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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Key Examples in Paul’s Case
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Worse than Jail:
Paul is a boy—and, eventually, a young man—who is prone to extremes. He acts in ways that those around him would call pathological. He dresses outlandishly and, perhaps most importantly within the medium of literature, he is prone to extreme, emphatic, and emotional statements. One such hyperbolic statement follows, in which Paul laments what he considers the abject horror of returning to Cordelia Street:
It was to be worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever. The gray monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years; Sabbath school, Young People's Meeting, the yellow-papered room, the damp dishtowels; it all rushed back upon him with a sickening vividness.
