Question

read the excerpt from notes of a native son. the only white people who came to our house were welfare workers and bill collectors. it was almost always my mother who dealt with them, for my father’s temper, which was at the mercy of his pride, was never to be trusted. it was clear that he felt their very presence in his home to be a violation: this was conveyed by his carriage, almost ludicrously stiff, and by his voice, harsh and vindictively polite. which figurative language device does baldwin use to emphasize his father’s frequent lack of control over his intense anger? he uses the personification “at the mercy of his pride.” he uses the alliteration “conveyed by his carriage.” he uses the metaphor “presence in his home to be a violation.”

Explanation:

First, analyze each option:

1. Personification gives human traits to non-humans; "at the mercy of his pride" refers to a human's relationship to his own trait, not personification.
2. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds; "conveyed by his carriage" has no repeated initial sounds, so this is incorrect.
3. The phrase "their presence in his home to be a violation" treats the white people's visit as an act that breaks a boundary, using a metaphor to frame the father's anger at the intrusion. This matches the description of the father's intense, uncontrolled anger at the white visitors.

Answer:

He uses the metaphor "presence in his home to be a violation."