Figurative Language and Extended Metaphor — Quiz

Grade 10 · English · Quiz

Test your mastery of figurative language devices and their effects in literary texts.

Questions

1. 'The curtain of night fell across the city.' This is an example of:

   1. Simile
   2. Personification
   3. Metaphor
   4. Hyperbole
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   Answer: Metaphor

   'The curtain of night' asserts that night IS a curtain — no 'like' or 'as.' It's a direct identification making the metaphor, not a simile.

2. A simile and a metaphor both make comparisons, but a simile uses 'like' or 'as' and a metaphor does not.

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   Answer: True

   This is the definitional distinction. 'Her smile was like sunshine' (simile). 'Her smile was sunshine' (metaphor). Both compare unlike things; the marker word 'like/as' is what differentiates them.

3. Using a part to represent a whole ('fifty sails on the horizon' for fifty ships) is called ___.

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   Answer: synecdoche

   Synecdoche (sin-EK-duh-kee) uses a part for a whole or a whole for a part. 'All hands on deck,' 'fifty sails,' and 'hired help' are all classic synecdoche examples.

4. John Donne's comparison of two lovers' souls to a drafting compass, developed across an entire poem, is called a:

   1. Simile
   2. Conceit
   3. Alliteration
   4. Personification
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   Answer: Conceit

   A conceit is an elaborate, extended, often surprising metaphor — common in metaphysical poetry. Donne's compass conceit in 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning' is the canonical example.

5. Hyperbole should always be interpreted literally in a poem.

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   Answer: False

   Hyperbole is intentional exaggeration for effect — 'I've told you a million times' doesn't mean exactly one million. Interpreting it literally would miss the emotional emphasis completely.

6. Which of the following is an example of personification?

   1. 'She ran as fast as a cheetah.'
   2. 'The economy is a sinking ship.'
   3. 'Opportunity knocked on my door.'
   4. 'He ate a mountain of food.'
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   Answer: 'Opportunity knocked on my door.'

   Personification gives the non-human (opportunity) a human action (knocking). This is so common it has become a dead metaphor — but originally it was a bold personification.

7. A metaphor that is sustained and developed over multiple lines or stanzas is called an ___ metaphor.

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   Answer: extended

   An extended metaphor develops a single comparison across multiple lines or stanzas, building analytical and emotional force through accumulation of detail. Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and Donne's compass are classic examples.

8. In analyzing figurative language, after identifying the comparison, you should always ask:

   1. How many syllables does the comparison use?
   2. What does the comparison illuminate that a literal statement could not?
   3. Whether the author was alive when the poem was published
   4. Whether the comparison uses rhyme
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   Answer: What does the comparison illuminate that a literal statement could not?

   The analytical payoff of identifying figurative language is always this question: what does the comparison say about its subject that no literal statement could say as efficiently or powerfully?

9. Metonymy substitutes an associated concept for the thing itself ('The pen is mightier than the sword').

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   Answer: True

   Metonymy substitutes an associated concept for the thing ('the Crown' for the monarchy, 'Hollywood' for the film industry, 'the pen is mightier than the sword' for writing vs. violence).

10. What makes a 'dead metaphor' different from a fresh metaphor?

    1. Dead metaphors are from ancient languages
    2. Dead metaphors were used by authors who have died
    3. Dead metaphors have been used so long they are processed as literal language
    4. Dead metaphors contain inaccurate comparisons
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    Answer: Dead metaphors have been used so long they are processed as literal language

    Neuroscience supports this: fresh metaphors activate sensory-motor regions; dead metaphors ('leg of the table,' 'head of a department') are processed purely linguistically without sensory activation.

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