---
title: Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration — how Mova does on the tests · English
description: Lesson 46 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 2 of 11 tests right, exam 2 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration

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**Tests:** 2 of 11 right · **Exam:** 2 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 6 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 46 of the english course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Your mate says, "Metaphors are just lies, innit, the sun ain't a coin." Put him right.

- **1.** It shows a likeness; nobody means it literally — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** He is right, but only for poems about the sun — no support
- **3.** He is right, so poets should stick to facts — no support
- **4.** It is true, since the sun is made of gold — **← Mova's choice** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 46, line 2: «A simile compares two things using "like" or "as" ("The sun is like a golden coin"); a metaphor says one thing IS another ("The sun is a golden coin"), not as…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+2); the same doer «metaphor» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Kenzie, Gen Alpha: "'The thunder growled' is a simile, no cap." ("No cap" means no lie.) What is it really?

- **1.** Alliteration — **← Mova's choice** · score 9
- **2.** A metaphor about noise — score 9
- **3.** A simile — score 9
- **4.** Personification — **✓ the right answer** · score 9

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 45, line 17: «"From a Railway Carriage", the train poem, was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1885; "No cap" in slang means "for real".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+6); the same doer «cap» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 9. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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What would happen to "The sun is a golden coin" if you put "like" after "is"?

- **1.** It would become alliteration — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It would become a simile — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It would become personification — no support
- **4.** It would stop being poetry at all — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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A cartoon teacher says "Boom!" is alliteration. Fix it.

- **1.** "Boom" is the personification of a noise — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** "Boom" is onomatopoeia: it sounds like its meaning — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The cartoon is right, it is alliteration — no support
- **4.** "Boom" is a metaphor for a big explosion — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · right ✓ {#t5}

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Which line uses alliteration?

- **1.** Pete's purple parrot pecked a pear. — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The parrot was like a rainbow. — no support
- **3.** The parrot squawked: screech! — no support
- **4.** The parrot laughed loudly at the tabby cat. — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t6}

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"Shut up, the wind can't scream, it ain't got a mouth," snaps Ryan. What is the poet doing?

- **1.** Writing a simile about wind and mouths — score 3
- **2.** Using onomatopoeia for the wind's noise — **← Mova's choice** · score 4
- **3.** Making a science mistake about the wind — score 2
- **4.** Personifying the wind to show it is wild — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 2 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 45, line 16: «A rhyming dictionary lists words by their sounds; poets have used them for centuries, and choosing the right rhyme is still the poet's job.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «poets» (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same action «use» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Gran in Cardiff: "That poem's lush, bach." ("Lush" means lovely; "bach" is a fond Welsh word, like "dear".) Which line from it is a simile?

- **1.** Wild waves washed the windy wall. — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The waves rolled in like grey horses. — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The waves were grey horses tonight. — no support
- **4.** The waves whispered to the sand. — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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Ella's poem has twenty similes in eight lines. What would a teacher most likely say?

- **1.** Add twenty more to make it really strong — score 7
- **2.** Brilliant, the more similes the better — **← Mova's choice** · score 9
- **3.** Swap every one of them for a cliché — no support
- **4.** Keep the best few so each one stands out — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 2: «Every letter has a starting point and a direction. Isla starts her «d» at the bottom and pushes up; her teacher says «start at the top». Many letters, a, d, g,…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+6); the same doer «teacher» (+3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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Which pair is matched correctly?

- **1.** buzz: simile; "heart of gold": personification — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** buzz: metaphor; "heart of gold": onomatopoeia — no support
- **3.** buzz: alliteration; "heart of gold": simile — no support
- **4.** buzz: onomatopoeia; "heart of gold": metaphor — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · right ✓ {#t10}

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In "The moon smiled down on the silver sea", which devices are used?

- **1.** Personification and alliteration — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** A simile, and no other device at all — no support
- **3.** A simile and onomatopoeia — no support
- **4.** Onomatopoeia and nothing else — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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"The leaves danced like dizzy dancers." Which of simile, personification and alliteration does it use?

- **1.** The simile and alliteration, not personification — score 7
- **2.** All three of them — **✓ the right answer** · score 9
- **3.** Only the alliteration — score 7
- **4.** Only the simile — **← Mova's choice** · score 10

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 25, line 7: «A simile compares two things using «like» or «as»: lonely as a cloud.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «simile» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 9. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Identify the literary device whereby two dissimilar entities are compared through the explicit use of the words "like" or "as".

- **1.** The simile — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The metaphor — no support
- **3.** Alliteration — no support
- **4.** Personification — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓ {#e2}

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Select the response that most accurately characterises the line "The city is a beast at night."

- **1.** A metaphor, not intended literally — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7
- **2.** An instance of onomatopoeia — no support
- **3.** A simile, owing to its comparison — no support
- **4.** A literal statement of fact — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 46, line 7: «A metaphor says one thing is another for effect, such as "The city is a beast at night"; it is not meant literally, and it is not a lie.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+5); the same property (+3). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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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.

- **1.** Onomatopoeia — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The extended simile — no support
- **3.** Personification — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Alliteration — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Ascertain which of the following constitutes onomatopoeia rather than alliteration.

- **1.** Big brown bear — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Crooked crag — no support
- **3.** Slithering snakes slide — no support
- **4.** Buzz — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/e4/)

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- ← previous: [45. Poetry: rhyme and rhythm](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/45-poetry-rhyme-and-rhythm/)
- next →: [47. Poetry forms: haiku, limerick, kenning, acrostic…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/47-poetry-forms-haiku-limerick-kenning-acrostic-performing/)
- ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/)