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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Shmooperman!

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If we had a Nickleby for every time we asked you to pause and review a passage...

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In lines 6 through 7, what technique does the author use to describe Mr. and Mrs. Nickleby's marriage?

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And here are the potential answers...

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Ok, so this question wants us to zero in on the part of the passage that discusses Mr.

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and Mrs. Nickleby's wedded bliss.

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What brilliant technique does the author employ to communicate his point?

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Let's look at lines 6 through 7...

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"Thus two people who cannot afford to play cards for money, sometimes sit down to a quiet game for love."

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Well, right out of the gate we've got an answer choice that seems it could work.

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Option A: "A metaphor comparing marriage to a card game."

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It's what the author is indeed doing here, basically, because the Nickleby's are poor,

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they can't afford to gamble with money...

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...but when it comes to their capacity to love, they've got some deep metaphorical pockets.

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Aw, it's a Hallmark card in the making.

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Let's see if there's a better answer...

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B: "A metaphor comparing a card game to marriage."

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Wait, didn't we just read this one? What's the big idea here?

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Believe it or not, the order matters here—in this instance, the author would be saying

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that a card game is like marriage, which is the opposite of what he's really saying.

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However, if a card game were like marriage, you'd be well-advised to just follow suit,

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and try not to splash the pot.

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C, D and E are all easier to eliminate, simply because they're entirely absent from these lines.

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There is no use of understatement, personification, or paradox here.

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It just comes down to knowing your vocab, and understanding these techniques.

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So yeah, we feel good about A as our final answer.

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As in, "All-in."

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