AP English Literatur

Passage from "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

Passage: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor - plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely.

The use of the phrase "as it were armor - plated in this passage is an example of