Simile: "...the days seemed long and dark like winter days, even though it wasn't winter"
A simile is when two things are compared using like or as. Here a regular, summer day is being compared to the cold, dreary, winter days. This comparison is powerful because this is what Anna describes the days that follow her mother's death. Because her mother died, Anna feels like the days are cold and harsh even if it may be sunny and bright outside, so when the author uses this simile we get a feel of how Anna is feeling.
Simile: "And sometimes they bark, a little like dogs."
This simile compares the barking of seals to the barking of dogs. Most people know how dog's bark but not everyone know how seals bark, so by making this comparison it is easier to understand what seals sound like for the people who don't know.
Simile: "... the sky grew darker and the stars blinked like fireflies."
The shining lights from the stars are being compared with the blinking of fireflies. This is a very visual description and comparison. We imagine the stars blinking, their lights flashing in and out, just like a firefly. This simile adds a layer of descriptiveness that helps bring the story to life and helps us imagine a vivid image.
Metaphor: "The cows watched, their eyes sad in their dinner-plate faces."
A metaphor compares two things by saying one thing is another, even though it really couldn't be. Here, a cow's face is being compared to a dinner-plate. The cows face is not actually a dinner-plate but it means that it's face is flat and big.
Simile: "I sank like a bucket filled with water..."
Here, Anna trying to float is being compared to a bucket of water sinking. She hasn't got the hang of floating yet, so describing her as a sinking "bucket filled with water" is quite accurate and gives us something we can visually imagine.
Metaphor: "And nasturtiums the color of the sun when it sets."
Here the color of the flower, nasturtiums, is being compared to the color of the sun, during a sunset. Nasturtiums are yellow, orange, and red, the same colors of a setting sun, yellow, orange, and red, so the author describes the flowers colors as the sun's colors.
Simile: "... a sea that gleamed like sun on glass."
Glass is shiny and reflects light in a very beautiful way, and the water in the sea also does the same, as described here in this simile.
Metaphor: " ... run from the barn into a sheet of rain."
The rain is pouring so hard and there is so much falling, so the rain is described as a solid "sheet" of rain. This gives us the impression that there is just gallons and gallons falling, enough to make a solid "sheet".
Simile: "...the wild roses were scattered on the ground, as if a wedding had come and gone there."
This simile, using as to compare two things, compares what the land looked like after the squall. The author says it looks as if a wedding had been held there, for their are many roses, but they are all on the ground and trampled, maybe how a wedding looks after it is over.
Simile: "The barn was eerie and half lighted, like dusk without a lantern."
Dusk is the final stages of the sun setting. It's when it grows dark and the stars come out and the sun goes away. So when Sarah, Jacob, Anna, and Caleb are gathered in the barn during the squall, it feels dark and creepy. To the author it's like dusk when you don't have any other source of light, like a lantern.
Simile: "And at dawn there was the sudden sound of hail, like stones tossed against the barn."
Hail are little rocks of frozen rain, that when they hit the ground or other surfaces, like the barn roof, sound just like stones being thrown around, as this simile shows.
