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Difficulty: MediumAnalysis of Figures of Speech and Literary Devices in Unseen Poetry

Read the unseen poem extract below carefully:

"The crown decreed that taxes must be paid,
To fill the coffers of the royal court;
While humble spades worked in the dusty glade,
Unaware of laws the kingdom wrought."

In line 1 of the excerpt above, what literary device is used in the phrase "the crown"?

  1. MetonymyAnswer
  2. B
    Synecdoche
  3. C
    Metaphor
  4. D
    Personification

Answer

The literary device used in "the crown" is metonymy.
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. In this context, "the crown" represents the king, monarch, or royal authority who holds the power to decree taxes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the target phrase within the line
The phrase "the crown" refers to the monarch or government issuing decrees.
Identifying the relationship between the literal word and its intended contextual meaning.
2
Determine the type of figurative substitution
A crown is a symbol closely associated with royal authority, substituted here for the ruler.
Distinguishing between substitution by association (metonymy) and substitution by part-whole relationship (synecdoche).

Key Concept

Metonymy in Unseen Poetry
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Topics

Analysis of Figures of Speech and Literary Devices in Unseen Poetry

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