Think about a time when you exaggerated something to make a point, tell a story, or get someone's attention. What happened? What did you say? Why did you exaggerate? Looking back, do you think your exaggeration made your message more effective? Explain.

I participated in rigorous physical training sessions involving the sport of lacrosse and experienced physical exhaustion at some point during this exercise. When requested by the coach to complete another lap, I over-exaggerated physically when I said that my legs would drop off. The use of hyperbole was necessary in this case because the conventional method of conveying physical exhaustion failed. At this point, it can be safe to say that the use of hyperbole here was for humor rather than persuasion.

Today in class, we learned about figures of speech called hyperbole and understatement. I learned that hyperbole is a form of exaggeration used to make a point, while understatement reduces the impact of a statement. After learning about these figures of speech, we were able to write our own.

Understanding rhetorical devices will help me recognize persuasive techniques and improve my communication skills in future writing and analysis.


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