Question

Which figure of speech is used in this text?

So we beat on . . . borne back ceaselessly into the past.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

(1 point)
Responses

onomatopoeia
onomatopoeia

personification
personification

alliteration
alliteration

simile
simile

Answer 1

The figure of speech used in the text is **personification**. In this phrase, the concept of being "borne back" suggests that time and the past have a force or agency that actively pulls people back, which is a personification of abstract ideas.