Read the following stanzas and answer the question by choosing the correct options:
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces round the fire,
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking 'cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
Point out a figure of speech used in the line "In bleak and bitter cold".
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Alliteration
Alliteration:
- Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words that are close together.
- It adds rhythm and stresses the words.
- This line: "In bleak and bitter cold" repeats the "b" sound in "bleak" and "bitter", stressing the harshness of the cold.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Simile — Incorrect. A simile compares two things using "like" or "as"; the line makes no comparison.
Example: She is as brave as a lion.
Option 2: Personification — Incorrect. Personification gives human qualities to a thing or idea; the cold is described, but it is not given any human action.
Example: The wind whispered through the trees.
Option 3: Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor calls one thing another without "like" or "as"; the line does not do this.
Example: Time is a thief.
Contrast: alliteration repeats a consonant sound; a simile or a metaphor compares two things, and personification gives a thing human qualities.