Question

were wet they emitted a musty odor which seeped into our clothing and clung to our skins. we preferred to do without them; unfortunately, mama cared very little about what we preferred,

since we usually left for school after mama, we solved this problem by dutifully cloaking ourselves with the skins before leaving home. as soon as we were beyond big ma’s eagle eyes, we threw off the cloaks and depended upon the overhanging limbs of the forest trees to keep us dry. once at school, we donned the cloaks again and marched into our respective classrooms properly attired.

if we had been faced only with the prospect of the rain soaking through our clothing each morning and evening, we could have more easily endured the journey between home and school. but as it was, we also had to worry about the jefferson davis school bus zooming from behind and splashing us with the murky waters of the road. knowing that the bus driver liked to entertain his passengers by sending us slipping along the road to the almost inaccessible forest banks washed to a smooth baldness by the constant rains, we continuously looked over our shoulders when we were between the two crossroads so that we could reach the bank before the bus was upon us. but sometimes the rain pounded so heavily that it was all we could do to stay upright, and we did not look back as often nor listen as carefully as we should; we consequently found ourselves comical objects to cruel eyes that gave no thought to our misery.

from mildred d. taylor, roll of thunder, hear my cry. copyright 1976 by mildred d. taylor

look at the text in bold. what is the effect of this personification?

it helps the reader imagine how the rainfall changes the dust over time.

it helps the reader understand how surprised the logan children are by the amount of mud.

it helps the reader understand how entertained cassie is by watching the rain.

Explanation:

The bolded personification (describing the road as "washed to a smooth baldness") uses human-like imagery to show how constant rain eroded the forest bank road over time. This helps readers visualize the gradual change to the road from repeated rainfall. The other options are incorrect: the text does not mention the children being surprised by mud amount, nor that Cassie is entertained by the rain.

Answer:

It helps the reader imagine how the rainfall changes the dust over time.