Every person has at least once encountered the concept of hyperbole in literature. But not everyone knows what this term means.

Hyperbole is a stylistic device used in literature

to exaggerate any action,
to create a stronger impression on readers.

This stylistic device is used by many modern writers and authors.

What is the difference between hyperbole and other literary devices?

Hyperbole also has similarities with other stylistic devices, such as

metaphor,
grotesque,
comparison.

Nevertheless, these linguistic means have differences. For example, grotesque is one of the types

artistic imagery,
contrast between reality and fantasy,
ugliness and beauty,

which helps create a comical image.

To compare objects or phenomena, the following techniques are used:

metaphor,
comparison.

Hyperbole in literature is also a means of comparison, but in a more exaggerated format. For example:

ears like an elephant,
legs like a giraffe
neck like an ostrich
it was explained to him a million times, etc.

Hyperbole in literature also has an opposite technique, which also compares phenomena, but in a diminutive direction. It's called litotes. Example:

within easy reach,
Tom Thumb.

The reason for hyperbole

It's hard to imagine that the need for extreme exaggeration dates back to ancient times. People's judgments modern society are strikingly different from the worldview of ancient people, who had completely fantastic ideas about the world. In those distant times, people could not have a clear understanding of what fiction and reality are. The earliest people endowed with magical powers those phenomena that could not be explained. They were afraid of such phenomena. As a result, they began to appear

Gratitude,
astonishment,
admiration,
exaggeration.

Use of hyperbole in modern and classical literature

Without the use of literary techniques, the work will be insipid, boring and uninteresting. Therefore, all authors use them in their works. The basis for the use of hyperbole in literature is the interaction of expansive and naturally following meanings of the same phrases.

this news has already been told a million times (the number is being exaggerated);
they had a huge fight (the quality was affected);
he left her alone and there was no more peace for her (emotions involved).

“Hyperbole is very easy to confuse with similar devices such as metaphor and simile. Their task also consists of comparing objects and phenomena. But we must always remember that if there is any exaggeration in the comparison, then this is hyperbole.”

If you say that he has ears like an elephant, then you can see that this is a comparison. But if you analyze, you can understand that this is an exaggeration, that such a comparison was used in figuratively, since human ears can't be that big. Therefore, this comparison is a hyperbole.

This technique is used for

giving expressiveness to a sentence,
significance, significance
to focus the reader's attention on it.

In Russian literature, Russian classics willingly used this technique

A.S. Griboyedov,
A.N. Ostrovsky,
N.V. Gogol,
L.N. Tolstoy.

Epic stories are also full of hyperboles. In poetry, hyperbole is most often used in conjunction with other techniques.

“Modern realities without the use of hyperbole will be absolutely meaningless. Therefore, their use can be found in almost all speech communications. If you think about television advertisements, most of them use hyperbolic technique.”

Video: Japanese advertising

Hyperbole is an exaggeration. We meet her, as in colloquial speech, and in literary.

Hyperbole is designed to enhance the expressiveness of a statement in order to show its special significance.

Mayakovsky greatly favored this technique.

Let's give another example:

Hyperbole is used to create brightness of the text and is mainly needed to give expressiveness to the text. Hyperbole deliberately greatly exaggerates an idea or subject that it looks almost beyond the reality. Hyperbole should be used appropriately and in the topic.

Hyperbole (in literature) is a certain literary device, the meaning of which is a figurative exaggeration of a particular action as a whole. For example: I have already said this a thousand and one times, that is, there is excessive exaggeration in this sentence, since a normal person will not repeat any word or expression a thousand times.

Hyperbole is a stylistic figure of obvious and deliberate exaggeration in order to enhance expressiveness and emphasize what is being said.

Hyperbole is an exaggeration in a text. With the help of hyperbole, the author enhances the necessary impression, emphasizes what he glorifies or ridicules.

I'll tell you a hundred times spoke!

Hyperbole, including in literature, is an exaggeration of any property or quality. For example, in literature there is such an expression as dark, even if you poke your eyes out. This is precisely hyperbole.

Hyperbole means exaggeration. This is the name of a literary device, the essence of which is the deliberate exaggeration of the qualities or properties of the described object or character in order to enhance the impression of the reader. For example, Gogol’s famous “rare bird will fly to the middle of the Dnieper” is a hyperbole. It is clear that any bird can fly to the middle of the Dnieper, but Gogol’s technique emphasizes the greatness and power of the river.

