (22)
Personification - Because its giving the pencil human like characteristics by saying its whispering to the
parer