Function of Metaphor: Fiction/Drama Practice Test

In the following dramatic excerpt, two coworkers, Jo and Ansel, remain in the office after a round of layoffs. A cardboard box sits under Ansel’s desk.

JO: You’re still here.

ANSEL: My badge still opens the door. For now.

JO: I thought you’d be gone by lunch.

ANSEL: They didn’t pick me.

JO: Congratulations.

ANSEL: Don’t say it like that.

JO: Like what?

ANSEL: Like survival is a promotion.

JO: It isn’t?

ANSEL: It’s a raffle where the prize is more raffles.

JO: You’re bitter.

ANSEL: I’m awake. This place is a casino with fluorescent lights.

What is the primary function of the metaphor “This place is a casino with fluorescent lights.” in this passage?

In the following dramatic excerpt, a young woman, Asha, confronts her friend, Bren, after Bren reveals he read her private journal.

ASHA: You read it.

BREN: I was worried.

ASHA: So you broke into me.

BREN: It was on your desk.

ASHA: And my life is mine.

BREN: You were writing scary things.

ASHA: Writing is where I put them so they don’t eat me.

BREN: I didn’t know what else to do.

ASHA: Ask.

BREN: You never answer.

ASHA: Because you don’t listen.

BREN: I do.

ASHA: No. You listen like a thief listens.

BREN: That’s not fair.

ASHA: Fair? My privacy is “a garden you trampled to check if the flowers were real.”

What is the primary function of the metaphor “a garden you trampled to check if the flowers were real” in this passage?