Q
QuestionEnglish

Which sentence is the best example of allusion? A. My town's mayor is a complete pig; he makes a fool of himself constantly. B. Raj's essay about his summer is as long as a novel and twice as descriptive. C. Patterson pulls solutions out of his hat like some kind of Harry Potter. D. Trees crowded the house as though they wanted to conceal it from us.
5 months agoReport content

Answer

Full Solution Locked

Sign in to view the complete step-by-step solution and unlock all study resources.

Step 1
Allusion is a literary device that refers to the act of mentioning or incorporating a reference to a person, place, event, or work of art from literature, history, mythology, or culture in a subtle way.

The purpose of allusion is to enrich the text by making connections to something that the reader already knows. Let's examine each sentence to determine which one is the best example of allusion: A. My town's mayor is a complete pig; he makes a fool of himself constantly. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The word "pig" is used metaphorically to describe the mayor's behavior, but it does not refer to any specific person, place, event, or work of art from literature, history, mythology, or culture. B. Raj's essay about his summer is as long as a novel and twice as descriptive. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The comparison of the essay to a novel is a simile, but it does not refer to any specific work of literature. C. Patterson pulls solutions out of his hat like some kind of Harry Potter. This sentence contains an allusion to the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. The phrase "pulls solutions out of his hat" is a metaphor that refers to the magician's trick of producing something from nowhere, and it is being compared to the magical abilities of the character Harry Potter. D. Trees crowded the house as though they wanted to conceal it from us. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The personification of the trees is a literary device, but it does not refer to any specific person, place, event, or work of art from literature, history, mythology, or culture. Therefore, the answer is (C) Patterson pulls solutions out of his hat like some kind of Harry Potter.

Final Answer

The purpose of allusion is to enrich the text by making connections to something that the reader already knows. Let's examine each sentence to determine which one is the best example of allusion: A. My town's mayor is a complete pig; he makes a fool of himself constantly. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The word "pig" is used metaphorically to describe the mayor's behavior, but it does not refer to any specific person, place, event, or work of art from literature, history, mythology, or culture. B. Raj's essay about his summer is as long as a novel and twice as descriptive. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The comparison of the essay to a novel is a simile, but it does not refer to any specific work of literature. C. Patterson pulls solutions out of his hat like some kind of Harry Potter. This sentence contains an allusion to the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. The phrase "pulls solutions out of his hat" is a metaphor that refers to the magician's trick of producing something from nowhere, and it is being compared to the magical abilities of the character Harry Potter. D. Trees crowded the house as though they wanted to conceal it from us. This sentence does not contain an allusion. The personification of the trees is a literary device, but it does not refer to any specific person, place, event, or work of art from literature, history, mythology, or culture. Therefore, the answer is (C) Patterson pulls solutions out of his hat like some kind of Harry Potter.