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Gulliver felt a tickle of movement on his legs and body, and, before long, the little archer was joined by a dozen more like him.

'I must be going mad …' Gulliver murmured at last. Then he yelled, 'Get off me!' and the archers screamed and ran for their lives.

Gulliver strained against his bonds and managed to free his arms. He instantly heard a soft whooshing noise and realised that the little archers were shooting at him. Their tiny arrows prickled into his hands and face like a host of wasp stings, several only just missing his eyes. The pain told him he wasn't mad, and that what was happening was all too real!

Tony Bradman and Tony Ross: from The Orchard Book of Heroes and Villains (Orchard Books, 2008)

  • Find and underline the simile in the text.
    Explain the effect of this simile.



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    Model answer: (prickled into his hands and face) like a host of wasp stings …
    The effect is to emphasise the pain Gulliver felt every time an arrow hit him.