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English 10-1

English 10-1 · Worksheets

Devices and language

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Devices. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Devices and language

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Show your work in the space provided.

  1. An allusion works only if

    1. a) it is explained
    2. b) it appears early
    3. c) the reader recognises the work referred to
    4. d) it repeats

  2. The most complete analysis of a metaphor states

    1. a) the definition of metaphor
    2. b) where it appears
    3. c) that a metaphor is present
    4. d) what is compared to what, and what the comparison suggests

  3. Situational irony occurs when

    1. a) a symbol repeats
    2. b) the reader knows more than a character
    3. c) the outcome is the opposite of what was expected
    4. d) a speaker means the opposite of the words used

  4. A simile compares two things

    1. a) through sound
    2. b) without using like or as
    3. c) using like or as
    4. d) by exaggeration

  5. A series of short, blunt sentences most likely creates

    1. a) calm
    2. b) luxury
    3. c) confusion about the narrator
    4. d) urgency or abruptness

  6. Dramatic irony occurs when

    1. a) events turn out unexpectedly
    2. b) the audience knows something a character does not
    3. c) a text refers to another work
    4. d) a speaker means the opposite

  7. Personification gives

    1. a) human qualities to something non-human
    2. b) two meanings to a word
    3. c) animal qualities to a person
    4. d) exaggerated size to an object

  8. A symbol differs from a motif in that a symbol

    1. a) is always an object
    2. b) is only found in poetry
    3. c) appears once only
    4. d) stands for something beyond itself, while a motif is a recurring element

  9. Hyperbole is

    1. a) deliberate exaggeration for effect
    2. b) a kind of rhyme
    3. c) deliberate understatement
    4. d) a sound device

  10. Alliteration is the repetition of

    1. a) vowel sounds
    2. b) whole words
    3. c) line endings
    4. d) initial consonant sounds in nearby words

Answer key · Devices and language

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) the reader recognises the work referred to — An allusion imports the associations of another text in a few words, which is efficient and risky. Choosing one is a decision about audience, and saying so is often more interesting than identifying the source.
  2. d) what is compared to what, and what the comparison suggests — Naming earns little on its own. Markers look for effect: what the comparison makes a reader feel or understand that plain statement would not.
  3. c) the outcome is the opposite of what was expected — A fire station burning down is situational irony. Coincidence is not — the reversal has to run against an expectation the text deliberately set up.
  4. c) using like or as — A metaphor makes the same comparison without the connective, which makes it more assertive: her voice was gravel claims more than her voice was like gravel.
  5. d) urgency or abruptness — Syntax carries tone as surely as diction does. Long accumulating clauses do the opposite, and a shift between the two mid-passage is nearly always deliberate.
  6. b) the audience knows something a character does not — Verbal irony is saying the opposite; situational irony is events turning out the opposite. Dramatic irony is a gap in knowledge, and it generates suspense in most tragedies.
  7. a) human qualities to something non-human — The wind clawed at the window puts intention into weather. Noticing <i>which</i> human quality is lent — malice, indifference, tenderness — turns identification into analysis.
  8. d) stands for something beyond itself, while a motif is a recurring element — They overlap — a symbol can be a motif if it recurs. The distinction worth holding is that a symbol points outward to an idea, while a motif accumulates meaning by repetition.
  9. a) deliberate exaggeration for effect — Its opposite, understatement, is often used for irony or restraint. Both work by the distance between what is said and what is meant.
  10. d) initial consonant sounds in nearby words — Assonance repeats vowel sounds and consonance repeats consonants elsewhere in the word. All three slow a reader down and bind words together in the ear.