Which language technique is utilized in the following?

"It is with eloquence as with a flame; it requires fuel to feed it, motion to excite it, and it brightens as it burns" —Tacitus, as paraphrased by William Pitt the Younger

Question

Which language technique is utilized in the following?

"It is with eloquence as with a flame; it requires fuel to feed it, motion to excite it, and it brightens as it burns" —Tacitus, as paraphrased by William Pitt the Younger

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

A simile explicitly compares two different things using connecting words such as "like" or "as," so the line "eloquence as with a flame" clearly signals a simile.

Relevant knowledge points and concepts:
- Simile: an explicit comparison using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities between two distinct things.
- Metaphor: an implicit comparison that states one thing is another without "like" or "as."
- Other devices listed (anaphora, antithesis, onomatopoeia, alliteration, synecdoche, metonymy) have distinct features: repetition of openings (anaphora), oppositional contrast (antithesis), sound-imitating words (onomatopoeia), repeated initial consonant sounds (alliteration), part-for-whole substitution (synecdoche), and replacement by a related term (metonymy).

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. Identify the comparison: The passage compares "eloquence" to "a flame."
2. Look for the explicit comparative marker: The phrase uses "as" — "It is with eloquence as with a flame" — which is one of the standard markers of a simile.
3. Examine the structure: The sentence lists parallel attributes of eloquence and flame ("requires fuel to feed it, motion to excite it, and it brightens as it burns"), reinforcing a direct analogy rather than asserting they are identical.
4. Check alternatives: Because the comparison is explicit and uses "as," it cannot be a metaphor (which would say "eloquence is a flame" without "as" or "like"). It also does not exhibit repetition of opening words (anaphora), contrastive opposites (antithesis), sound imitation (onomatopoeia), systematic initial-sound repetition (alliteration is minor and incidental here), or any part-for-whole or related-term substitution (synecdoche/metonymy).

Why the correct answer is correct:
The presence of "as" and the clear, direct comparison between eloquence and a flame match the definition of simile exactly. The passage explicitly draws parallels (fuel, motion, brightening) to illuminate the shared qualities.

Other options are incorrect for the reasons above. Therefore, the correct answer is Simile, which matches the provided answer.

Which language technique is utilized in the following? "It is with eloquence as with a flame; it requires fuel to feed it, motion to excite it, and it brightens as it burns" —Tacitus, as paraphrased by William Pitt the Younger单项选择题

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