Did You Ever Think as a Hearse Goes by....

 Read the following passage from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and answer the question:

Mr. Vandemar, on the other hand, simply walked. It was too consistent, too steady and inexorable a walk to be described as a stroll: Death walks like Mr. Vandemar.

Which literary device represents Death?

a. allusion
b. hyperbole
c. tone
d. personification

Scroll down for the answer.

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Answer: D - one of the clues that alerts the reader of personification is that sometimes the thing personified will be capitalized (like Death here).  This is not always the case, but when you see something like Death or Time capitalized, then think personification.

Thanks to Ms. Parsons for this question!  I was trying to come up with some clever thing to say about Death and her class, but nothing really seemed to work (they were all either cheesy, morbid, or both), so... :(

I Still Want the Running Man Home Edition Board Game

 Read this passage from The Running Man by Richard Bachman:

    "Oh dear God," Amelia Williams moaned.

    Richards looked down at himself casually.  His entire right side, from ribcage to calf, was bright and sparkling red.

    "Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?" Richards said.

What literary term is the last line said by Richards?

a. allusion

b. cliche

c. personification

d. metaphor

In reality, Richard Bachman turned out to be a pen name for Stephen King.

Scroll down for the answer.

__________________________

a. is the correct answer.  It is difficult to pick out allusions (this one came from Macbeth) if you have not read the text that is alluded to, so you probably would have to have ruled out the other answers to figure this one out.

b. a cliche is a worn out phrase.  Since you are probably not familiar with this line, you can rule out cliche.

c. and d. are literary terms you are probably familiar with.  There is no nonhuman thing getting human characteristics and there is no comparison, so they are clearly not the right answer.  

~

Not Sure If Lady Macbeth Is Evil or If Macbeth Is Just Whipped

 Read the following passage from Macbeth.  This takes place right after Macbeth kills the king, a man he admires.  He is a bit upset that his hands are covered in the king's blood.

“Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No. This my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”


What literary term is being used to express Macbeth's inability to deal with his guilt?

a. imagery

b. verbal irony

c. juxtaposition

d. hyperbole

Scroll down for the answer.

_____________________________

a. is incorrect.  While it does describe the blood, it is not being used to express guilt.

b. is incorrect. There is no irony in this passage.

c. is incorrect.

d. is correct.  Macbeth is saying that the whole ocean does not have enough water in it to wash away all the blood on his hands.  

Burn, Baby, Burn!

Read the following excerpt from Fahrenheit 451.  This is a book written in the 1950s that takes place in our future.

The little mosquito-delicate dancing hum in the air, the electrical murmur of a hidden wasp snug in its special pink warm nest. The music was almost loud enough so he could follow the tune.

Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of the tomb, her eyes fixed in the ceiling by invisible threads of steel, immovable. And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty. Every night the waves came in and bore her off on their great tides of sound, floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning. There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.

What is the purpose of the metaphor in this passage?

a. to explain how Mildred drowned
b. to show that Mildred cannot swim
c. to explain how Mildred listens to music
d. to show Mildred's unique fashion sense

Scroll down for the answer.








______________________________
This is a typical NCFinal three part question. Part one, do you know what a metaphor is?  Part two, can you find the metaphor?  Part three do you understand what the metaphor means?  

The ocean is a metaphor showing how distant Mildred is when she uses the "seashell" radio.  Basically Ray Bradbury is envisioning ear buds way back in the 1950s.  Know that you know that, the other metaphor, the mosquito, makes more sense as well and adds to the understanding.  
C. is the correct answer.

 

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

Read the following passage:

I was going to look for my missing watch, but I could never find the time.

This is an example of:

a. allusion

b. alliteration

c. pun

d. irony

Scroll down for the answer.

_______________________

c. is the correct answer.

~

Ah... the Beach!

 Read "Sea­Wash" by Carl Sandburg:

The sea­wash never ends.
The sea­wash repeats, repeats.
    Only old songs? Is that all the sea knows?
    Only the old strong songs?
    Is that all?
The sea­wash repeats, repeats.

Read the short poem three times. What is the effect of the rhythm and sounds?

a.­ Alliteration is used to put the reader to sleep.

b­. Alliteration, Consonance, Repetition, and Rhythm are used to mimic the crashing waves.

c­. Personification is used to give the ocean human-­like qualities.

d­. All of the above.

Scroll down for the answer.

____________________________________

a­ INCORRECT­ Alliteration is used, but the intended effect is not to put the reader to sleep.

b­ CORRECT­ All four devices are used to mimic the sound of crashing waves.

c INCORRECT­ Personification is used, but the question addresses RHYTHM and SOUNDS.

d­ INCORRECT­ You should be able to eliminate “C” quickly, which lets you know that you can eliminate “D” as well.

Poem is from from: poetryfoundation.org

Thanks to Ms. Brookshire for the question!   

Off with Her Head!

Read the following poem by Shel Silverstein from Where the Sidewalk Ends:

ALICE

She drank from a bottle called DRINK ME
And up she grew so tall,
She ate from a plate called TASTE ME
And down she shrank so small
And so she changed, while other folks
Never tried nothin’ at all

The rhyme scheme of the poem is AB AB CB. Why does the author change the rhyme scheme in line 5?

a. He couldn't find another rhyme for ME.

b. To draw attention to the poem's meaning.

c. Because it is an allusion to Alice in Wonderland.

d. To change the pace of the poem.











Scroll down for the answer.







________________________

a. is completely incorrect. Poets are very resourceful and can find a rhyme for almost any word.

b. is correct. The poem is about not being afraid to try new things.

c. is incorrect. While it is an allusion, the change in rhyme has nothing to do with it.

d. is incorrect. While changing the rhyme scheme may change the pace in some poems, it does not in this one.