Week 7 Quiz

In Kennedy's inaugural address, the line "ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country" is the course's example of which device?

Select one.

• Anaphora, because the sentence repeats the word "ask" twice
• Simile, because it compares what a country does with what a citizen does
• Antithesis, because it sets two contrasting ideas side by side in matching form
• Alliteration, because "country" and "can" begin with the same sound

Roosevelt's address to Congress (1941) includes "Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands." Which device do these sentences show?

Select one.

• Anaphora, because the same opening words start several sentences in a row
• Antithesis, because each sentence sets two opposite ideas against each other
• Metaphor, because the attacks are described as if they were something else
• Alliteration, because "forces" and "attacked" share an opening sound

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863) closes with "government of the people, by the people, for the people." Which device does "of the people, by the people, for the people" show?

Select one.

• Simile, because the people are compared with the government
• Antithesis, because "of" and "for" are opposite ideas
• Metaphor, because government is described as a person
• Parallelism, because three equal phrases share the same grammatical form

Which of these lines is a simile rather than a metaphor?

Select one.

• "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans" (Kennedy's inaugural address)
• "A due date sneaks up like a bus you thought was running late." (illustrative)
• "The new bridge is a ribbon of light across the river." (illustrative)
• "Our season is a rocket on the launch pad." (illustrative)

True or false: a speech that reads well as an essay will work equally well when the speaker reads it aloud to an audience.

True or false.

• True
• False

A draft of an informative talk says, "A lot of food gets wasted." Which killer of clarity does "a lot" show, and what is its cure?

Select one.

• Jargon; the cure is to define the term for listeners outside the field
• A long sentence; the cure is to split it into two shorter ones
• A vague quantifier; the cure is a sourced figure with its oral citation
• An abstract word; the cure is to replace it with a fancier word

Which features belong to oral style? Select all that apply.

Select every option that applies.

• Shorter sentences
• Deliberate repetition of key words
• First and second person, such as "you" and "we"
• Long sentences with several clauses before the main verb
• Abstract nouns such as "utilization" and "outcomes"

A speaker gives the same informative talk twice. For a nursing cohort, the speaker uses the phrase "medication reconciliation" without explaining it; for a robotics club, the speaker explains it in everyday words. Which part of appropriateness drives the change?

Select one.

• Fit to the audience, because one group shares the term and the other does not
• Fit to the topic, because the subject of the talk changed between the two versions
• Fit to the speaker, because the speaker's own voice changed between the two rooms
• No fit at all, because the course rule bans jargon in every speech

Why does an audience-centered speaker say "a student who uses a wheelchair" instead of "a wheelchair-bound student"?

Select one.

• Because a style rule forbids the other phrase, whatever the speaker intends
• Because it names the person first and describes the person accurately
• Because the shorter phrase is always the clearer phrase for a listener
• Because vivid language needs more words than plain language does

Asked to rewrite "There are many challenges faced by first-year college students when it comes to the management of their time and academic responsibilities" for speech, an illustrative chatbot returns "Numerous challenges are encountered by first-year college students in the effective management of their time and the fulfillment of their academic obligations." Which statement best describes the rewrite?

Select one.

• It is ready to deliver, because its grammar is clean and its vocabulary is more formal
• It is in oral style, because it removed the phrase "There are" from the opening
• It is vivid, because "fulfillment" and "obligations" are stronger words than the originals
• It is still written style: a longer sentence, no second person, and abstract words