Figures Of Speech In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Novel The Ambitious Guest

Summary

“The Ambitious Guest”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about a person that was traveling who had stopped for the night at a families house that lived near a mountain. Then him and the family started to have a conversation. Then out of nowhere him and the family heard rumbles down the mountain, cause them to hold their breath out of instinct.

Imagery

Imagery is the picture an author creates in the reader’s head. An example of imagery in the story is in the line “rushing down the steep side of the mountain, as with long and rapid strides, and taking such a leap in passing the cottage as to strike the opposite precipice.”

That quote out of the story made me visualize rocks coming down the mountain Passing the cottage. This made the story have more meaning to it because it made The reader visualize the event.

Mood

Mood is how one feels at a moment of time. The mood of the story is revealed in the line “The family held their breath, because they knew the sound, and their guest held his by instinct.” At first, the mood of the story was adventurous, happy, and hopeful. At the end of the story the mood was dark and sad. The sentence from the story was; “The family held their breath, because they knew the sound, and their guest held his by instinct.”

Personification

Personification is giving human characteristics to something that isn’t human An example of personification in the story is in the line “Up the chimney roared the fire, and brightened the room with its broad blaze.”

How I know this is personification is although animals and humans can roar, a fire cannot. How this impacted the story was quite obvious. How it did it was by explaining to the reader how intense the fire was going up the chimney.

Simile

A simile is the comparison of two unlike things. An example of simile in the story is in the line “The romantic pass of the Notch is a great artery, through which the lifeblood of internal commerce is continually throbbing between Maine, onone side, and the Green Mountains and the shores of the St. Lawrence, on the other.”

To be more specific, he uses simile in “Notch is a great artery”. How I know this is an simile is because Artery and Notch are two seperate things being compared two each other by the author. How this affects the story is it explains how Notch is part of something bigger which is between Maine and the Green Mountains and the shores of the St. Lawrence.

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which something is being explained, but is not literally is how the sentence is. An example of metaphor in the story is in the line “He felt his heart spring forward to meet them all, from the old woman, who wiped a chair with her apron, to the little child that held out its arms to him” How I know this is a metaphor is when is said, “his heart spring forward.” His heart didn’t really spring forward. How this affected the story was the author was trying to explain how welcoming the family looked and felt. So it made the traveler want to meet the family.