1. "I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below, whipping the strap back and forth, whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never stopping"- Homer, The Odyssey: simile
A simile is a figure of speech that uses comparisons to describe something or someone while using the words "such as" "as", "like", with the purpose of making the writing more colorful and interesting. The line "I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below" is an example of a simile.
2. “This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him only lacks a cover.”- Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet: metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that asserts that one element (person, animal, thing, quality, event, etc.) is similar to another element. The line uses metaphor when it asserts that the book of love is an "unbound lover."
3. "...wound with his wisdom to his wished stay; that wandered wondrous farre when He the town . . ." - Homer, The Odyssey: alliteration
Alliteration is a stylistic literary technique in which neighboring words have the same initial consonant sound. The line uses alliteration because most words begin with the same initial sound of "w."
4. "As for the pigs, they could already read and write perfectly." - George Orwell, Animal Farm: personification
Personification that takes place when a thing, animal, idea, abstract quality, aspect of nature, emotion or event is attributed to human characteristics. The excerpt uses personification because it gives pigs the human attribute of reading and writing.
5. The poison used by Juliet in Romeo and Juliet can also represent the poisoning of the relationship between the Montagues and Capulets: symbolism
Symbolism is a figurative language that takes place when a character, place, thing, event or anything with a physical existence stands for a larger idea or meaning that is entirely different from the actual meaning of that physical "thing." The excerpt uses it because the poison used by Juliet in Romeo and Juliet stands for something else that is entirely different from the poison's actual form.
