His pen was like the breath of life exemplifies ________

Step 1: Analyze the question We are given the sentence "His pen was like the breath of life" and asked which literary device it shows.

Step 2: Explain the concepts

• Bathos: a sudden, often unintentional drop from a serious or elevated tone to a trivial or ridiculous one.
• Pathos: language or a situation that arouses pity, sorrow, or sympathy.
• Satire: the use of ridicule, irony, or exaggeration to expose and criticise human folly or vices.
• Simile: a direct comparison between two different things using "like" or "as."

Step 3: Apply to the sentence "His pen was like the breath of life" compares two unlike things, a pen and the breath of life. The comparison uses the word "like", which is the clear signal of a simile.

• There is no sudden fall from the serious to the silly, so it is not bathos.
• The line does not try to evoke pity, so it is not pathos.
• It does not mock or criticise anyone, so it is not satire.

Step 4: Answer The sentence is a simile, which is option D.

Exam tip: In Literature in English, look for the connecting words first.

• "Like" or "as" means simile.
• A direct statement such as "His pen was the breath of life" (no "like" or "as") means metaphor.

This quick check will help you win easy marks on figures-of-speech questions.