Selective reading: how to follow an extended metaphor

Quick Answer

An extended metaphor compares one thing to another across several lines. To read it, list each part of the picture, say what it stands for, and check each match against the words on the page. This page from Braintree Coaching Australia has one original poem and one original prose piece, four questions on each, and a mapping table that ties every answer to a quoted line.

Who is this practice for?

This set is for children in Year 5 or 6 who are preparing for the reading part of the NSW Selective High School Placement Test, and for parents who want to practise at home without poetry jargon.

Both texts on this page are original work written by Braintree Coaching Australia for this practice set. They are not copied from a Department paper or from any published poem or story. This page does not claim how often poems or metaphors appear in a real sitting; the practice is here because reading figurative language carefully is useful in any reading section.

What is an extended metaphor?

A metaphor says one thing is another: "the page was a field of snow". An extended metaphor keeps that one picture going. Instead of snow being mentioned once, the writer gives it footprints, an edge, a path. Every new part of the picture stands for a new part of the idea.

Two things make this easier to read than it sounds:

• There is only one picture. If the poem is about the sea, every sea word belongs to the same comparison.
• Each part of the picture stands for something in the text, not something you bring from outside it.

How do I map the picture to the meaning?

Use a three-column table: image, what it stands for, line that shows it.

1. Read the text once and name the one big picture (the sea, the snow).
2. Underline each part of that picture: a ripple, a rock, a footprint.
3. For each part, ask: "What in the real situation does this stand for?" Write a short answer.
4. Find a line that supports your answer. If you cannot find one, cross the answer out.
5. When you reach a question, find the part of the picture it asks about and use your table.

The wrong options in a question usually do one of four things. They read the picture literally. They give a meaning the text does not support. They pair the right picture with the wrong idea. Or they use a meaning from a different part of the text.

Text 1 (poem) and questions

Original poem by Braintree Coaching Australia.

The Worry Tide

1. It begins as a ripple around my ankles,
2. a thin grey line I barely feel.
3. I tell myself it is nothing,
4. just water, just a small cold thing.
5. By evening it is climbing past my knees.
6. The whole bay is loud with it now,
7. and the sand I trusted slides out from under my feet.
8. I look for something that will not move.
9. There is one rock, black and wide, near the point:
10. Dad's voice on the phone, saying, "Tell me about it."
11. I hold on, and I say it all, every word,
12. and the sea draws a long breath in.
13. Slowly the water slips back down the beach,
14. leaving the sand shining, ribbed with small lines.
15. The worry is still out there, grey and wide,
16. but it is out there, and I am standing on dry ground.

Question 1. In line 5, "By evening it is climbing past my knees." What does the rising water stand for?

• A. The speaker has gone swimming for too long.
• B. The speaker is getting a cold from the sea air.
• C. The worry is getting bigger and harder to ignore.
• D. The worry is starting to go away.

Question 2. Line 7 says "the sand I trusted slides out from under my feet." What does this show?

• A. The speaker no longer feels steady or sure of themselves.
• B. The speaker is angry with the people around them.
• C. The speaker has found someone to hold on to.
• D. The beach is made of very loose sand.

Question 3. In lines 9 and 10, what does the black rock stand for?

• A. A real rock that the speaker likes to climb.
• B. The speaker's own stubbornness.
• C. The worry itself, which is big and will not move.
• D. Dad's voice, something steady to hold on to.

Question 4. In line 16, "I am standing on dry ground." What does this mean in the metaphor?

• A. The speaker has walked away from the beach.
• B. The speaker feels steady again, even though the worry has not vanished.
• C. The worry has been solved for good.
• D. The worry is growing again.

Text 2 (prose) and questions

Original prose by Braintree Coaching Australia.

The First Footprint

The page lay in front of Ibrahim like a field of fresh snow, white and smooth and a little frightening. He did not want to be the first to spoil it. For ten minutes he stood at the edge with his pencil, shivering.

Then he wrote one sentence, and it was a single footprint, wobbly and deep. It was not beautiful, but it was there, and the field no longer felt untouched.

The second sentence was easier. The third came as a line of steps, each one placed beside the last. Halfway down the page he found he was no longer thinking about the snow at all. His prints ran ahead of him in a trail, some straight, some crooked where he had stopped to cross out a word, and he began to see a path that went somewhere.

When the bell rang, the field was still wide, but it had a track across it. Ibrahim looked back along the trail he had made. Tomorrow, he thought, the first footprint would be the easy one. The next ones would follow in it.

Question 5. The text says the page lay "like a field of fresh snow, white and smooth and a little frightening." Why is snow a good picture here?

• A. The page is blank and unmarked, and Ibrahim is reluctant to make the first mark.
• B. It is winter and the classroom is cold.
• C. Ibrahim has already written a great deal and left a trail.
• D. The paper is wet and will not hold a pencil mark.

Question 6. What does the "single footprint, wobbly and deep" stand for?

• A. A mark on the page made by Ibrahim's shoe.
• B. A word that he crossed out.
• C. His first sentence, which is rough but is a real start.
• D. The whole story, which is now finished.

Question 7. The prints were "crooked where he had stopped to cross out a word." What does this show?

