The Hispanics mode of working
Occupying West Phoenix, the mode of work of the Hispanics is brought out through the use of a simile. The writer notes that they worked at night as if they were ghosts, a situation that enables imagery: “And while that population worked downtown or in East Phoenix—cleaning the city at night like ghosts that disappeared at sunrise…”
The journey felt like a mystery
The writer brings out how the journey to Yuma, Arizona felt like to Juan using a simile. In particular, as Juan was mostly asleep throughout most of the journey, he does not remember it and the writer emphasizes this through the simile: “He was five years old, and the journey felt like a mystery, largely because he fell asleep in the car.”
The blunt taste of the food
The blunt taste of the food at Oscar’s house is made apparent to the reader through the use a simile. The writer compares the food to a cardboard to bring out and emphasize its bad taste: “… and the food tasted like cardboard.”
The remote-controlled car
Oscar is dumbfounded by the remote-controlled car. The extent of his shock is only perceivable through the use of a simile in which he compares the car driving itself to magic. The writer notes: “He couldn’t figure out how it drove by itself and how the boy controlled it without wires. It seemed like magic…”
The looked like an embodiment of power
Lorenzo is dumbfounded and impressed both at the same time by the MIT ROV Team. The team is vividly described and the extent of Lorenzo’s high regard for them is brought out through the use of a simile: “They were white and most had brownish-blond hair. To Lorenzo, they looked like the embodiment of power.”
