Which of the following is an example of a simile?

a. the sister arts enjoy the use of a plastic and ductile material, like the modeller's clay; literature alone is condemned to work in mosaic with finite and quite rigid words.
b. it is with blocks of just such arbitrary size and figure that the literary architect is condemned to design the palace of his art.
c. but though this form of merit is without doubt the most sensible and seizing, it is far from being equally present in all writers.
d. the effect of words in shakespeare, their singular justice, significance, and poetic charm, is different, indeed, from the effect of words in addison or fielding.

i'm stuck between a and d.

Read the excerpt from the poem "growing up italian" by maria mazziotti gillan and answer the question that follows. when i was a little girl, i thought everyone was italian, and that was good. we visted our aunts and uncles, and they visted us. the italian language smooth and sweet in my mouth. in kindergarten, english words fell on me, thick and sharp as hail. i grew silent, the italian word balanced on the edge of my tongue and the english word, lost during the first moment of every question. source: gillan, maria mazziotti. "growing up italian." poetrymagazine. com. poetry magazine, n. d. web. 30 mar. 2011. what is the tone of this poem? what does the tone reveal about the speaker of the poem and the conflict she faces? based on this excerpt, what can you predict about the theme of the poem?