in those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
type of figurative language:
meaning of figurative language:
effect on tone and mood:
effect on audience:

In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Explanation:

Type of figurative language: It is a metaphor.

Meaning of figurative language: We call a metaphor when the author uses objects to translate the real signification of other word. In this case the author is trying to translate the function of the Church into the function of a thermostat, and avoiding the function of a thermometer.

Effect on tone and mood: It is used both in poetry and in explanatory texts to better understand a feeling, function or comparison in words.

Effect on audience: It makes the public understand in a better way the force that the author really wants to communicate in his words. Also it gives a sense of beauty in the words.

for example: in, he, a,from

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