Which term describes addressing an absent person or abstract quality?

• A. Apostrophe
• B. Alliteration
• C. Assonance
• D. Figure of Speech

Answer: (A)

Apostrophe is the figure of speech where the speaker directly addresses someone who isn’t present or an abstract quality as if it could respond. You’ll hear it when a poet calls out to Death or to Liberty, as if these forces could hear and answer back. That direct addressing distinguishes apostrophe from devices like alliteration (repetition of initial consonants) or assonance (repetition of vowel sounds), and from the broader category of figure of speech. So, the term that best describes addressing an absent person or abstract quality is apostrophe.