Which figure of speech is shown by 'The White House announced the policy'?

• A. Metonymy
• B. Metaphor
• C. Apostrophe
• D. Personification

Answer: (A)

Metonymy is at work here: a thing is named by something closely connected to it. The White House isn’t literally speaking; the phrase uses the building’s name to stand for the president and his administration who are doing the announcing. That proximity and association—building = the presidency—make it metonymy.

It isn’t a metaphor, which would draw a direct, imaginative comparison rather than relying on real-world connections. It isn’t apostrophe, which would involve addressing the White House as if it could respond. It isn’t personification, which would give the building human traits or actions.