It is surprising in what countless swarms the bees have overspread the far west, within but a moderate number of years. the indians consider them the harbinger of the white man, as the buffalo is of the red man; and say that, in proportion as the bee advances, the indian and buffalo retire. we are always accustomed to associate the hum of the bee-hive with the farm house and flower garden, and to consider those industrious little animals as connected with the busy haunts of man, and i am told that the wild bee is seldom to be met with at any great distance from the frontier. they have been the heralds of civilization, steadfastly preceding it as it advanced from the atlantic borders, and some of the ancient settlers of the west pretend to give the very year when the honey bee first crossed the mississippi. what is the main topic of the first paragraph? a) the narrator establishes the setting and introduces the main conflict. b) the narrator traces the history of the bee from europe to the new world. c) the author shows how the indians have come to place the bee in high esteem. d) the author discusses the spread of bees across the country and their reception.

"the children's hour" by henry wadsworth longfellow between the dark and the daylight, when the night is beginning to lower, comes a pause in the day's occupations, that is known as the children's hour. i hear in the chamber above me the patter of little feet, the sound of a door that is opened, and voices soft and sweet. from my study i see in the lamplight, descending the broad hall stair, grave alice, and laughing allegra, and edith with golden hair. a whisper, and then a silence: yet i know by their merry eyes they are plotting and planning together to take me by surprise. a sudden rush from the stairway, a sudden raid from the hall! by three doors left unguarded they enter my castle wall! they climb up into my turret o'er the arms and back of my chair; if i try to escape, they surround me; they seem to be everywhere. they almost devour me with kisses, their arms about me entwine, till i think of the bishop of bingen in his mouse-tower on the rhine! do you think, o blue-eyed banditti, because you have scaled the wall, such an old mustache as i am is not a match for you all! i have you fast in my fortress, and will not let you depart, but put you down into the dungeon in the round-tower of my heart. and there will i keep you forever, yes, forever and a day, till the walls shall crumble to ruin, and moulder in dust away! which literary device does longfellow use most frequently in the poem? a. simile b. metaphor c. repetition d. personification