Question

"Shimmering snow on the southern slope of the Simla hills," is an example of:

• A. Oxymoron
• B. Allegory
• C. Onomatopoeia
• D. Alliteration

Hint:

To spot alliteration, read the line aloud and listen for repeated sounds at the beginning of words. Famous examples like "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" make the concept easy to remember.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks to identify the figure of speech used in the given phrase. Let's define the options: \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines contradictory words or ideas (e.g., "living dead").} \\ \bullet & \text{Allegory: A story or narrative with a hidden symbolic meaning.} \\ \bullet & \text{Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate the sound they describe (e.g., "buzz," "hiss").} \\ \bullet & \text{Alliteration: The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words.} \\ \end{array}\]

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's analyze the given phrase: "Shimmering snow on the southern slope of the Simla hills." \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{We can observe the repetition of the 's' sound at the beginning of several words placed close together: Shimmering, snow, southern, slope, Simla.} \\ \bullet & \text{This repetition of an initial consonant sound is the definition of alliteration.} \\ \bullet & \text{The phrase does not contain contradictory terms (not an oxymoron), a hidden story (not an allegory), or words that imitate sounds (not onomatopoeia).} \\ \end{array}\]

Step 3: Final Answer:
The phrase is a clear example of alliteration. Therefore, option (D) is the correct answer.