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Difficulty: HardPoetic Imagery and Figurative Language

Complete the poetic analysis statement below by identifying the figure of speech used in the excerpt.

Answer:Read the poetic lines below:
"The captain shouted, 'All hands on deck to brace against the storm!'"

In the line above, referring to the entire crew using the phrase 'all hands' is an example of 【synecdoche】.

Answer

synecdoche
Synecdoche is correct because 'hands' represents the sailors as a whole, substituting a physical part of the body to denote the entire human being.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the phrase 'all hands' within the context of the poem.
The word 'hands' literally refers to a physical body part, but here it designates the complete sailors/crew members.
Establishing the relationship between a part of a person and the whole person.
2
Determine the literary device where a part represents the whole.
Synecdoche is the precise figure of speech in which a part of something is made to represent the whole entity.
Unlike metonymy, which relies on association (e.g., 'the crown' for royalty), synecdoche uses an actual physical portion of the subject.

Key Concept

Synecdoche
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Topics

Poetic Imagery and Figurative Language

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