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Difficulty: EasyLiterary Devices and Figurative Language

Consider the line: 'The old wooden house groaned under the weight of the gathering storm.' Which figure of speech is demonstrated in this description?

  1. PersonificationAnswer
  2. B
    Metaphor
  3. C
    Hyperbole
  4. D
    Synecdoche

Answer

Personification is the figure of speech used in the line.
The line endows a physical building (an inanimate object) with the human vocal action of 'groaning' to vividly describe the sound of creaking timber under storm pressure, which is the precise definition of personification.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the subject and verb in the phrase 'the old wooden house groaned'.
An inanimate physical object ('house') is portrayed as performing a human action/sound ('groaned').
Identifying when human characteristics are given to non-human things helps determine the figure of speech.
2
Match this stylistic feature to its corresponding literary term.
Attributing human qualities or actions to inanimate objects is defined as personification.
Connecting the passage's stylistic technique to its standard terminology yields the correct answer.

Key Concept

Personification
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Topics

Literary Devices and Figurative Language

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