Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Dog on the School Steps
He is there before the gates swing wide,
before the watchman finds his keys,
curled on the top step like a doormat,
one ear twitching in the morning breeze.
The little ones step round him gently,
the big boys jump him two at a time.
He will not move for the Principal’s car,
but wakes at the lunch bell’s first chime.
At prayer he lies at the end of a row,
eyes half shut, so still, so good,
till he lets out a long and noisy yawn
and Class Five giggles, as children would.
At lunch he makes his rounds of the benches,
half a roti here, a biscuit there,
thanks each giver with a thump of his tail,
then sleeps it off in the warm noon air.
At four the school spills out of the gates.
He sees the smallest girl to her bus,
then climbs back up to his own top step,
nobody’s dog, and one of us.
Identify the figure of speech used in the line:
“curled on the top step like a doormat”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Simile
Simile:
- A simile compares two different things using “like” or “as”.
- The dog lies flat and curled on the step. The poet compares him to a doormat with “like”: “curled on the top step like a doormat”. Example: In the exam hall the room was as quiet as a library.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor calls one thing another, without “like” or “as”. Example: My little brother is a chatterbox at dinner.
Option 3: Oxymoron — Incorrect. An oxymoron puts two words of opposite meaning side by side. Example: The two friends had a friendly fight over the last samosa.
Option 4: Personification — Incorrect. Personification gives human actions or feelings to a thing or an idea. Example: The old fan groaned every time it was switched on.