Riley Herrin

Mrs. Bernhard
AP Literature
Cherry Bomb

Literary techniques are perfect ways to characterize memories and to make sure that
those memories never fade. Maxine Clair, the author of the story Cherry Bomb, uses literary
techniques like imagery, symbolism and diction.
The narrator describes in detail her fifth grade summer. The use of imagery makes her
descriptions more vivid and clear. She describes each event in her summer with words that make
the reader feel like they are standing alongside of her, going through the same experiences. When
describing how locust population was at an all time high, she used words like swelled to explain
that there were many.
The author also used symbolism to compare this summer to the plague of locusts from
the bible. In the bible, God sent a plague of locusts that took over the world. It killed many and
they were unavoidable. The narrator compared her fifth grade summer to that specific plague to
help the readers understand how many locusts really were swarming her town.
Another use of symbolism occurs when the narrator talks about the strong-smelling cigar
box, the box of private things. It symbolises her childhood and how she keeps all of her
memories close to her. She believes that they are very important and wants to keep them in her
mind forever, just like someone would store items away in boxes. She mentions her cigar box
many times throughout the short story. She doesnt only use it figuratively, but also as an actual

storing device. She talks about keeping the cherry bomb in her cigar box as an memento, another
piece of evidence that the box symbolisms important memories.
Diction is another important literary technique that is used throughout the story. The
narrator uses diction to reveal how important the memories are to her. At such a young age, she is
able to pick up more mature sayings from what others around her have said. She remembers
some things that her father said. She recalls her fathers descriptive emotions when his mother
died. She remembers her father distinctly comparing his broken heart to his dead mother. that is
something that not all fifth graders would be able to comprehend. Her diction symbolises how
important family is to her.
The author employed these techniques to make her points. She used sybolism, imagery and
diction to bring the story to life. The literary techniques show the importance of her childhood
and how much of an impact that specific summer brought to the narrator. The specific stories that
were retold on paper in great detail proved that the narrator was a smart child that was very
observant to not only what was happening around her, but also what others close to her were
feeling.