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Worksheets

Figurative Language

Total questions: 14

Worksheet time: 8mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Choose the best definition for the term metaphor.

a)

Comparing small ideas to large ideas

b)

Comparison of two things using like or as

c)

Comparison of two things NOT using like or as.

d)

The general attitude toward a piece of writing

2.

Which of the following is an example of assonance?

a)

Timmy talked to Tyrone thoroughly on Thursday.

b)

The fleas fled

c)

Frog parking only. All others will be toad.

d)

Hear the lark and harken to the barking.

3.

Which of the following is an example of simile?

a)

A tension of opposites, a pull of a rubber band

b)

Love is like a wrestling match

c)

Love is a wrestling match

d)

She sells sea shells by the seashore.

4.

Which definition best defines the term euphemism?

a)

A nicer way of saying something that is considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

b)

A type of metaphor in which non-human things or ideas possess human qualities or actions.

c)

The repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of neighboring words. (Consonants are all the letters except a, e, i, o, u, and y.)

d)

A literary device in which words are used to express a contradiction between appearance and reality

5.

Which of the following are true about personification? (Hint: multiple responses are correct).

a)

Personification is a type of metaphor.

b)

Personification can be defined as the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

c)

non-human objects like rocks can be personified if the author gives them human characteristics.

d)

Personification is always a type of simile

e)

Animals and nature can be personified.

6.

Irony is defined as a literary device in which words are used to express a contradiction between appearance and reality. What are the three types of irony?

a)

Dramatic

b)

Socratic

c)

Situational

d)

Hyperbolic

e)

Verbal

7.

Which of the following is not an example of irony? (Only 1 correct answer).

a)

When the reader knows something that the characters don't.

b)

When saying one thing but meaning the opposite (sarcasm). E.g. when you get an "F" on an exam and your friend says, "Nice job, Einstein."

c)

When words imitate the sounds they represent.

d)

When the outcome of a situation is inconsistent (does not match) with what we would expect to normally occur.

8.

Oxymoron is defined as a statement that seemingly contradicts itself. Which of the following are examples of oxymoron?

a)

Honest Abe

b)

Jumbo shrimp

c)

I could eat a horse

d)

Sweet sorrow

e)

Alone together

9.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses obvious and deliberate _________ that emphasizes a point.

a)

understatement

b)

tone

c)

metaphor

d)

exaggeration

10.

Which of the following definition best describe onomatopoeia?

a)

A direct comparison of two things not using "like" or "as."

b)

A comparison of two things using "like" or "as."

c)

Words that imitate the sounds that they represent.

d)

The repetition of vowel sounds of neighboring words.

11.

Which of the following is an example of alliteration?

a)

I was walking and talking for hours on end.

b)

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air."

c)

The light of the fire is a sight.

d)

Try as I might, the kite did not fly.

12.

An allusion is defined as an indirect reference to some piece of common knowledge (usually literary or historical). Think of it as an easter egg for the audience. Which of the following is an example of an allusion? Hint: more than one may be correct.

a)

My friend is getting an A++ in physics right now. He's a regular Einstein!

b)

My friend Edgar is like a volcano. He's always ready to burst out in anger.

c)

Ever since Mark and Sally started dating, they've been way too much like Romeo and Juliet.

d)

Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death.

13.

What is the term for a long speech where a character is alone on stage speaking their thoughts aloud?

a)

Dialogue

b)

Enjambment

c)

Monologue

d)

Soliloquy

e)

Diatribe

14.

What is it called when an author/playwright hints at what will happen later? E.g., the open chorus telling us Romeo and Juliet die?

a)

Pun

b)

Hyperbole

c)

Foreshadowing

d)

Oxymoron

e)

Allusion