Figurative Language and Literary Devices Flashcards
7 cards from real Reading Comprehension practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Figurative Language and Literary Devices flashcards as text
"The campfire crackled and spit, throwing dancing shadows against the tent walls while the children slept." What literary devices are present, and what effect do they create?
Answer: Personification ('spit' and 'dancing shadows') and imagery (the visual scene of firelight), creating a vivid, animated atmosphere around the sleeping children.
The fire 'spitting' and shadows 'dancing' are personification; together with the detailed visual description, they create rich imagery of a lively, cozy campfire scene.
"Her patience had run dry long before the meeting ended." What literary device is used, and what does it convey?
Answer: A metaphor comparing patience to a liquid that depletes, conveying that her tolerance was completely exhausted.
'Run dry' applies a water/liquid metaphor to the abstract concept of patience, conveying that it was fully depleted — a clear metaphor for exhausted tolerance.
"The forest was a cathedral of trees, its canopy arching overhead like a vaulted ceiling of green glass." What literary devices are used, and what do they convey?
Answer: A metaphor ('cathedral of trees') and a simile ('like a vaulted ceiling') together creating a sense of the forest as sacred, grand, and awe-inspiring.
Calling the forest 'a cathedral' is a metaphor (direct equation); 'like a vaulted ceiling' is a simile (comparison with 'like') — together they create a profound sense of natural grandeur and reverence.
"The old professor's lectures were a cure for insomnia — students inevitably drifted off within the first ten minutes." What literary device is primarily at work, and what does it convey?
Answer: Irony/metaphor — calling his lectures a 'cure for insomnia' humorously implies they were so boring they put students to sleep.
Describing a lecture as a 'cure for insomnia' is ironic metaphor: it wittily implies the opposite of interesting by suggesting the lecture was so dull it caused sleep.
"The ambassador extended an olive branch to the rival nation, proposing a summit to negotiate the border dispute." What literary device is 'extended an olive branch,' and what does it mean?
Answer: An idiom/metaphor meaning the ambassador offered a gesture of peace or reconciliation to the opposing nation.
'Extended an olive branch' is a conventional idiom drawn from the symbolic association of olive branches with peace; it means making a gesture of reconciliation toward an adversary.
"The athlete's legs were two pistons driving her up the track, relentless and mechanical." What literary device is used, and what does it convey about the athlete?
Answer: A metaphor comparing her legs to pistons, conveying powerful, efficient, machine-like running with no wasted energy.
Her legs are directly called pistons (metaphor); the comparison conveys mechanical efficiency, power, and relentless rhythm — an image of peak athletic performance.
"In the story, the character's tattered red coat appears each time she faces hardship, and it finally burns in the last scene when she finds freedom." What literary device does the coat primarily represent, and how does its destruction add meaning?
Answer: Symbolism — the coat symbolizes her suffering and hardship; its burning represents the end of her pain and the beginning of freedom.
The coat functions as a symbol: it consistently appears with hardship, encoding suffering. Its destruction by fire at the moment of liberation symbolizes the release of that suffering.