• A. Ibrahim walked unevenly through the snow.
• B. Ibrahim paused to fix his words, so the writing wandered a little.
• C. Ibrahim copied a word from a classmate.
• D. Ibrahim was too frightened to begin.

Question 8. The last paragraph says "the field was still wide, but it had a track across it." What does this mean?

• A. The snow has been melted by the sun.
• B. Ibrahim has finished the whole piece.
• C. Ibrahim is still too frightened to write.
• D. Most of the page is still empty, but he has made a start.

Answers and the mapping tables

Key: Question 1 C · Question 2 A · Question 3 D · Question 4 B · Question 5 A · Question 6 C · Question 7 B · Question 8 D.

Mapping table for Text 1 (poem)

Image	What it stands for	Line that shows it
A ripple around the ankles	A worry that has only just started	"It begins as a ripple around my ankles," (line 1)
Water climbing past the knees	The worry growing bigger	"By evening it is climbing past my knees." (line 5)
Sand sliding out from under the feet	Losing the feeling of being steady	"and the sand I trusted slides out from under my feet." (line 7)
The black rock near the point	Dad's voice: something steady to hold on to	"Dad's voice on the phone, saying, "Tell me about it."" (line 10)
The sea drawing a long breath in; water slipping back	Relief after saying the worry aloud	"and the sea draws a long breath in." (line 12)
Dry ground	Feeling steady again, with the worry still there	"but it is out there, and I am standing on dry ground." (line 16)

Why each key holds, and why the others fail:

• Question 1, C. Line 5 puts the water at the knees, higher than the ankles of line 1, so the worry is growing. A reads the picture literally. B gives a meaning the text never supports. D uses the meaning of lines 13 and 14.
• Question 2, A. Line 7 says the sand the speaker "trusted" slides away, so the speaker loses a feeling of steadiness. B has no line to point to. C belongs to lines 9 to 11. D is the literal reading.
• Question 3, D. Line 10 names the rock outright: "Dad's voice on the phone". A is literal. B pairs the rock with a meaning the lines do not give. C uses the meaning of the water in lines 5 and 6.
• Question 4, B. Line 15 says "The worry is still out there", and line 16 adds "I am standing on dry ground." So the worry remains and the speaker is steady. A is literal. C contradicts line 15. D belongs to lines 5 and 6.

Mapping table for Text 2 (prose)

Image	What it stands for	Line that shows it
A field of fresh snow	The blank page	"The page lay in front of Ibrahim like a field of fresh snow, white and smooth and a little frightening."
Not wanting to spoil the snow; shivering at the edge	Fear of making the first mark	"He did not want to be the first to spoil it."
A single footprint, wobbly and deep	His first sentence, rough but real	"Then he wrote one sentence, and it was a single footprint, wobbly and deep."
A line of steps, each beside the last	The sentences that follow, one after another	"The third came as a line of steps, each one placed beside the last."
Prints crooked where he stopped	Pauses to cross out and fix words	"some crooked where he had stopped to cross out a word"
A track across a wide field	A start made on a page that is mostly empty	"the field was still wide, but it had a track across it."

Why each key holds, and why the others fail:

• Question 5, A. The words "fresh", "white and smooth" and "he did not want to be the first to spoil it" show a blank page that he is reluctant to mark. B and D read the picture literally. C uses the trail from a later paragraph.
• Question 6, C. The text says "he wrote one sentence, and it was a single footprint". A is literal. B is the crossed-out word of the third paragraph. D pairs the footprint with a finished story, but the text says the field is still wide.
• Question 7, B. "Crooked where he had stopped to cross out a word" ties the wobble to fixing words. A is literal. C has no support. D uses the meaning of the first paragraph.
• Question 8, D. "Still wide" means most of the page is empty, and "a track across it" means a start has been made. A is literal. B pairs the track with a finished piece. C uses the meaning of the first paragraph.

Whether a child says "start" or "beginning", the test is the same: can they point to the line? If an answer rests on nothing in the text, it is a guess.

Can my child build one?

Yes, and it is the best way to see how an extended metaphor holds together.

Here are two lines to extend. Ask your child to add two more lines that keep the same picture (a pond), without switching to a different one:

My thoughts were fish in a dark pond, each one quick, each one silver.

One possible extension, shown only as a model:

Some rose to the surface when I stayed still, and some I never caught at all.

Then check it with the mapping table: what does the surface stand for? What does staying still stand for? If every part of the new lines belongs to the pond picture and stands for something the first two lines set up, the metaphor has been extended.

Stay at the one picture. A child who adds a bird or a fire has changed the metaphor, and that is a useful thing to notice and talk about.

To fit this into a weekly routine, use the four-week Selective reading planner. If you want more reading practice, see the Selective practice hub, the Selective test format guide and the free mock test pack. For help choosing a programme, see Selective test preparation courses.

Sources and review

About the texts: both texts, all eight questions, the keys and the mapping tables are Braintree Coaching Australia's own teaching material and original work. They are not official Department questions.

About the facts: this page states no exam figures. Check the NSW Department of Education's Selective High School Placement Test pages for the current test structure.

Author: James Rush, content writer, Braintree Coaching Australia.

Review status: a named teacher review has not yet been recorded for this practice set. A second solver worked the eight questions from the page text alone and reached the same answer as the key for every one. If something is unclear, please tell us.

Last updated: 2026-10-15.