Answer:
1. The earrings signify Ama's Pride.
2. Lakshmi's dowry (the prized possession to be given to Lakshmi's in-law on her wedding day), would not be paid.
Explanation:
'Sold' by Patricia McCormick tells the story of a family in India, who struggled financially to meet up to their needs. There is Ama, the Mother of the house, Lakshmi her daughter, and Ama's husband who happens to be Lakshmi's step-father. The father of the house is a loafer who spends all his monies on gambling and irrelevant things. Lakshmi adores her mother Ama who raised the family on her own, carrying all the financial burdens.
Ama's earrings is described as the<em> joyful noise of tinkling gold</em>. It signifies Ama's pride. The family hoped it would serve as Lakshmi's dowry, but they decide to sell it when things become really difficult. This means that Lakshmi's dowry would not be paid.
Answer:
This thought had sustained him throughout the years.
Hyperbole is used when Shakespeare is speaking about his mistress. He is actually over exaggerating how ugly and repulsive his mistress is. He is saying that she doesn't have a lovely blush to her face when he says "But no such roses see I in her cheeks." He is also saying that her breath is awful when he contrasts her breath to nice perfume and says "than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."
A reversible fabric of linen, silk, cotton, or wool, woven with patterns.
An inference is someone's belief or opinion based only on the information that he/she knows.
"Squatter sovereignty" was a term used by the people that disagreed with the political doctrine which stated that the owners of federal territories should decide if their lands would enter the Union as slave or free states.
The inference being made in the excerpt is the belief that slavery should be allowed inside the territories of people who chose to enslave others, without the interference of anybody else.