The Synecdoche Borderline: Moderating a 10-Mark Figures-of-Speech Item
You are chief examiner for a 60-script mock examination in an introductory literary-terms module. Question 4, worth 10 marks, asks candidates to “identify and explain two figures of speech” in this sentence: “The factory floor went silent when the Crown sent its letter; the pen had finally beaten the sword.” The mark scheme awards 2 marks for each correct identification and 3 marks for each explanation of effect. In the moderation sample, three scripts disagree. Script A calls “the Crown” personification and “the factory floor” synecdoche. Script B calls “the Crown” metonymy and “the factory floor” metonymy. Script C calls “the pen had finally beaten the sword” a metaphor and denies that any metonymy is present. Two markers have already awarded different totals, and you have a 20-minute moderation window before marks are released. You must settle which labels are defensible, which are errors, and how to award effect marks when a candidate’s label is wrong but the explanation is perceptive.
1. Which labels should be accepted for “the Crown” and “the factory floor,” and why? Distinguish metonymy, synecdoche, and personification using these examples.
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Accept metonymy for both “the Crown” and “the factory floor”; reject personification for “the Crown” and treat “factory floor” as a borderline case, not a clear synecdoche.
Metonymy substitutes an entity associated with the thing meant: the crown stands for the monarchy or state, and the factory floor stands for the workers gathered there. Personification would require attributing a human action or feeling to the Crown as an object (“the Crown wept”); here “sent its letter” is an institutional action, so it is not personification.
Synecdoche is a part–whole or whole–part relation (“hands” for workers, “wheels” for a car). “Factory floor” can be argued as a part of the building standing for its occupants, but the usual description is place-for-people metonymy. Award 2 marks for metonymy. Award 2 marks for a clearly argued synecdoche only if the candidate explains the part–whole logic, and do not double-award both labels for the same phrase.
2. How should Script C’s claim that “the pen had finally beaten the sword” is a metaphor be handled? Set out the marking decision and a defensible rationale.
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“The pen had finally beaten the sword” is best read as metonymy: pen stands for writing, diplomacy, or law; sword for armed force. The sentence says one associated instrument defeated another. It can also be read as a compressed metaphor if the candidate supplies tenor and vehicle - for example, “the pen” = reasoned persuasion and “beating” = prevailing over - but the metaphor reading is weaker if the candidate merely calls it a metaphor without explaining the transferred predication.
Script C should not receive the full 2 identification marks for “metaphor” alone. Award 1 if the response shows awareness of figurative substitution, and award the 3 effect marks if it explains the implied contrast between civil and military power. Record “metonymy with metaphorical implication” as the model reading, and tell markers that a candidate may earn effect marks for explaining the contrast even when the label is imperfect.
3. A marker asks whether to award full effect marks to a candidate who mislabels a figure but explains its rhetorical work accurately. Recommend a policy.
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Award identification and effect marks independently, but do not make effect marks automatic. Identification is 2 marks: the candidate must name a defensible device. Effect is 3 marks: the candidate must explain how the device shapes meaning, tone, or argument in this sentence.
A candidate who writes “personification: the Crown is treated as a person who can send a letter, which makes the state feel like a single powerful actor” has mislabelled the device but has noticed the institutional agency. Award 1 identification mark at most, then award effect marks for the explanation if it is accurate about the rhetorical work. Do not cap the effect marks simply because the label is wrong; cap only when the explanation depends on the wrong label. The marker should annotate “label: X; effect: credited independently” so that moderation is transparent.