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?

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

   Asking good questions and finding answers kept feeding each other all year. Luz is revising this plain sentence into a chiasmus without changing its meaning. Which revision does it?

   • Our answers ended our questions, and our questions ended our answers.
   • We asked, we answered, we asked again, throughout the year.
   • Our questions led us to answers, and our answers led us to more discoveries.
   • Our questions led us to answers, and our answers led us to new questions.

3. Read this first

   Use this

   An invented principal wants a closing line that listeners will repeat on the way home. Version A: “We built this school, and this school built us.” Version B: “This school, which we built together, has helped every one of us grow.”

4. 3.

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

   • Version A, because its chiasmus packs the idea into a short reversal that is easy to repeat.
   • Version A, because it uses more of the same words, which makes it longer and more formal in tone.
   • Version B, because its which-clause explains exactly who built the school.
   • Version A, because its anaphora repeats the opening word of each half.
5. 4.

   “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?

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

6. 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.”

7. 5.

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

   • Version A, because dropping “and” speeds the list, so the morning feels hurried.
   • 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 B, because repeating “and” piles up the chores so the morning feels long.
8. 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, keep going for twenty more years of carrying our students.
   • The old bus, we hope, will rest well after twenty years of carrying students.
   • Twenty years, ten thousand trips, one faithful bus.
   • Old bus, rest well after twenty years of carrying our students.

9. 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.”

10. 7.

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

    • Version A, because its chiasmus turns the bridge and the town around.
    • Version B, because “these planks” makes listeners picture the bridge's wood.
    • Version A, because speaking to the bridge directly makes the farewell feel personal.
    • Version A, because it gives the bridge's age, ninety years.
11. 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?

    • Metonymy and asyndeton: “hammers” stands for builders, and the conjunctions are left out.
    • Synecdoche and anaphora: “willing hands” stands for workers, and the clauses begin alike.
    • Polysyndeton alone: the repeated “and” is the sentence's one device.
    • Synecdoche and polysyndeton: “willing hands” stands for workers, and “and” repeats between items.
12. 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?

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

13. 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.”

14. 10.

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

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