Question

How does the author use the figurative language of “coins” and “rain” in both the opening and closing lines of the poem (Line 1 and Lines 20-21) to help develop the poem's meaning?

Answer 1

Taken from the poem “Abuelito Who” by Sandra Cisneros, the author has used the figurative language of “coins” and “rain” in lines 1, 20, and 21 in order to describe her memories about her grandfather. Cisneros has used simile, which is a figure of speech, throughout the poem. The main function of simile is to make a comparison to show the similarities between two different things. Moreover, simile is usually accompanied by words such as “as” and “like”. In the text, there are two examples of this figure of speech: “Abuelito who throws coins like rain” (line 1)/ “is the rain on the room that falls like coins” (line 21). Simile has helped the author develop the meaning of the poem, that is, to narrate about particular memories she has of her grandfather or “abuelito”, an affectionate term for a grandfather in Spanish. For instance, Cisneros used figurative language and simile in line 1 to describe how her grandfather played with her making coins fall like raindrops from above.