A hyperbole is an exaggeration of the truth, usually meant to be humorous or funny. The sentence, "I can eat a million ice cream cones", is an exaggeration of the true fact that the speaker likes ice cream cones.
Writers and poets use hyperbole to get a point across or to be funny.
Read the two stanzas below from the poem, "No Difference", by Shel Silverstein and see if you could identify the hyperboles.
Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn out the light.
Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn out the light.
Silverstein is using hyperbole to exaggerate people's size and wealth to be humorous and to make a point.
Read the following excerpt from the tall tale, The Growin' of Paul Bunyan by William J. Booke. Write all of the examples of hyperbole that you can find in these paragraphs on a separate sheet of paper. You will earn one sticker for each hyperbole you correctly identify.
The hardest thing for ole Paul about gettin' started in the mornin' was puttin' on his boots. It wasn't so much the lacin' up that got him down (although when your bootlaces are exactly 8,621 feet an' four an' three quarters inches long, an' each one has to be special ordered from the Suwanee Steamship Cable Company in New York City, an' if because you're strong as ole Paul you tend to snap about two laces a week as a rule, then just tyin' your boots can be a bit of an irritation, too).
No, the hardest part o' puttin' on his boots was makin' sure he was the only one in 'em. Because, you see, they was so big an' warm that all the critters liked to homestead in 'em. So he'd have to shake 'em for nine or ten minutes just to get out the ordinary rattlesnakes an' polecats. Then he'd reach in an' feel around real careful for mountain lions an' wolf packs an' the occasional caribou migration. Fin'ly he'd wave his hand around real good to see if any hawks or eagles was huntin' game down around the instep. Then he could start the chore o' lacin'.
