Chiasmus, zeugma, metonymy and other named devices

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   “Ship, carry our cargo, carry our crews, carry our good name across the sea.” Ari finds two devices in this sentence. Which pair of labels fits it?

   • Personification and epistrophe: the ship is given a human job, and the clauses end alike.
   • Apostrophe and anaphora: the speaker addresses the ship and repeats “carry our.”
   • Apostrophe and chiasmus: the speaker addresses the ship and reverses the words.
   • Anaphora alone: the repeated “carry our” is the sentence's one device.
2. 2.

   “The heat wave took the garden's color, the dog's energy, our patience.” Jun finds two devices in this sentence. Which pair of labels fits it?

   • Metonymy and polysyndeton: “color” stands for flowers, and the conjunctions repeat in each phrase.
   • Zeugma and anaphora: “took” serves three objects, and each clause begins alike.
   • Zeugma and asyndeton: “took” serves three objects in shifting senses, with no “and.”
   • Asyndeton alone: the list of three objects runs on with no “and.”
3. 3.

   The hikers caught the early bus. They also caught a glimpse of a moose. Pia is combining these sentences into one zeugma without changing their meaning. Which revision does it?

   • The hikers missed the early bus and a glimpse of a moose.
   • The hikers caught the early bus and a glimpse of a moose.
   • The bus, the trail, the moose: what a morning for the hikers.
   • The hikers caught the early bus and caught the late bus home.

4. Read this first

   Use this

   An invented writer wants a sentence that makes a school morning feel hurried. Version A: “We woke, dressed, ate, ran.” Version B: “We woke and dressed and ate and ran.”

5. 4.

   Bo must recommend one version for the writer's purpose. Which choice and reason are right?

   • Version B, because repeating “and” piles up the chores so the morning feels long.
   • Version A, because its zeugma makes one verb serve each of the actions.
   • Version A, because it uses fewer letters, which suits a newspaper's small columns.
   • Version A, because dropping “and” speeds the list, so the morning feels hurried.
6. 5.

   “Should we fear what we do not understand, or understand what we fear?” Milo finds two devices in this sentence. Which pair of labels fits it?

   • Antithesis and irony: fear and understanding are opposites, and the speaker means the reverse.
   • Rhetorical question alone: the speaker asks without expecting an answer.
   • Chiasmus and apostrophe: the words cross, and the speaker addresses fear directly.
   • Chiasmus and rhetorical question: “fear … understand” crosses to “understand … fear,” asked to make listeners think.
7. 6.

   We hope the old bus will rest well after twenty years of carrying students. Zee is revising this plain sentence into an apostrophe without changing its meaning. Which revision does it?

   • Old bus, rest well after twenty years of carrying our students.
   • Twenty years, ten thousand trips, one faithful bus.
   • Old bus, keep going for twenty more years of carrying our students.
   • The old bus, we hope, will rest well after twenty years of carrying students.

8. Use this

   An invented speaker wants a warm farewell to an old bridge that is being replaced. Version A: “Old bridge, you carried us over the river for ninety years.” Version B: “For ninety years, the town crossed the river on these planks.”

9. 7.

   Kira must recommend one version for the speaker's purpose. Which choice and reason are right?

   • Version A, because it gives the bridge's age, ninety years.
   • Version B, because “these planks” makes listeners picture the bridge's wood.
   • Version A, because its chiasmus turns the bridge and the town around.
   • Version A, because speaking to the bridge directly makes the farewell feel personal.
10. 8.

    “The town sent hammers and saws and willing hands to rebuild the pier.” Ren finds two devices in this sentence. Which pair of labels fits it?

    • Synecdoche and anaphora: “willing hands” stands for workers, and the clauses begin alike.
    • Synecdoche and polysyndeton: “willing hands” stands for workers, and “and” repeats between items.
    • Polysyndeton alone: the repeated “and” is the sentence's one device.
    • Metonymy and asyndeton: “hammers” stands for builders, and the conjunctions are left out.
11. 9.

    This park gives children, neighbors and trees room to run, meet and grow. Esme is revising this plain sentence into anaphora without changing its meaning. Which revision does it?

    • Run, meet, grow: that is what this park is for.
    • Here children have room to run, here neighbors have room to meet, here cars have room to park.
    • Here children have room to run, here neighbors have room to meet, here trees have room to grow.
    • Here children have room to run, neighbors room to meet, and trees here have room to grow.

12. Use this

    An invented critic wants a witty line about a pianist who charmed a crowd. Version A: “The pianist played the sonata and the audience.” Version B: “The pianist played the sonata, and the audience loved it.”

13. 10.

    Noah must recommend one version for the critic's purpose. Which choice and reason are right?

    • Version A, because “played” serves two objects in two senses, which gives the line its wit.
    • Version B, because its plain report tells readers exactly how the audience felt in a few short words.
    • Version A, because it is shorter than Version B by a few words.
    • Version A, because its metonymy lets “the audience” stand for the critics.