Examples of Figure of Hyperbole – Consciously or not, Sinaumed’s must have used examples of figure of speech hyperbole in everyday life. For example, when you are working on a UAS in Indonesian and then say a sentence like this:
“My eyelids felt heavy, as if they were being pressed down with 50 kilograms of iron, while reading the UAS Indonesian assignment.”
If you think about it, that sentence sounds exaggerated, doesn’t it? But that’s what hyperbole is, exaggerating something. Even though you really don’t have to be exaggerated either, with a figure of speech you can convince your interlocutor.
For example, you can just choose the sentence “The Indonesian UAS question made you sleepy, didn’t you”. When compared to the first sentence, the second one feels normal and doesn’t really describe your situation.
In Indonesian lessons, there are many figures of speech that you can learn. Well, in this article you will study hyperbole in particular. Starting from the definition, characteristics, functions, to examples.
Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech that describes something exaggeratedly, even when the depiction doesn’t make much sense or is difficult to understand further. This is because the hyperbole figure of speech uses words that are not in accordance with reality. Even so, compared to other figures of speech, hyperbole is the most unique and interesting.
As explained by Yettik Wulandari in the book Collection of Indonesian Proverbs, Figures and Expressions.
This figure of speech is quite often used in everyday life, especially to attract attention and give a dramatic impression to readers or listeners. Therefore, not a few people think of it as an exaggerated figure of speech. Some say it is a beautiful figure of speech.
Gorys Keraf in his book Diction and Style of Language (2010) reveals that a figure of speech is a style of language that contains exaggerated statements by exaggerating something to make it appear dramatic.
From the past until now, both writers and poets have used hyperbole in literary works to beautify and convey messages in shorter language. More than that, depending on how it is used, figure of speech can also give a certain impression to the reader or listener.
Maybe Sinaumed’s has come across the phrase “never mind, don’t cry all the time, your room will flood with tears” in books, movies, or even in real life. This sentence is an example of hyperbole.
Why is that? Because no matter how great a person cries, his tears will not be enough to cause a flood. In other words, too much to be true.
Characteristics of Hyperbole
Just like any other figure of speech, hyperbole also has its own characteristics. With the help of these characteristics, it will be easier for Sinaumed’s to distinguish hyperbolic figures of speech from the others. Well, here’s an explanation.
1. Nonsense
The first characteristic of a hyperbole figure of speech is using language that doesn’t make sense. When you find words, phrases, or sentences that feel redundant or even difficult to make sense of, you can be sure that this is a hyperbole.
2. Exaggerating (exaggerated)
Yes, in KBBI, exaggeration means exaggeration, so this word is very appropriate to describe the figure of speech of hyperbole. After all, this one figure of speech often exaggerates something so that it seems bigger than it actually is. But, exaggeration here doesn’t only apply to the style of speaking or writing, huh. Not appearance or anything else.
3. Dramatic
Besides exaggeration, hyperbole is also often conveyed in a dramatic way. And this is closely related to the previous characteristics. And if you pay close attention, in fact, Sinaumed’s will find lots of hyperbolic figures of speech in everyday life.
4. Able to influence readers or listeners
The last feature of hyperbole is that it is able to have a big influence on the reader or listener. Usually, this influence will be followed by certain effects. Like sad, angry, annoyed, or something else.
Hyperbole Functions
Hyperbole is formed to fulfill certain functions. One of them is influencing the reader or interlocutor. For example, as used in poetry. Just imagine, what would happen if poetry used sentences that felt flat and heavy like scientific writing.
Does the poem make the reader feel sad or touched? Of course not, bro. If poetry only contains flat and heavy words and sentences, the message and feelings of the writer will not be properly captured by the readers
Figure of speech can indeed be a medium for writers, writers, and poets to convey an idea. With hyperbole, they can use language that is more aesthetic and interesting. Not only that, there are three other functions of the hyperbolic figure of speech, including:
1. To give a dramatic impression
Hyperbole is generally used in a literary work to give a dramatic impression. The main goal is to get the attention of other people and realize the interests of the creator of the literary work.
2. Embellish sentences
Writers, poets, or speakers often use hyperbole in their works to embellish sentences. This method is considered effective in giving a good impression on connoisseurs of literary works.
3. Give emotional emphasis
The last function is to give emotional emphasis to a sentence. In fact, readers or listeners tend to more easily feel sentences that have emotion. Perhaps, it can also display a certain imagination and impression.
Sinaumed’s can find hyperbolic figures of speech anywhere, from novels, film dialogue, advertisements, newspapers, or comics. To make it easier for you to understand this figure of speech, here are some examples of hyperbole and their explanations.
To understand the function of hyperbole further, Sinaumed’s can read the Complete Collection of Pantun & Majas Proverbs written by Ernawati Waridah.
Hyperbole Example
1. Examples of hyperbole in poetry
Figure of speech, when used in a poem, will make it easier for the poet to convey certain effects to his readers. On the other hand, readers will also enjoy poetry using this figure of speech more because it is more interesting.
Although it takes more effort to feel these effects because they are usually only implied in the words chosen by the author. Therefore, a connoisseur of literature must have the ability to grasp this implied message.
In terms of aesthetics, hyperbole in poetry serves to attract the attention of the reader or listener. In Indonesia, there are many prolific poets who produce amazing poems every year. One of them is Goenawan Mohamad.
The poetry written by GM was so interesting that Septiani used it as material for the research he conducted in 2020. GM’s poem researched by Septiani is entitled “Mishima”, a poem consisting of seven parts.
