Read this passage from "notes of a native son": when one slapped one's child in anger the recoil in the heart reverberated through heaven and became part of the pain of the universe. what rhetorical device is james baldwin most clearly using in this passage? a. parallelism b. figurative language c. imagery d. allusion

The correct answer is imagery.

Figurative language is a simile or metaphor -- neither is used here. An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, or thing; an allusion is not used here. Parallelism is using similar grammatical structures and does not appear here.

Imagery is a description that appeals to any of the five senses, but especially the visual sense. In this passage, Baldwin is clearly describing the slap (which we can see and hear in our mind) of the child, the pain which reverberates through heaven -- we can visualize this pain reaching out into heaven and embedding itself in the universe.

Due to the visual power of these words, the correct answer is C.