figures of speech and theme Flashcards
What is a hyperbole and why do writers use it?
Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to make a point. Hyperbole can make writing more interesting to read, and sometimes it’s the only way to get a point across.
What is an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase or an expression that doesn’t mean exactly what it says. Idioms have usually based comparison between two otherwise very different things
what is personification?
Personification is another figure of speech that helps writers express meaning in a new and different way.
What does Dickinson personify in the following poem?
The skies can’t keep their secret!
They tell it to the hills—
The hills just tell the orchards—
And they the daffodils!
A bird, by chance, that goes that way
Soft overheard the whole.
If I should bribe the little bird,
Who knows but she would tell?
She personifies all the natural elements in the poem: The skies are telling some secret to the hills, and the secret gets passed to the orchards and the daffodils. The speaker talks about bribing a little bird to tell the secret to her.
What is the effect of the hyperbole in this passage from a fairy tale?
Some men are born to good luck: All they do or try to do comes right—all that falls to them is so much gain—all their geese are swans—all their cards are trumps—toss them which way you will, they will always, like poor puss, alight upon their legs, and only move on so much the faster.
a. It provides a matter-of-fact description of good luck.
b.It gives an exaggerated picture of some people’s luck.
c. It explains to readers the magical origins of good luck.
B!
In this passage from “The Run,” what figure of speech does the writer use to describe the sled’s motion?
And within seconds she is flying, the runners barely skimming the ice. Her speed is simply unthinkable.
- flying
- skimming
- unthinkable
1.
What does the idiom “square on” mean in this passage?
She squints into the roaring wind, aiming for the rapidly looming ramp. And then, incredibly, she hits it square on.
-The sled has hit the ramp speedily.
-The sled has hit the ramp directly.
-The sled has hit the ramp at an angle.
The sled has hit the ramp directly.
In this passage from the play A Burial, how does Person B express her emotion?
A: I think I remember seeing him on the outside. I think it was at a fair. I think I remember he had a daughter.
B: A daughter?
A: A little girl in a blue dress.
B: My heart goes out to her.
- with the expression “on the outside”
- with the statement “he had a daughter”
- with the idiom “my heart goes out to her”
3.
Which of the following is an example of hyperbole?
- I was more tired than I had ever been before in my life.
- I was as tired as if I had worked all night.
- I was so tired that I could have slept for hours.
- I was so tired that I could have slept for a hundred years.
4.
An idiom is….
a phrase or expression that doesn’t mean exactly what it says
Which of the following sentences contains an idiom?
a. The waves were as high as mountains today.
b. Sharon looked radiant in her formal gown.
c. You opened a can of worms with that question.
d. I felt as if I’d explode with pent-up laughter.
C.
What is a nuance in writing?
-the subtlest way of saying something
-a slight but significant variation in meaning
-an exaggeration
-a figure of speech
a slight but significant variation in meaning
Which words or phrases in the following passage contribute to a mood of horror?
In the next second that passed, a wild beast crashed through the kitchen window and landed directly on top of Mom. I watched as she and the beast plummeted to the ground. “NO!” I screamed as I saw it tear at her arm.
1) crashed through, directly on top of, beast
2) next second, crashed, Mom, ground
3) wild beast, kitchen window, on top of
4) crashed, plummeted, screamed, tear
4.
In the following passage, what mood is created by the use of figurative language?
After a winter in the town, to be dropped thus suddenly into the intense quiet of the country-side makes an almost ghostly impression upon one, as of an enchanted silence, a silence that listens and watches but never speaks, finger on lip. There is a spectral quality about everything upon which the eye falls: the woods, like great green clouds, the wayside flowers, the still farm-houses half lost in orchard bloom—all seem to exist in a dream. Everything is so still, everything so supernaturally green.
–“The Haunted Orchard,” Richard le Galliene
-dreamlike
-frightening
-happy
-comical
– What phrase in this passage is an example of personification?
- to be dropped thus suddenly into the intense quiet of the country-side
- the woods, like great green clouds
- a silence that listens and watches but never speaks, finger on lip
- the still farm-houses half lost in orchard bloom
dreamlike
3
In the following passage, what mood is created by the use of figurative language?
After a winter in the town, to be dropped thus suddenly into the intense quiet of the country-side makes an almost ghostly impression upon one, as of an enchanted silence, a silence that listens and watches but never speaks, finger on lip. There is a spectral quality about everything upon which the eye falls: the woods, like great green clouds, the wayside flowers, the still farm-houses half lost in orchard bloom—all seem to exist in a dream. Everything is so still, everything so supernaturally green.
–“The Haunted Orchard,” Richard le Galliene
-dreamlike
-frightening
-happy
-comical
– What phrase in this passage is an example of personification?
- to be dropped thus suddenly into the intense quiet of the country-side
- the woods, like great green clouds
- a silence that listens and watches but never speaks, finger on lip
- the still farm-houses half lost in orchard bloom
dreamlike
3
