Source: Extra Practice

Which poetic device is prominently used in the lines: "Don't bite your nails, Amanda! / Don't hunch your shoulders, Amanda!"?

Options

Option A

Alliteration

Option B

Simile

Option C is correct

Anaphora

Option D

Personification

Explanation

Anaphora is a rhetorical device in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or lines. In the given lines, the repeated use of "Don't..." at the start of the mother's commands emphasizes the continuous nature of her nagging and creates a sense of rhythmic insistence, highlighting the constant restrictions Amanda faces. Alliteration involves the repetition of initial consonant sounds, simile involves comparison using 'like' or 'as', and personification gives human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas, none of which are the dominant device here.