Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Clock Above the Blackboard
I sit at desk fourteen, beside the door,
two pens, a ruler, my admit card in line.
The papers lie face down on the teacher’s desk.
The clock above the blackboard says half past nine.
Ten minutes before the first bell rings,
and every minute lasts a year. I stare
up at the long hand above the board.
I look away, look back: it is still there.
The bell. The papers. I turn mine and read,
and soon my pen is moving at full speed.
Four answers done. I glance up at the wall:
an hour has gone, and I never felt it at all.
The sun lies in a yellow strip on my desk,
gold chalk dust drifts in the window light,
and the thin red second hand goes round and round,
sweeping the last ten minutes out of sight.
“Pens down,” the teacher says. The sheets are gone.
I look up at the clock above the board:
a dusty face, three minutes slow, as always,
the clock that all year we had ignored.
Identify the figure of speech used in the lines:
“Ten minutes before the first bell rings,
and every minute lasts a year.”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Hyperbole
Hyperbole:
- Hyperbole is a big exaggeration that is not meant to be taken as true.
- A minute cannot really last a year. The speaker says “every minute lasts a year” to show how slowly the ten minutes of waiting seem to pass. Example: I have told you a thousand times to shut the gate.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Personification — Incorrect. Personification gives human actions or feelings to a thing. Example: The hungry fire ate the dry leaves.
Option 2: Simile — Incorrect. A simile compares two different things using “like” or “as”. Example: The baby’s cheeks were as soft as cotton.
Option 4: Alliteration — Incorrect. Alliteration is the same first sound repeated in words close together. Example: Five fat frogs sat by the pond.