Read the following and identify the figures of speech used in the same:
Time tiptoed past us as we slept like logs, oblivious of the approaching danger.
Choose the correct option:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → alliteration, simile, personification
Figures of speech in the sentence:
- Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words: "Time tiptoed".
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. - Simile is a direct comparison using "like" or "as": "slept like logs" compares the sleepers to logs, which lie still and heavy.
Example: Her smile was as bright as the sun. - Personification gives a human action or quality to something that is not human: Time is said to tiptoe, the way a person walks quietly so as not to wake anyone.
Example: The wind whispered through the trees.
The other figures of speech named in the options:
- Metaphor: a comparison made without "like" or "as", saying that one thing is another.
Example: Time is a thief. - Irony: words that mean the opposite of what they say, or an outcome opposite to what is expected.
Example: The fire station burned down. - Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates the sound it names.
Example: The bees buzzed around the hive. - Paradox: a statement that seems to contradict itself but holds a truth.
Example: The more you learn, the less you know. - Anaphora: the same word or phrase repeated at the start of successive clauses or lines.
Example: Every day I work, and every day I wait.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: metaphor, personification, irony — Incorrect.
- Personification is present, but the comparison uses "like", so it is a simile, not a metaphor (a metaphor compares without "like" or "as").
- There is no irony: nothing is said that means the opposite of what is meant.
Option 2: onomatopoeia, paradox, simile — Incorrect.
- The simile is present, but there is no onomatopoeia: no word imitates a sound (as "buzz" or "bang" do).
- There is no paradox: no statement seems to contradict itself.
Option 3: alliteration, anaphora, simile — Incorrect.
- Alliteration and simile are present, but there is no anaphora: no word or phrase is repeated at the start of successive clauses.
- It leaves out the personification in "Time tiptoed".
Contrast: a simile compares with "like" or "as" ("slept like logs"); a metaphor compares without them.