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Question
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”
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Solution
- Antithesis – Use of two opposite ideas ‘lose’ and ‘keep’ in the same line for dramatic effect.
- Metaphor – ‘head’ is indirectly compared to ‘a person’s calmness’.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other.
Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.
| Storm | Tiger | Pounces over the fields, growls |
| Train | ||
| Fire | ||
| School | ||
| Home |
The poet uses alliteration to heighten the musical quality of the sonnet. Working in pairs, underline the examples of alliteration in the poem.
Complete the table listing the poetic devices used by Shelley in Ozymandias.
| Poetic Device | Lines from the poem |
| Alliteration | ...and sneer of cold command |
| Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the whole, or the whole to stand for a part) | the hand that mock'd them |
There are a number of literary devices used in the poem. Some of them have been listed below. Choose the right ones and write them down in the table as shown in the example. In each of the cases, explain what they mean.
| simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification. hyperbole, repetition, |
| 1. The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: | Simile; the wedding guest was completely under the control of the mariner |
| 2. Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top | |
| 3. The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he | |
| 4. The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she | |
| 5. And now the storm-blast came, and he was tyrannous and strong: | |
| 6. With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe | |
| 7. The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around |
Find examples of the use of interesting sounds (Onomatopoeia) from the poem and explain their effect on the reader.
| 1. The ice 'cracked and growled, and roared and howled' |
Coleridge uses onomatopoeic words which use harsh 'ck' sounds to make the ice sound brutal. He also gives the ice animal sounds to give the impression it has come alive and is attacking the ship |
Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery it transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices:
• Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or more exciting than it really is. For example: Garbage to them is gold.
• A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor “transfers” a quality of one thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.
• Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the words “like” or “as”. For example: As white as snow.
Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you identify the literary device in each example?
1. Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.
2. Drowned in an air of desolation.
3. Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.
4. For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of survival.
5. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.
6. She still has bangles on her wrist, but not light in her eyes.
7. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.
8. Web of poverty.
9. Scrounging for gold.
10. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.
11. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulders.
Match the Figures of Speech with the correct definition.
| Poetic Devices | |
| Figure | Definition |
| (1) Metaphor | (a) The use of the same sound at the beginning of words. |
| (2) Alliteration | (b) An implied comparison. |
| (3) Onomatopoeia | (c) A comparison between two different things, especially a phrase, containing the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. |
| (4) Simile | (d) A word that resembles the sound it represents. |
Find an example from the poem that contain:
Similie
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Antithesis
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Alliteration
Pick out from the poem two examples of each.
Alliteration
Pick out from the poem two examples of each.
Inversion
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall ____________.
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon.
Match the lines with the Figures of Speech.
| Lines | Figures of Speech |
| 1. In wondrous merry mood | Tautology |
| 2. They were so queer, so very queer. | Alliteration |
| 3. And saw him peep within | Onomatopoeia |
| 4. The grin grew broad. | Repetition |
| 5. And shot from ear to ear. | Hyperbole |
| 6. He broke into a roar. | Repetition |
| 7. Ten days and nights with sleepless eye | Transferred Epithet |
Identify the Figure of Speech in the following line.
..... not one is demented with the mania of owning things.
Pick out two lines that contain the following figures of speech.
Antithesis
Pick out two lines that contain the following figures of speech.
Alliteration
Pick out two lines that contain the following figures of speech.
Inversion
Explain the Figure of Speech in the following line.
Rest in the bottom lay-PUN because.....
‘Pun’ can be defined as a play on words based on their different meanings. Example: ‘Writing with a broken pencil is pointless.’ In this poem, there is an example of Pun. Find and make a sentence of your own. Share a joke with the class where the use of ‘Pun’ creates humour.
Find out lines from the poem that are examples of following Figures of Speech.
| Figures of Speech | Lines |
| Repetition | ......................... |
| Alliteration | ......................... |
| Hyperbole | ......................... |
In poetry, very often, there are lines in which the poet seems to talk directly to an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing/object. Such a tactic/device used by the poet is the Figure of Speech ‘Apostrophe’.
For example,
Twinkle, twinkle little star ...
Death! Where is thy sting?
O, Caveman! I wish I could live with you.
Now, complete the following, creating an example of an Apostrophe of your own.
- O, Life! How ______
- Dear God, Please ______
- Books! You are ______
- Exams! I wish ______
- O, You beautiful sky ______
Alliteration is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of words in a phrase, sentence, etc. such as ‘That life is lived it's very best.’
Find out more examples of Alliteration from other poems in your book.
Pick out lines that contain:
Pun
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
“And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”
Pick out line that contain the following Figures of Speech.
Personification
Complete the following example of Hyperbole using words from the bracket below.
I shall come over in just a ____________
Pick from the poem lines which contain the Figures of speech.
Interrogation
Pick from the poem lines which contain the Figures of speech.
Onomatopoeia
The Figure of Speech ‘ Apostrophe’ exists throughout the poem. Pick out the line where the poet directly addresses.
the sea-shore
- ____________
- ____________
Find from the poem, one example of the following.
Repetition
Find from the poem, one example of the following.
Antithesis
