Litterary Devices

Question 1

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France…”

Answer 1

anaphora: The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Question 2

Hear the mellow wedding bells

Answer 2

assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Question 3

The clanging of bells echoed through the alley

Answer 3

auditory imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of hearing.

Question 4

I’ve told you a million times!

Answer 4

hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Question 5

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Answer 5

juxtaposition: The act of placing two things side by side, often to highlight contrasts.

Question 6

The stench of rotting garbage filled the air

Answer 6

olfactory imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell.

Question 7

Bittersweet or deafening silence

Answer 7

an oxymoron: A figure of speech in which two contradictory terms are paired together.

Question 8

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Answer 8

parataxis: The placing of clauses or phrases one after another without the use of conjunctions.

Question 9

The angry storm clouds loomed overhead

Answer 9

pathetic fallacy: The attribution of human feelings and responses in nature, replicating the human emotion of the moment.

Question 10

Her smile was as bright as the sun

Answer 10

a simile: A comparison between two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Question 11

The wind whispered through the trees

Answer 11

personification: The attribution of human qualities or characteristics to non-human entities or inanimate objects.

Question 12

He staggered forward, dragging his feet with each painful step

Answer 12

kinesthetic imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of movement or action.

Question 13

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Answer 13

alliteration: The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Question 14

Time is a thief

Answer 14

a metaphor: A figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Question 15

A fire station burns down

Answer 15

irony: A literary device where the intended meaning of words is opposite to their literal meaning.

Question 16

The bees buzzed as the bacon sizzled

Answer 16

onomatopoeia: A word that imitates the natural sound associated with the object or action it refers to.

Question 17

George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Answer 17

an allegory: A narrative in which characters or events symbolize abstract ideas or moral qualities.

Question 18

Give me liberty, or give me death!

Answer 18

antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in a balanced or parallel structure.

Question 19

To be, or not to be — that is the question

Answer 19

a caesura: A pause or break within a line of poetry, often used for dramatic effect or to create rhythm.

Question 20

Time heals all wounds

Answer 20

a cliché: An overused expression or idea that has lost its original impact due to frequent use.

Question 21

The lumpy, bumpy road

Answer 21

consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity, typically within or at the end of words.

Question 22

The fog comes / on little cat feet

Answer 22

free verse: A type of poetry that does not follow a specific meter or rhyme scheme.

Question 23

Words like ‘blade’, ‘cut’, ‘stab’, and ‘bleed’ in a horror story

Answer 23

a semantic field: A group of words related by meaning, often used to convey a theme.

Question 24

Words like ‘king’, ‘crown’, ‘throne’, ‘kingdom’

Answer 24

a lexical field: A group of related words that share a common subject or theme.

Question 25

She sells seashells by the seashore

Answer 25

sibilance: The repetition of 's' or 'sh' sounds, often creating a hissing or soothing effect.

Question 26

A dove representing peace

Answer 26

symbolism: The use of symbols to represent something beyond their literal meaning.

Question 27

In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet is alive, but Romeo does not

Answer 27

dramatic irony: A situation where the audience knows something the characters do not.

Question 28

I never meant... I just thought...

Answer 28

ellipsis: The omission of one or more words, often shown with three dots (...).

Question 29

I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree

Answer 29

enjambement: The continuation of a sentence or phrase beyond the line break in poetry.

Question 30

In Zootopia, animals talk, wear clothes, and have jobs

Answer 30

anthropomorphism: The literal attribution of human traits to animals or objects.

Question 31

Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Answer 31

an elegy: A poem or song expressing sorrow for someone or something lost.

Question 32

In 'Hope is the Thing with Feathers' by Emily Dickinson, hope is compared to a bird throughout the poem

Answer 32

an extended metaphor: A metaphor developed over several lines or an entire work.

Question 33

Dark clouds gathering before a tragic event

Answer 33

foreshadowing: Hints or clues suggesting future events in the story.

Question 34

The tangy zest of the lemon made my mouth water

Answer 34

gustatory imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of taste.

Question 35

The golden sunset bathed the mountains in a warm glow

Answer 35

visual imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight.

Question 36

Her skin felt as rough as sandpaper

Answer 36

tactile imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of touch.

Question 37

This is the beginning of the end

Answer 37

a paradox: A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals an underlying truth.

Question 38

Alone, alone, all, all alone / Alone on a wide, wide sea

Answer 38

repetition: The repeated use of words or structures for emphasis or rhythm.

Question 39

A group of 4 lines in a poem, set apart by a blank line

Answer 39

a stanza: A grouped set of lines in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose.

Question 40

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Answer 40

a line in poetry: A single row of words in a poem, contributing to its rhythm and structure.