Figures of Speech Quiz

What is the primary difference between a metaphor and a simile?

• Metaphors use "like" or "as" while similes make indirect comparisons

• Metaphors and similes are exactly the same thing

• Similes use "like" or "as" while metaphors make implicit comparisons

• Neither uses comparative words in their structure

In the phrase "Love is a lemon - either bitter or sweet," this is an example of:

• Paradox

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Hyperbole

Which of the following is an example of a mixed metaphor?

• Her absence was like a long winter

• When I graduate, I hope to become a well-oiled cog in the beehive of industry

• Life is but a walking shadow

• The river snakes its way through the mountains

In the expression "Her cheeks are like roses," what qualities are being transferred?

• Shape and size

• Texture and weight

• Redness and freshness

• Fragrance and color

What is a transferred epithet?

• A comparison using like or as

• An adjective transferred from a person to an abstract idea

• An exaggerated statement

• A contradictory statement

Which figure of speech deliberately understates the magnitude of something?

• Hyperbole

• Oxymoron

• Understatement

• Paradox

In Shakespeare's "Macbeth," the line "Life's but a walking shadow" is an example of:

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Irony

• Oxymoron

What is the key characteristic of sarcasm?

• It always uses "like" or "as"

• It's a sharp or cutting statement meant to drive a point home

• It only appears in poetry

• It must contain contradictory terms

Which of these is an example of oxymoron?

• The butter is as soft as a marble piece

• Her voice was music to my ears

• Deafening silence

• The river winds through the valley

In the phrase "melodious plot" from Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale," what is being transferred?

• The plot's location to the nightingale

• The melodiousness from the nightingale's song to the plot of land

• The green color to the melody

• The ease to the plot