Question

Which of the following literary techniques is used in this excerpt from Gwendolyn Brooks's poem, "The Truth"?

"Though we have wept for him,
Though we have prayed
All through the night-years-
What if we wake one shimmering morning to
Hear the fierce hammering
Of his firm knuckles
Hard on the door?
Shall we not shudder?
Shall we not flee
Into the shelter, the dear thick shelter
Of the familiar
Propitious haze?"
allusion
irony
dystopia
hyperbole

Answer 1

Irony

Step-by-step explanation:

Irony is a literary device where what was expected to happen differs from what actually happens. This device was used by Gwendolyn Brooks in this poem above because even though it was expected that people had longed for the truth and were expected to embrace it when faced with it, the opposite seemed to be the case for they ran away from the truth. This can be further narrowed down to Situational Irony because what was expected to be the case was actually not what happened.