I personally believe that the use of hyperbole in literature and especially literature for children is simply necessary. Otherwise it will be boring to read. And some works simply would not have been born. In many works this is simply necessary to emphasize the strength and scale of the actions.

Hyperbole is an exaggeration (to put it simply). Writers use this technique to better express emotions, to enhance the impression.

Example of hyperbole (exaggeration):

I've already said this a million times!

You can often find this technique in folk art(for example, in epics and fairy tales).

The concept of hyperbole in literature means exaggeration of various kinds. Many, if not all, works contain at least some exaggeration. An example of a hyperbole would be:

The dog was the size of a huge tower.

Hyperbole is an exaggeration. For example, Ilya Muromets, fighting with enemies, defeated the entire enemy army. One person cannot do this. This means the author used hyperbole. Hyperbole is used to interest the reader, enhance the expressiveness of the text, and to emphasize certain details.

Word hyperbola came into Russian from Greek (hyperbole) and in the source language means exaggeration. In linguistics term hyperbole called excessive exaggeration of the properties and qualities of any object or phenomenon to create a bright expressive image. For example: we’ve known each other for a hundred years, there are rivers of blood, I’ve been waiting forever, she’s always late, she’s told me a hundred times, etc.

Examples of hyperbole from fiction:

In the Russian language there are a number of words that, despite the same spelling and pronunciation, carry completely different meanings. This assertion boldly applies to the mathematical-linguistic concept of “hyperbole,” which is present in such unrelated areas as mathematics and literature. Let's take a closer look at it.

What is hyperbole in literature?

The term “hyperbole” is translated from Greek as “exaggeration”. Modern definition The concept states that hyperbole is a stylistic device of figurative expression, which is based on the exaggeration of any phenomenon, action or object.

This stylistic figure has become widespread in works of art in order to enhance the impressions of the description, including folk poetry, ditties.
The object of exaggeration can be phenomena, events, objects, force, feelings.
An effective form can both idealize the object and carry a derogatory message.
Hyperbole is a figurative expression, so you should not take literally the meaning of the phrase in which it is found.

Hyperbole should not be confused with another allegorical term - metaphor. Characteristic feature the first is always exaggeration.

Example

“His feet were huge, like skis.”

A quick assessment of the phrase may seem to suggest that we're talking about about a metaphor, but it is not so. After assessing the actual dimensions of the skis, it becomes clear that there is a hyperbole.

What is a hyperbole in mathematics?

The mathematical term “hyperbola” characterizes a set of points on a plane, the absolute value of the difference in distances from which to the foci is a constant value. These points form a curve related to the number of canonical sections. The concept of “hyperbole” was first introduced by a mathematician Ancient Greece Apollonius of Perga in the 200s BC.

Moving to the Cartesian coordinate system, we take an arbitrary point on the curve - t. L(x,y) and define the foci of the hyperbola through t. A 1 (-c,0), etc. A 2 (c,0). Then the definition of a hyperbola can be represented as the expression ∣ |A 1 L| – |A 2 L|∣ = 2a , where a is the real semiaxis of the hyperbola. In this case, condition 2a is mandatory< 2c.

Translating the notation of this expression into coordinate form and getting rid of irrationality, we get √ (x + c )² + y ² −√ (x − c )² + y ² = ± 2 a ⇒ k the anonical expression of a figure such as a hyperbola represents the equation x 2 / a 2 – y 2 / b 2 = 1, where the lines a and b are the lengths of the real and imaginary semi-axes.

If a = b, you have an equilateral hyperbola.
A characteristic feature of a hyperbola is the presence of two identical (symmetrical) curves.
The tangents to which the hyperbola rushes but never reaches them are called asymptotes.
The optical property of a hyperbola is that a ray released from one focus continues its movement as if it had come from another focus.

October 15, 2017

Literature is rich in means artistic expression that help authors in the best possible way convey your idea to the reader. Thus, when studying the works of classics, students look for epithets, comparisons, personifications in them and try to figure out why the writer used this or that technique. To the number artistic means hyperbole also applies, which we will consider.

Definition

Let's consider what a hyperbole is, examples of which will be given below. This is special artistic technique, deliberate exaggeration to achieve the effect desired by the author. The term is very ancient; the technique began to be used in antiquity. Hyperboles are used to express language means: words, combinations of words and sentences.

