ADAPTED VERSION · dyslexia and neurodiverse students · B1

Figures of speech

Toolbox

Figures of speech: metaphor (A is B), simile (A is like B), personification, paradox, repetition, question

Identify the figure of speech

Name the main figure of speech in each line and explain its effect in one sentence.

  1. Fair is foul, and foul is fair
  2. Is this a dagger which I see before me
  3. Macbeth does murder sleep
  4. Double, double toil and trouble
  5. Life's but a walking shadow
Sentence starters
Answer key
  1. Paradox: two opposite ideas together.
  2. Question: Macbeth is not sure.
  3. Personification: sleep is like a person.
  4. Repetition and rhyme: it sounds like a spell.
  5. Metaphor: life is a shadow.

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