An important aspect of the writing process is idea generation. One good strategy for coming up with ideas is brainstorming. The idea behind brainstorming is to think freely and creatively about an idea, writing down anything that comes to mind. Brainstorming is also a useful technique for problem solving. For this assignment, you are going to brainstorm possible answers to the question: What is the "sea" a symbol of? Don’t worry about being right or wrong, or relating your ideas to any particular text. Just go with the flow, and see what you come up with. Spend five minutes writing down whatever comes to mind in a list format.

Returning from vietnam, we were given a parade. crowds of screaming people waving signs — not just on one road, one day. no, they were everywhere. every day. on the streets, on the television, on the radio. a hot, angry tangle of shaking fists and ugly words that threatened us like a monster with a hundred heads. our country had chewed us up and spit us out, and now we were being treated as if it were our fault. which sentence best uses figurative language to match the paragraph's tone? a. our feet were frozen in place as the street itself strained to hold us back. b. i felt unappreciated and condemned for actions i had thought were heroic. c. i hadn't expected to find myself in a rags-to-riches situation such as this. d. we had come home to a feeding frenzy and were being treated as bait.