NSW HSC · HSC English

Language Features, Rhetoric and Writing Craft

20 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 20 questions

  1. Which sentence contains a metaphor?
  2. Which line is an example of alliteration?
  3. Which sentence is an appeal to ethos?
  4. A writer places a luxury shopping centre beside a tent city of homeless people. This technique is called:
  5. It is pouring with rain and a cold wind is blowing. A character says, "What lovely weather for a picnic!" This is an example of:
  6. In a story about a girl who feels trapped at home, a bird beats its wings against the bars of a cage. The cage is best described as:
  7. A narrator describes dark clouds gathering and an unusual silence as a family begins a boat trip. This technique is likely to be:
  8. What is the difference between the tone and the mood of a text?
  9. Which sentence best analyses the line "her laughter was a bell cracked long ago"?
  10. A student writes: "The repeated use of 'never' in the speech builds a sense of defiance." What is the strongest way to extend this analysis?
  11. Which statement about the purpose of a text is the most precise?
  12. The Common Module in HSC English, Texts and Human Experiences, asks students to explore:
  13. Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly?
  14. Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly to show that several students own the books?
  15. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  16. A speaker says, "We must protect our beaches, because they belong to all of us." The use of we, our and us is an example of:
  17. A story opens with a woman running from a burning building. It then goes back three days to show how the fire started. The structure is best described as:
  18. A writer proposes in a calm, serious tone that the council should solve litter by charging people a fee for every breath they take near a bin. The writer's real aim is to criticise how the council tre…
  19. The words slender and scrawny can both describe a thin person. How do they differ?
  20. Which sentence is written in the passive voice?

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