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Difficulty: MediumLiterary Devices and Figurative Language

Read the following English translation of an excerpt from 'Poem 20' ('Poema 20') by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda:

'Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, "The night is starry
and the blue stars shiver in the distance."

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.'

Which of the following literary devices is primarily used in these lines to describe the natural world?

  1. PersonificationAnswer
  2. B
    Simile
  3. C
    Hyperbole
  4. D
    Antithesis

Answer

Personification
The correct answer is personification because the poet describes the stars as 'shivering' and the wind as 'singing,' both of which are human characteristics assigned to inanimate parts of the natural landscape to evoke a sense of living melancholy.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the selected lines from the text.
The lines depict stars shivering ('blue stars shiver') and the wind singing ('night wind revolves... and sings').
Identifying the actions attributed to the natural elements helps determine the type of figurative language used.
2
Identify the type of attributes given to the wind and stars.
Shivering and singing are uniquely human physiological and behavioral traits.
Recognizing that human actions are being mapped to inanimate objects is the core requirement for identifying personification.
3
Match the observed characteristic with the correct literary term.
Personification is the literary device where non-human things are given human attributes.
This confirms personification as the primary figurative device in the passage.

Key Concept

Identifying and interpreting the use of personification in literary texts
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Topics

Literary Devices and Figurative Language

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