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Difficulty: HardFigurative Language and Figures of Speech in Context

Read the passage excerpt below and complete the statement by filling in the blank with the correct figure of speech.

Answer:Excerpt: 'In his post-war memoirs, the general remarked that during the decisive night offensive, the high command dispatched three hundred steel blades to secure the strategic northern ridge.'

In the excerpt above, using the phrase 'three hundred steel blades' to stand for three hundred armed soldiers is an example of 【synecdoche】.

Answer

The correct figure of speech to fill in the blank is synecdoche.
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole. In the given excerpt, 'steel blades' (a specific part of the soldier's weaponry) represents the soldiers themselves. Therefore, filling the blank with 'synecdoche' accurately identifies the literary device used.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the target expression in its passage context.
The phrase 'three hundred steel blades' refers to soldiers carrying weapons (swords/bayonets), using a essential part or weapon of the soldier to represent the whole person.
Identifying the relationship between the literal object ('steel blades') and the entity being represented ('soldiers') is necessary to determine the figure of speech.
2
Differentiate between related figures of speech (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole).
Synecdoche specifically occurs when a part of something is used to represent the whole (or vice versa), whereas metonymy uses a closely related attribute or symbol.
Because 'steel blades' (the weapon component) is a physical part of the soldier's equipment representing the whole soldier, it constitutes synecdoche.

Key Concept

Synecdoche in Context
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Topics

Figurative Language and Figures of Speech in Context

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