Literary Elements #4 Chapter 22 – 27
Name:
When the Legends Die
1. Read this passage. What are some things
revealed about Red Dillon’s character?
“Now we’re on my range. Another couple of hours and we’ll be home.
Some folks might not think it’s much to look at, but it’s a roof and a bed… I
will say this, it don’t stink of sheep.” R87, W119
2. On page 87 Red, 119
White find a metaphor that Red Dillon calls Meo. What does it mean?
3. Find a simile for the San Juan River on p.
88 Red, 120 White?
Besides a simile, what other literary element is it?
4. On page 88R, 120W find a colloquialism /
idiom that means we are going to win lots of money off some people.
5. On p. 90 R, W 123 find
a simile that refers to the first horse Tom rode out of the chute.
6. On p. 88 R, W 120
there is a description of Meo: “The gnomish, leather-faced old Mexican
with a hump on his shoulders put down his hoe and came to meet them.” There are two implied metaphors here. What are they?
7. What would the hump on his shoulders probably
indicate about Meo?
88 R, W 120
“The gnomish, leather-faced old Mexican with a hump on his shoulders put
down his hoe and came to meet them.”
8. On page 89 R, 122 W, what does the metaphor “rough
string” refer to?
9. On page 92 R, 125 W, Red Dillon tells Tom, “And when you get mad
like that, don’t try to take it out on me.
Take it out on a horse, where you’ve got a chance to win.” What does Dillon’s statement foreshadow?
10. On p.93R, 126W Red Dillon says, “I’m setting up
the deadfall, and you’re riding the way I tell you to.” The
def’n of deadfall is a type of trap, used especially for catching large
animals, in which a heavy weight falls to crush the prey. What
is the meaning of the metaphor DEADFALL in this story?
11. On p.99R, 134W, Tom is rides a horse in
Aztec. “He began to gouge and punish with his spurs…he
shifted his eight, brought I down with every jump, punishing the horse. He jerked viciously at the reins, giving an
inch of slack, then snapping itback as though to break the horse’s neck…it
lifted its head and there was a gush of blood from its mouth.”
Why does Tom ride the horse to its
death?
12. On p.101 R, 138 W after riding the horse to death,
Tom keeps on reliving what had happened and he gets physically ill. Why do you think it was so hard for Tom to
handle what he had just done?
What
literary element is this?
13. On p.104R, 142W, find an example of foreshadowing
that Meo says about Red Dillon.
14. On p.106R, 145W, Meo uses a metaphor to describe
Tom’s life. What does he compare Tom to?
15. On p.106R, 145W, Meo says, “Life is the
boss. We do what we can. Then we are old.” What do you think he mean by that statement? It reflects one of the themes
of this book.
16. On p.111R, 153W, find a simile that refers to
clothes on a clothesline.
17. On p.111R, 153W, what do you think the underlined
word in this passage means? “When they
had eaten, Red appropriated the herder’s hat, and when the herder called
him vile Spanish names, Red took the man’s rifle to the second hilltop …and
jammed the muzzle down into the sod.”
18. On p.112R, 155W, find a simile that describes how
Tom looks compared to the other riders.
What does the simile mean?
19. On p.113R, 156W, find a simile that describes what
Tom felt as his leg was caught against a fence.
20. On p115R, 158W, what is the simile that refers to
Red?
What do you think the word truculent means, based on the way it’s used
here?
