INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (001177) _ INSTRUCTOR: TRIET, NGUYEN MINH, M.

DAY 3 _ FURTHER PRACTICE ON LITERARY DEVICES

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 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (001177) _ INSTRUCTOR: TRIET, NGUYEN MINH, M.A

Reference: Marcus, S. (1995). A world of fiction: Twenty timeless short stories. Allyn & Bacon.

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 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (001177) _ INSTRUCTOR: TRIET, NGUYEN MINH, M.A

Fill in the blank with suitable words/phrases: (clues: connotation, metaphor, symbol, ...)
1. We come across the following lines in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Act I, Scene V.

“Go ask his name: if he be married.

My grave is like to be my wedding bed.”
➔Juliet commands her nurse to find out who Romeo was and says if he were married, then her wedding
bed would be her grave. It is a/an ______________because the audience knows that she is going to die
on her wedding bed.
2. In William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice”:

“Hie thee, gentle Jew.

The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.”
➔The word “Jew” has a negative ______________of wickedness, while “Christian” demonstrates
positive ______________of kindness.
3. Written by Joseph Conrad, “I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail
soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a
cage.”
➔ The helplessness of the soul is being ________ with a bird in a cage beating itself against the
merciless wires of the cage, to be free.
4. “She is all states, and all princes, I.” – John Donne

➔ John Donne, a metaphysical poet, was well-known for his abundant use of ________ throughout his
poetical works. This line demonstrates the speaker’s belief that he and his beloved are richer than all
states, kingdoms, and rulers in the entire world because of the love that they share.
5. William Blake writes in his poem Ah Sunflower. He says:

“Ah Sunflower, weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveler’s journey is done;”
➔ Blake uses a sunflower as a ________ for human beings and “the sun” ________ life. Therefore, these
lines ________ refer to their life cycle and their yearning for a never-ending life.

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 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (001177) _ INSTRUCTOR: TRIET, NGUYEN MINH, M.A

6. Taken from Act I, Scene II of “Romeo and Juliet”,

“When well-appareled April on the heel

Of limping winter treads.”
➔There are two ___________ examples here. April cannot put on a dress, and winter does not limp and
it does not have a heel on which a month can walk. Shakespeare ______________the month of April
and the winter season by giving them two distinct human qualities.
7. Coleridge employs _______ in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

“The western wave was all a-flame.

The day was well was nigh done!
➔ The “western wave” is a ______as it refers to the sea by the name of one of its parts i.e. wave.
8. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, one part of the cardinal rule is the statement,

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.
➔This statement seems to not make any sense. However, on closer examination, it gets clear that
Orwell points out a political truth. The government in the novel claims that everyone is equal but it has
never treated everyone equally. It is the concept of equality stated in this ______________that is
opposite to the common belief of equality
9. Oscar Wilde employs ______________in his play “Importance of being Earnest”. Jack Earnest
tells Aunt Augusta in Act III:

“On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital
Importance of Being Earnest”
10. In William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Act 1 Scene 1, Iago tells Brabantio:

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast
with two backs.”
➔ Here, the expression “making the beast with two backs” refers to the act of having sex. Similarly, we
notice Shakespeare using _______ for sexual intercourse in his play “Antony and Cleopatra”
11. Read the following lines from Robert Frost’s poem “Out, Out”:

“As he swung toward them holding up the hand

Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling”
➔In the line “The life from spilling” the word “life” ______________ “blood”. It does make sense as well
because loss of blood may cause loss of life.

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