Esperanza likens her sister's laughter to the sound of a pile of dishes breaking. of which literary device is this the best example?

The literary device used in this paragraph is Comparison.

Explanation:

As its name suggests, Comparison is the literary device in which the author contrasts two elements to show similarity. In this text, the author explains that the character of Esperanza establishes the comparison between something that should be graceful (as a laughter of a woman) with something terrible to hear (breaking dishes).  

- the heat nearly killed them that first summer.

margaret paston and william paston got married in 1441. as william had to attend business, margaret was in charge of administrating her husband's properties and they communicated each other by letters. they had 7 children.   margery paston, one of those children, had a secret romance with richard calle, the family's bookkeeper and the pastons rejected them, as they tend to get marriage arranged for their children. margery and richard ended up getting married for love, but in secret by the church bishop.