hyperbole

hyperbole-A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.(The literal Greek meaning is "overshoot.")Hyperboles often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often, a hyperbole produces irony. The opposite of hyperbole is //understatement//.

__Pronunciation:__ hI-'p&r-b&-(")lE [|link to listen]

__Example:__ "The skin on her face was as thin and drawn as tight as the skin of onion and her eyes were gray and sharp like the points of two picks" —Flannery O’Connor, "Parker’s Back"



This particular quote compares the skin on a girl’s face to an onion, in a very vivid manner, so that we can almost visually see her face as the onion. This is definitely an exaggeration, as the girl’s face is made of human flesh, but this description was used for dramatic affect.

//Sources://

"Mrs. Dowling's Literature Terms." Dowling Central. 14 Jan. 1998. Dowling Central. 25 Sept. 2007 .

"Merrian-Webster Dictionary." __Merrian-Webster Dictionary__. 2007. Merrian-Webster Dictionary. 25 Sept. 2007 .

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