---
title: It is given that a poet attributes human actions to an inanimate obj… — Poetry: simile, metaphor, personificat… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a poet attributes human actions to an inanimate object (a thing that is not alive). State the name of the device so employed. Exam question 3 of lesson 46 «Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tr
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/) / [Poetry: simile, metaphor, personificat…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a poet attributes human actions to an inanimate object (a thing that is not alive). State the name of the device so employed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** poet, thing, you, device · **What happens:** give, attribute, not be, state, employ, name · **To what, where:** It, human actions, name, device

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 46 «Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration» of the English course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a poet attributes human actions to an inanimate object (a thing that is not alive).

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:1
# text = It is given that a poet attributes human actions to an inanimate object (a thing that is not alive).
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	poet	poet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	attributes	attribute	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	actions	action	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	inanimate	inanimate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	20	advmod	_	_
20	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **attribute** | present | a poet | human actions |  |  |  | to a inanimate object | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **is** | present | a thing |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* State the name of the device so employed.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:2
# text = State the name of the device so employed.
1	State	state	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	device	device	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	employed	employ	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the name of the device |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent name=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | past | the device *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **name** |  |  | the device |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: of=patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Onomatopoeia

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:o1:1
# text = Onomatopoeia
1	Onomatopoeia	onomatopoeia	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The extended simile

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:o2:1
# text = The extended simile
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	extended	extended	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	simile	simile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Personification

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:o3:1
# text = Personification
1	Personification	personification	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Alliteration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e3:o4:1
# text = Alliteration
1	Alliteration	alliteration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Poetry: simile, metaphor, personificat…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e2/)
- next →: [Poetry: simile, metaphor, personificat…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/)