“Into the dark woods ran the boy” is an example of?

• A. Inversion
• B. Alliteration
• C. Hyperbole
• D. Metaphor

Answer: (A)

Inversion. By starting with the prepositional phrase “Into the dark woods,” the usual order of subject and verb is flipped: instead of the normal “The boy ran into the dark woods,” we get “Into the dark woods ran the boy.” This fronting of a phrase changes the sentence’s rhythm and places emphasis on the direction of the action, giving it a more dramatic feel and drawing attention to where he’s running.

This isn’t alliteration, which would be the repetition of initial consonant sounds (like “wild winds whisked away”). It isn’t hyperbole, which is an obvious exaggeration, nor a metaphor, which would make a direct comparison between two unlike things. The effect here is purely a stylistic reversal of the usual word order.