The Treasure of Lemon Brown

“The dark sky, filled with angry, swirling clouds, reflected Greg Ridley’s mood as he sat on the stoop of his building.”

Myers depicts the approaching storm using visual imagery, such as the “dark sky.” The author utilizes personification, a type of figurative language that gives human attributes to nonhuman subjects, by describing the clouds as “angry.” These literary techniques add to the tense mood and help to convey the protagonist’s anger at the start of the short story.

“His father’s voice came to him again, first reading the letter the principal had sent to the house, then lecturing endlessly about his poor efforts in math. ‘I had to leave school when I was thirteen,’ his father had said; ‘that’s a year younger than you are now. If I’d had half the chances that you have, I’d…’”

The ellipsis at the end of this passage gives insight into the main character’s attitude toward his father. The punctuation indicates that the man continued “lecturing endlessly” after this point, and it gives an idea of Greg’s initial unwillingness to listen to his father’s concerns about his academics.

“His father’s words, like the distant thunder that now echoed through the streets of Harlem, still rumbled softly in his ears.”

The author uses a simile to compare the lecture Greg’s father gives him about his low grades to “the distant thunder.” The comparison shows how his father’s disapproval and his decision not to allow his son to join the basketball team weigh on Greg’s mind. The word “rumbled” is an example of onomatopoeia that imitates the sound of the thunder and provides a warning that