NCHS AP English Language

hannah robinson - #8 five tropes

8.) Chapter 48 "The First Lowering" - Go to the paragraph beginning "It was a sight full of quick wonder and awe". Find five tropes.

Trope is any type of figure of speech. This particular paragraph is overloaded with all kinds of tropes.

The first trope i found was a personification of a wave. "The vast swelling of the omnipotent sea; the surging, hollow roar they made, as they rolled along". The waves are personified with a voice; they are described as being able to make roar as a person does.

A simile, as defined by the Webster Merriam dictionary is "a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as". I discovered two similes within this paragraph. The first quote with a simile I found states "[the waves] like gigantic bowls in a boundless bowling-green". Another simile within this paragraph is "Pequod bearing down upon her boats with outstretched sails, like a wild hen after her screaming brood".

One other trope found in this paragraph was an alliteration, which is a repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words next to each other. "Charmed, churning, circle"; this alliteration uses the consonant of "c".

The last trope i found was another personification. "The shuddering gasps of the oars". This personification also makes the oars seem as though they have a voice, able to gasp and all.


Hannah Robinson

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 8:45 PM