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Difficulty: MediumLiterary Devices, Diction, and Style in Prose

Read the prose extract below:

"As the drought worsened, the old village chief looked at his parched fields and declared to his council that a leader must lose his life to truly save it, and that their present poverty was their greatest wealth."

Which literary device is prominently demonstrated in the chief's declaration?

  1. ParadoxAnswer
  2. B
    Oxymoron
  3. C
    Metaphor
  4. D
    Assonance

Answer

The literary device prominently demonstrated in the chief's declaration is Paradox.
The expression presents a complete statement ('a leader must lose his life to truly save it') that seems logically contradictory at first glance, but conveys a deeper philosophical truth about leadership and self-sacrifice. This structural and thematic contradiction is the definition of a paradox.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the chief's declaration in the prose extract.
The statement asserts that 'a leader must lose his life to truly save it' and 'their present poverty was their greatest wealth.'
Identifying the key stylistic construction is essential to classifying the literary device.
2
Evaluate the relationship between the ideas presented in the assertion.
The claims seem contradictory and logically impossible on a literal level, yet they convey a profound philosophical truth regarding sacrifice and resilience.
Distinguishing between superficial contradiction and deeper thematic truth is the defining characteristic of a paradox.
3
Differentiate paradox from related literary terms such as oxymoron.
While an oxymoron juxtaposes contradictory terms side by side (e.g., 'painful pleasure'), a paradox spans a full clause or sentence expressing a complex truth.
This confirms that the device used across the full sentence structure is a paradox.

Key Concept

Literary Devices in Prose: Paradox vs. Oxymoron
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Literary Devices, Diction, and Style in Prose

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