Literary Devices In Cherry Bomb By Maxine Clair

In the story, "Cherry Bomb" by Maxine Clair the author uses many literary devices to characterize the adult narrator’s memories of her fifth-grade summer world. One of the literary devices used constantly in the passage was imagery. Imagery is used to give readers insight of how summer felt to the fifth-grader of the story and helps understand the tone of the adult. “Life was measured in summers then, and the expression “I am in this world, but not of it” appealed to me. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it had just the right ring for a lofty statement I should adopt” (Line 4-7). This quote from the passage best represents how the adult memories are reflected to the summer of her fifth-grade self. This passage gives imagery to the readers of a naïve character who believes everything that is said to her. The quote also let us know that

Similes in the story gives the readers insight of not only the fifth-grader but the adult too. “By the time school started that year, Eddy had a keloid like a piece of twine down the side of his face and a black patch he had to wear until he got his glass eye that stared in a fixed angle at the sky,” (Line 56-59). This quote has a simile, which shows how the fifth-grader feels about her cousin Eddy. The simile allows the readers to make a prediction that the fifth-grader and Eddy get along pretty well because the narrator never describes him as scary, mean, or distant. The simile effects the narrator’s characterization because it make the fifth-grader seem gentle and excited to be around people. The character is given characterization through similes. Similes are a key component to characterization because it allows readers to understand the narrator and character in the story. Figurative language is used throughout the story to characterize the adult narrator's memories in the