The simplest examples

Hyperbole is widely used in Russian. Examples will show that we often use this technique without even paying attention. For example, the words “I’ve already told you a thousand times!” IN in this case“a thousand times” is an exaggeration, because the author of the statement, firstly, is unlikely to have said anything so many times. Secondly, she did not count the number of her repetitions. Another example of hyperbole in Russian: “We haven’t seen each other for a hundred years.” Here we are talking about the fact that people have not met for a long period of time, but certainly not for a hundred years.

By saying that he has a million problems, a person will emphasize that he now has a bad streak in his life, and there is no talk of a clear quantitative description of the problems. There are many similar examples:

“There are a hundred reasons why I still strive to get an education.”
“Grandfather has a thousand ailments, but he still works in the garden.”
“You won’t believe it, yesterday I saw such a big man. Not a man, but an elephant." Here the hyperbole is combined with an element of comparison. A person is like an elephant in terms of weight.
“Sit, work, you’ll earn a million!” There is clearly irony in this example. The speaker greatly exaggerates the earning potential of his opponent and mockingly makes fun of him.
“Are you saying Masha didn’t go to college? Yes, everyone knows this!” The example presents a lexical hyperbole; exaggeration is achieved through the phrase “known to everyone.” It is clear that this is not so, because residents of another city may not know about Masha’s problems, and they are not interested in them.

Often, without paying attention, we use hyperbole. The examples in Russian given above illustrate this idea.

Video on the topic

Varieties

There are several types of hyperboles in Russian:

Lexical. Exaggeration is achieved by using the words “completely”, “all”, “absolutely”. For example, a completely useless person, everyone has known this for a long time.
Metaphorical. This is a memorable comparison. For example, the forest of hands, golden mountains.
Phraseological. Using stable combinations of words. For example, a goat understands.
Quantitative. Using numerals: a million things to do, thousands of ideas.

All these types of exaggerations can be used by native speakers unconsciously, without being perceived as an artistic and stylistic device.

Modern options

Young people often use hyperbole in their speech. There are many examples in Russian:

“We’ve already gone through this 100,500 times! Is it really difficult to remember?
“We still have a carriage and a small cart of time, we’ll do everything.”

Such statements allow you to make your speech more figurative and expressive.

From works of art

Writers often use hyperbole. Examples from the literature are quite varied. So, Pushkin very often turned to this technique: “All the flags will come to visit us.”

Yesenin, when creating the image of Rus', used exaggeration: “There is no end in sight, only the blue is sucking the eyes.”

There are hyperboles in Mayakovsky's lyrics:

“In battle I glorify millions, I see millions, I sing millions.”
The poem "Cloud in Pants" ends very in an interesting way, based on the technique of exaggeration: “Hey, you! Sky! Hats off! I'm coming! This helps the poet express the strength and power of the human personality.
Often the poet exaggerates the size of the human body, creating a capacious and sharp satirical image: “Two arshins of faceless pink dough, head in Kazbek, stomach in the ditch.”

There are several interesting examples hyperbole in Russian, when exaggeration concerns inanimate objects: baobabs to the skies, a kilometer-long sting.

Often, for the effect of exaggeration, the poet uses words in a figurative sense: lump, carcass. Or combinations of words that individually do not have a similar property, but put together create hyperbolization: glasses are bicycles, eyes are two meadows.

An example of hyperbole from literature can be found in the works of other writers: “harem pants, the width of the Black Sea” (Gogol), “we spent four years preparing our escape, we saved three tons of grub” (Vysotsky).

We looked at what hyperbole is and examples of its use by wordsmiths. This technique makes it possible to make the writers’ speech figurative and more expressive, to draw the reader’s attention to any property or feature of the described object or person. Also, it was deliberate exaggeration that often helped the author express his attitude to what was happening.

The meaning of the word HYPERBOLE in the Literary Encyclopedia

HYPERBOLA

[Greek - ??????????] - a stylistic figure of obvious and deliberate exaggeration, aimed at enhancing expressiveness, for example. "I've said this a thousand times." Hyperbole is often combined with other stylistic devices, giving them an appropriate coloring: hyperbolic comparisons, metaphors, etc. (“the waves rose like mountains”). The character or situation portrayed may also be hyperbolic. G. is also characteristic of the rhetorical, oratorical style, as a means of pathetic elation, as well as

538 romantic style, where pathos meets irony. Of the Russian authors, Gogol is especially inclined to G., of the newest poets - Mayakovsky (see “Stylists”).

Literary encyclopedia. 2012