English Language Arts (ELA) 30-1 Diploma Practice Exam

Hyperbole is the use of extreme exaggeration for emphasis or humorous effect. It signals that the speaker isn’t stating a literal fact, but amplifying reality to make something feel much bigger or more dramatic. For example, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” isn’t meant to be taken literally; it just shows intense hunger in a playful, exaggerated way. Irony and verbal irony involve saying something opposite of what is meant rather than sheer amplification, while satire uses humor and critique to comment on broader issues, often employing irony and exaggeration among other tools. So when the goal is a deliberately over-the-top statement to emphasize a point, hyperbole is the right term.