Reading a Short Serbian Lyric and Its Figurative Language
A candidate receives a short anonymous Serbian lyric in the entrance exam (paraphrased here so no published text is reproduced): the speaker says the dawn 'washes the rooftops with cold silver' and that 'my word walks barefoot through the town.' The examiner asks three things: to identify the dominant figures of speech, to explain how the imagery shifts from the first clause to the second, and to decide whether the tone is more likely celebratory or elegiac, given only the internal evidence. The candidate is warned that there is no single memorized answer; credit depends on matching claims to textual evidence. The lyric is untitled and the poet is not identified.
1. Identify the dominant figures of speech and support each with a specific phrase from the setup.
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Personification / metaphor: 'the dawn was washing the rooftops' gives the dawn a human action (washing). 'Cold silver' is a metaphor for early light, treating light as a metal.
Personification in the second clause: 'my word walks barefoot' gives the word a body and motion; 'barefoot' implies vulnerability and exposure.
Support rule: every figure must be tied to a quoted phrase, not asserted generally. A strong answer names the figure, quotes the phrase, and states the effect (e.g., 'barefoot' makes the word seem unprotected among people).
2. Explain the shift in imagery and judge whether the tone is celebratory or elegiac. Justify from the text alone.
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Shift. The first clause is visual and external (sky, rooftops, cold metal light) - an impersonal scene. The second clause is internal and bodily ('my word walks barefoot'), moving from landscape to the speaker's own utterance.
Judgement on tone. The evidence points more toward elegiac/guarded than celebratory: 'cold silver' carries chill and distance, and 'barefoot' suggests exposure and risk rather than triumph. A celebratory reading would need warmer or more exultant diction, which the text does not supply.
Reasoning standard. The answer must concede that tone is inferred and must anchor the inference in at least two quoted details; a defensible answer states what evidence would have changed the verdict.