What type of figurative language is the use of the word Selma here?
Answer: It is <u>an allusion</u>.
Explanation:
As a figure of speech, an allusion is a brief reference to an event, person, place or idea. This reference does not include a detailed description. In the first stanza of “Monet’s Waterlilies”
, Robert Hayden makes a quick allusion to the civil rights march from Selma, Alabama, which took place in 1965:
<em>"Today as the news from Selma and Saigon</em>
<em>poisons the air like fallout"</em>
How does this example of figurative language affect the last line of the stanza?
Answer: It sets up contrast.
Explanation:
In the last line of the stanza, the author mentions<em> "the serene, great picture" </em>that he loves. This is in direct contrast with the first line of the stanza, where he describes a disturbing event in which people who protested in peace were attacked by police. This picture looks like anything but serene - the word serene means untroubled and peaceful, and serves as a direct contrast to the scene from the first line.
