Due Wednesday 7/13
For EACH rhetorical device, please post:
1. Two examples of the device in use in the world (ideally, one you witnessed in real life or made up yourself. Try not to just Google examples)
2. Any relevant context for understanding the sentence (you may not need to write anything for this part if it’s clear on its own)
3. An analysis of what the device ADDS to the speaker’s message.
For example: I COULD say “I have a lot of work to do tonight.” OR I could use hyperbole and say “I have a mountain of work to do” OR I could use understatement and say “I have a bit of work I need to do tonight.” Why might I choose hyperbole or understatement instead of the straightforward way of saying it? What does it add or take away from what I’m expressing?
Do NOT just explain to me why your examples are hyperbole or understatement. That is not useful to either of us — we both know they are, and the goal isn’t to prove that you know the definition. The goal is to show understanding of WHY someone might use the device in a particular situation and WHAT they might be trying to achieve with it.
So: you should have FOUR examples + analysis total this week.
Reminder: If you are doing your presentation on a set of devices, you do not have to do the examples + analysis for those devices.
“I’ve told you this a million times already.” This is an example of a hyperbole I didn’t literally say it a million times, I’m just exaggerating the amount of times I repeated myself.
In Justin Timberlakes song ‘Cry Me a River’ he uses this hyperbole sarcastically. You can’t literally cry a river but saying this is emphasizing his disregard for her feelings after she did him wrong. In this case the hyperbole also conveys this feeling of apathy towards the girls feelings.
Me saying that calculus was quite difficult is an understatement because it was really hard to me. I’m making it seem like it was less complex than it actually was, making it an understatement. This can act as sarcasm and humor to emphasize my bitter relationship with calculus.
When people say “oh it’s just a little scratch” when they’re literally leaking blood from a wound and might need surgery. This is an understatement because it’s making the wound seem less extreme than it actually is. This can be used to add humor.
Hyperbole:
“It was raining cats and dogs” – It means the weather was bad such as it was raining very hard
“I was crying a river” – the person was very sad/depressed over an event or something that occurred
Understatement:
“The school isn’t as far as it seems”- meaning the school is very far and requires too much hours on transportation to get home
“The shot won’t hurt as much as it seems” – depending on how a person takes a shot is how they will feel about it
Analysis:
When using Hyperbole and Understatement it’s a form of expressing yourself as an individual such as saying what you feel about something but not making it obvious. As individuals there are many different types of ways to communicate with someone.
Hyperbole-
“I love you to the moon and back”- The person it’s letting the other person know that they love them a lot.
“This plane literally took forever”- It’s just saying that the plane ride was very long.
Understatement-
” Is just a few stairs”- There’s a lot of stairs.
“She’s having a laugh”- The person does not find this funny.
Analysis: Understatement can be understood as the opposite of hyperbole. Is like if you are deliberating, exaggerating, they are just other ways of saying hyperbole.
Hyperbole:
“It is so hot, I could melt in a second”- The person is very hot.
“The young man broke his neck trying to get a glance at me”- The person was looking back
Understatement:
“Just a few more days until the weekend”- This is what a person tells themselves on a Monday morning
“We’re almost there honey”- A mother telling her five year old child they are almost at their destination despite them being two hour away.
Analysis:
Hyperbole and understatement are used in our everyday life. People use hyperbole to be dramatic over something so little while others use understatement to minimize a situation.
Hyperbole :
“ i’m dying from boredom”- it’s a bit of an exaggeration which man can relate sometimes.
“My feet are killing me” – the person walked a long distance
Understatement:
“yeahh i did well on that test”- the person didn’t study at all and failed it completely.
“We have food in the house” – they have no food in the house
Analysis: people use hyperbole and understatement all the time. You can exaggerate something to make it seem more tense and understatement can be used to make something less intense that it really is.
Hyperbole:
“Dying of laughter”- A way to exaggerate a message of you not really dying but a way to emphasis you laughing really hard.
“This homework is going to take years” – We know its really not going to take years just to complete assignments but its a way to be dramatic and a way to just say that the assignment is long.
Understatement:
“Its only a small scratch”- In reality there was more then a scratch but they use small scratch to not make it seem like they did anything bad.
“Its a bit warm” – When you’re really sweating bullets because its hot but you saying its a bit warm is creating a big understatement when you are really hot.
I forgot to add this part
Analysis:
Hyperbole is a way to exaggerate a sentence when you speak or write and it really helps create a imagine that yes even though it might not be raining cat and dogs but its a way to describe heavy rain in a different form.
Understatement is when you know something is really bad and you make less then it seem and it can be use when you are telling a intense story and you make it less intense to not get a intense response from the reader.
Hyperbole- The weather is so cold that I would turn into a ice cube. This means that the weather is so cold.
Hyperbole- I feel so tired that my body would fall off. This means that you are very tired.
Understatement- We shouldnt have a long way to walk. This means that there is a far distance.
Understatement- The bruise isnt that big. This is an understaement that the bruise is bigger.
Hyperbole: “My feet are killing me” this term is used when you had walked a lot and your feet hurt lot that it hurts to walk. Another example of hyperbole is ” Cry me a river”- this term is used as an exaggeration when someone is crying excessively in front of you.
Understatement: “it rained a little more than usual” – describing the area flooded because of how heavy the rain was. Another example, “2020 was not the best year and also not the worst year- describing how it was both good and bad.