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Difficulty: MediumFigurative Language and Figures of Speech in Context

Read the passage excerpt below and complete the sentences by identifying the figure of speech used and its contextual meaning.

Answer:In the excerpt, 'After years of grueling preparation, the young naval captain finally took command of forty sails heading into the open Atlantic,' the phrase 'forty sails' is an example of 【synecdoche】, which is used contextually to represent whole 【ships】.

Answer

Blank 1: synecdoche; Blank 2: ships (or vessels)
The correct completion identifies 'synecdoche' because the author uses a physical part of a ship ('sails') to stand for the whole entity ('ships' or 'vessels').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the expression 'forty sails' within the context of the maritime narrative.
Recognize that 'sails'—a constituent part of a sailing vessel—is used to represent the complete fleet.
Identifying the relationship between the part ('sails') and the whole entity ('ships') is essential for contextual figure of speech analysis.
2
Identify the literary device that uses a part of something to refer to the whole entity.
The figure of speech is synecdoche.
Synecdoche specifically operates by substituting a part for the whole or vice versa.
3
Determine the contextual meaning of 'forty sails' in the passage.
It represents forty ships or vessels.
In naval contexts, counting sails is a traditional figurative method of counting full sea-going ships.

Key Concept

Synecdoche in Context
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Figurative Language and Figures of Speech in Context

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