Question

Monica gets a call from her coworker Tom, whom Monica
has a crush on. Tom explains that he is taking his niece's
class to the petting zoo tomorrow and wonders whether
Monica would like to come along. At the phrase "petting
zoo," Monica breaks out in a cold sweat. She remembers
an incident from her youth. Monica can almost see her
younger self at a petting zoo. Just as she reaches out to
feed a baby goat, the goat bites her hand and chases her.
Shaking her head, Monica mumbles "not interested into
the phone before hanging up and running to the bathroom
to splash cold water on her face.
Which literary device does the underlined portion of the text most clearly
show?

Answer 1

Breaking out in cold sweat is a proverb.

Explanation:

Proverb are the literary device which are simple and are concrete. They are traditional saying. They might be metaphorical in use and are used to make some kind of comparison.

The proverb used here is "breaking out in cold sweat" means that someone is nervous or terrified. It does not mean sweat coming out of heat but because someone is scared. In the above example, when Monica dreamt of her being bitten by the goat, she got terrified and she broke into cold sweat.

Answer 2

Answer: "Breaks out in a cold sweat"

   

Explanation: Literary devices are techniques that writers use to make the writer interpret a specific message.

The phrase: "Breaks out in a cold sweat" means to be scared or terrified about something, and start sweating because of said emotions. In this case, Monica frightens at the thought of experiencing the same again at the zoo.