Septiani conducted research with the aim of finding out what figures of speech were used by GM in the poem. As a result, Septiani found several figures of speech, namely repetition, simile, litotes, personification, polyidentical and asindenton, metaphor, rhetoric and hyperbole. And the hyperbolic figure of speech is in the seventh chapter.
Here is the full text of the seventh part of the poem “Mishima”:
Through the sliding door, Mishima seemed to see them,
in the smoke: The defeated sailors
hidden
in the time box.
This unagi restaurant doesn’t want to disclose it.
On the second floor, guests are frozen. Frozen bottles.
On the walls are canvases: Guadalcanal jungle,
sand untouched by war,
bunds heaving,
brides carried into the bush
with almost drunken songs.
But there have always been people like me, says Mishima,
who don’t want alternative stories.
Day is only one narrative.
God named it death.
And Mishima lay, staring at the ceiling,
from the season-gilded mats.
The sentence “on the second floor, the guests are frozen” expresses the state of complete silence of the guests. The word “frozen” is used to describe a cold and silent atmosphere because the guests are silent. So guests aren’t completely frozen or lifeless.
2. Examples of hyperbole in television commercials
Television (TV) has a crucial role in disseminating information and providing entertainment to the wider community. That is why, from year to year, the Indonesian television world never stops developing.
To make this development, of course, a lot of funds are needed. Television station managers utilize various sources to collect the necessary funds. One of them is commercial advertising.
The symbiosis of mutualism between commercial advertisements and television stations has brought endless innovations that we can all enjoy today. For television stations, commercial advertising is a source of funds that must be carefully guarded. As for the world of advertising, television is the right medium for promotion.
Television can affect and put a strong pressure on people’s sight and hearing. In order to achieve this goal, advertisers compete for creativity in combining words and images into a visual display that appeals to all walks of life. The combination must also be able to convey important information about the goods or services they have. Especially for new products and superior products.
Because there are so many commercials that appear during breaks in television shows, it feels like the phrase “no day without commercials” is an appropriate description. Slowly but surely, television audiences are being influenced by persuasive language styles and visual designs in advertisements.
After all, the main purpose of an advertisement is to attract as many partners or customers as possible. Therefore, advertisers must use various strategies to convey their products well. Even if you have to exaggerate.
This is where the role of hyperbole is needed by advertisers. With this figure of speech, they can convey messages briefly but still look attractive. More than that, hyperbole can also affect potential customers.
Try Sinaumed’s to imagine, advertisers have to realize all of that in a relatively short time. Not to mention the increasingly fierce competition. Without hyperbole, advertisers cannot attract the attention of television audiences and lose to their competitors.
This is what made Sitompul interested in conducting research on 26 commercial advertisements that had aired on television. To find out what words were most prominent in 2014. Of the 26 advertisements studied, one of them was an advertisement for ABC coffee products.
In the ad there is a sentence that reads “The perfect blend of coffee and milk makes life more stable”.
The phrase “the more steady” is included in the figure of speech hyperbole because it is too exaggerated. Because after all, it’s impossible for someone’s life to get better just by drinking coffee.
3. Examples of figurative language hyperbole in song lyrics
Not only novels and poetry, hyperbole is also used by songwriters when creating their own works. Song lyrics can be categorized as a literary work because they are the result of human composition.
In addition, song lyrics are also compiled based on the songwriter’s personal experience. Most importantly, there are a lot of lyrics that contain aesthetic, socio-cultural, and life teachings values. In short, through literary works, it will be easier for people to understand the customs, beliefs, values of life, and views of other people’s lives.
As a literary work, a songwriter definitely needs creativity in expressing the ideas he has. He also has to pay attention to the right style of language so that the lyrics are written short but contain.
Just like poetry, song lyrics require figurative language hyperbole to bring out certain effects for listeners. After all, song lyrics must be made interesting and beautiful so that you don’t feel boring when you listen to them repeatedly.
Without beauty and certain effects, song lyrics only function as a complement to the musical arrangements being played. There is no emotion and soul in it at all. A song like this definitely wouldn’t last long.
The role of hyperbole in a song lyrics is so important that it made Nadiah interested in doing research on the 10 song lyrics on Slank’s album “Kissme” in 2020 yesterday. From the research she has done, Nadiah found 17 figures of speech hyperbole in several Slank songs. One of them is the song “Alami”, to be precise in this section:
The wind blows slowly.
Insects shout.
Black butterflies fly
. Don’t know what kind they are
The sentence “insects shouted” is a hyperbolic figure of speech that describes the boisterous sound of insects. Even so, in reality, only humans can shout.
4. Another example of hyperbole
Some examples of other hyperbolic figures of speech are as follows:
- Tono ran as fast as lightning
- My head was like being hit by lightning when I heard the news
- The germ across the ocean is visible, the elephant in the eyelid is invisible
The first sentence uses a figure of speech of hyperbole to describe Tono’s running speed which is very fast, so that it seems to match the speed of lightning. In fact, Usain Bolt, who is nicknamed the fastest man in the world, cannot even match the speed of lightning. Usain Bolt holds the record for the fastest 100 meter run with a time of 9.58 seconds. While lightning has a speed of 670,000,000 meters per second.
In the second sentence, hyperbole is used to describe the strong shock experienced by the speaker. But the phrase “like being struck by lightning” is too much because it is impossible for humans to survive a lightning strike.
Meanwhile, for the last sentence taken from proverbs, the words “germs”, “across the sea”, “elephants”, and “in the eyelids” are figures of speech hyperbole. