Question

language - identify it
p) personification | s) simile | h) hyperbole | m) metaphor | i) idiom |

1. the traffic crawled along the congested highway.
2. the city slept well the night the murderer was captured.
3. harry doesnt believe men landed on the moon. he is a doubting thomas.
4. the house was small.
5. she wore a lively outfit.
6. the sky of love opened the day she met tom.
7. her soft skin was like silk under his fingers.
8. the messy room seemed depressed.
9. i had a big breakfast, but by lunchtime i was starving!
10. the branches of the tree reached for the sky.
11. it takes my girlfriend an eternity to get dressed.
12. i have an axe to grind with my old enemy.
13. the man was so fat, he must have weighed a ton.
14. we baked in the hot sun.
15. i am sick to death of greedy politicians.
16. my two year old daughter is the apple of my eye.
17. my new shoes cost a fortune.
18. to wish the actors good luck, we said, \break a leg!\
19. we must have walked a hundred miles today.
20. the hole was so deep; it went all the way to the other side of the world!
21. stop beating around the bush! get to the point!
22. i traveled to the moon and back to finish this assignment.
23. the country village opened its arms to the tourists.
24. the negative impact of the war was beyond measure.
25. the ipad is the greatest invention of all time.
26. this assignment is impossible.
27. the prisoner lived in a desert of loneliness and regret.
28. thomas edison believed that direct current was superior to alternating current.
29. the sight of civilization was like a tall drink of water to the wandering explorers
30. it takes a million years for this class to end.
31. the lakers played a good game.
32. the teacher talked until her tongue fell out.
33. you could have knocked me over with a feather.
34. i was so hungry i thought i was going to die.
35. after i ate the bad seafood, my stomach complained and moaned all day.
36. dogs and cats have been enemies since the beginning of time.
37. your teacher is an ocean of useful information.
38. the sparrow landed on the peak of the roof.
39. the democratic party has been in power for an eternity
40. the messy house screamed for attention.

Answer:

To solve this, we identify the figure of speech for each sentence:

1. The traffic crawled along the congested highway.

• Personification (P): Traffic (non - human) is given the human action of “crawling”.

2. The city slept well the night the murderer was captured.

• Personification (P): A city (non - human) is given the human action of “sleeping”.

3. Harry doesn’t believe men landed on the moon. He is a doubting Thomas.

• Allusion (I): “Doubting Thomas” refers to the biblical figure, an allusion.

4. The house was small.

• Literal (L): Just a straightforward description.

5. She wore a lively outfit.

• Literal (L): A simple description of the outfit.

6. The sky of love opened the day she met Tom.

• Metaphor (M): “Sky of love” is a metaphor for the feeling of love.

7. Her soft skin was like silk under his fingers.

• Simile (S): Uses “like” to compare skin to silk.

8. The messy room seemed depressed.

• Personification (P): A room (non - human) is given the human emotion of “depression”.

9. I had a big breakfast, but by lunchtime I was starving!

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of how hungry the person was.

10. The branches of the tree reached for the sky.

• Personification (P): Tree branches (non - human) are given the human action of “reaching”.

11. It takes my girlfriend an eternity to get dressed.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the time taken to get dressed.

12. I have an axe to grind with my old enemy.

• Idiom (I): “Axe to grind” is an idiomatic expression meaning having a complaint.

13. The man was so fat, he must have weighed a ton.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the man’s weight.

14. We baked in the hot sun.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the effect of the sun’s heat.

15. I am sick to death of greedy politicians.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of how tired the person is of politicians.

16. My two year old daughter is the apple of my eye.

• Metaphor (M): Uses a metaphor to show how precious the daughter is.

17. My new shoes cost a fortune.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the cost of the shoes.

18. To wish the actors good luck, we said, “Break a leg!”

• Idiom (I): “Break a leg” is an idiomatic way to wish good luck.

19. We must have walked a hundred miles today.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the distance walked.

20. The hole was so deep; it went all the way to the other side of the world!

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the depth of the hole.

21. Stop beating around the bush! Get to the point!

• Idiom (I): “Beating around the bush” is an idiom meaning avoiding the main topic.

22. I traveled to the moon and back to finish this assignment.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the effort to finish the assignment.

23. The country village opened its arms to the tourists.

• Personification (P): A village (non - human) is given the human action of “opening arms”.

24. The negative impact of the war was beyond measure.

• Literal (L): A straightforward description of the war’s impact.

25. The iPad is the greatest invention of all time.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the iPad’s importance.

26. This assignment is impossible.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the difficulty of the assignment.

27. The prisoner lived in a desert of loneliness and regret.

• Metaphor (M): “Desert of loneliness and regret” is a metaphor for the prisoner’s state.

28. Thomas Edison believed that direct current was superior to alternating current.

• Literal (L): A factual statement about Edison’s belief.

29. The sight of civilization was like a tall drink of water to the wandering explorers.

• Simile (S): Uses “like” to compare the sight of civilization to a tall drink of water.

30. It takes a million years for this class to end.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the time taken for the class to end.

31. The Lakers played a good game.

• Literal (L): A simple statement about the Lakers’ game.

32. The teacher talked until her tongue fell out.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of how long the teacher talked.

33. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of how surprised the person was.

34. I was so hungry I thought I was going to die.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the person’s hunger.

35. After I ate the bad seafood, my stomach complained and moaned all day.

• Personification (P): A stomach (non - human) is given the human actions of “complaining” and “moaning”.

36. Dogs and cats have been enemies since the beginning of time.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of how long dogs and cats have been enemies.

37. Your teacher is an ocean of useful information.

• Metaphor (M): Compares the teacher to an ocean of information.

38. The sparrow landed on the peak of the roof.

• Literal (L): A factual statement about the sparrow’s action.

39. The Democratic Party has been in power for an eternity.

• Hyperbole (H): Exaggeration of the time the party has been in power.

40. The messy house screamed for attention.

• Personification (P): A house (non - human) is given the human action of “screaming”.

Final Answers (in order from 1 - 40):

1. P
2. P
3. I
4. L
5. L
6. M
7. S
8. P
9. H
10. P
11. H
12. I
13. H
14. H
15. H
16. M
17. H
18. I
19. H
20. H
21. I
22. H
23. P
24. L
25. H
26. H
27. M
28. L
29. S
30. H
31. L
32. H
33. H
34. H
35. P
36. H
37. M
38. L
39. H
40. P