Question

1.Select the literary technique best illustrated by this quotation from an Elizabethan song. "Full fadom [six feet] five thy father lies;"
a. alliteration
b. metaphor
c.personification

2.The rhyme scheme of the octave of a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet is
a. abba/abba
b. abab/bcbc/cdcd/ee

3.Select the literary technique best illustrated by this quotation from an Elizabethan song.

"Have you felt the wool of the beaver? Or the swan's down [soft feathers] ever?"

a.imagery
b.allusion
c.personification

Answer 1

The correct answers are the following:

1. The literary technique best illustrated by the quotation is (A) Alliteration. Alliteration is a literary device that consists of the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words or stressed syllables of close proximity. The words "full, fadom, feet, five and father" begin with the sound /f/.
2. The rhyme scheme of the octave of a Petrarchan sonnet is (A) abba/abba. The first eight lines almost always follow this rhyme scheme.
3. The literary technique best illustrated by the quotation is (B) Allusion. Allusion, in literature,  is a figure of speech that consists in a reference to a person, thing, place or event.

Answer 2

1.  a. alliteration

Alliteration is a stylistic literary technique that we can identify when two or more neighboring words have the same initial consonant sound (this words may be separated by short words like "too," "and," "a," "of," or "to."). The quotation provided is an example of alliteration because the words Full, fadom, feet, five and father begin with the same consonant sound.

2. a. abba/abba

The Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet has 14 lines, which are divided into an octave and a setset. The rhyme scheme of the octave is ABBA/ABBA, which means that while the 1rst, 4th, 5t, and 8th lines rhyme with one another, the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th lines rhyme with one another.

3. a.imagery

Imagery is a vivid and descriptive language that helps us evoke pictures or ideas in our minds by appealing to our senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste or touch. The wool of the beaver and the swam's soft weather are mentioned to appeal to our sense of touch. This language is usually employed in literary works to add beauty and to help readers feel more connected to the piece of writing.