Hyperbole Hyperbole Hyperbole (; , "huperbolḗ", from ("hupér", 'above') and ("bállō", 'I throw')) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally. Hyperbole may also be used for instances such as, exaggerations for emphasis or effect. Hyperboles are often used in casual speech as intensifiers, such as saying "the bag weighed a ton". Hyperbole makes the point that the
Rhetorical reason Rhetorical reason Rhetorical reason is the faculty of discovering the crux of the matter. It is a characteristic of rhetorical invention and it precedes argumentation. Aristotle's definition of rhetoric, "The faculty of observing, in any given case, the available means of persuasion", presupposes a distinction between an art (τέχνη, "techné") of speech–making and a cognitively prior faculty of discovery. That is so because, before one argues a case, one must discover what is at issue. How, for example, does one discover available means of persuasion? One does not simply frolic through fertile fields of τόποι ("topoi"), randomly gathering materials with