What does the word 'assonance' mean?
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Correct answer: B. Repetition of identical or similar vowels
Explanation
Assonance is the echoing of vowel sounds; consonant echoes are consonance and alliteration.
Note: Passage II is from Christopher Caudwell, Illusion and Reality (1937), which is copyrighted and not reproduced. Caudwell argues that poetry, through rhyme, metre and inversion, distorts the structure of external reality to exalt 'the structure of the self', drawing attention to its own language. The novel instead 'blots out external reality by substituting a more or less consistent mock reality' of people and scenes; its emotions attach to that world, so rhythm, 'preciousness' and style are alien to it, and novels translate well.
More Reading Comprehension questions
- What does Caudwell imply by 'The novel blots out external reality by substituting a more or less consistent mock reality'?
- What is meant by 'mock reality' in the passage?
- If rhythm, 'preciousness' and style are alien to the novel, in which genre are they distinctive features?
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- Which expression is closest to the meaning of 'fervid'?
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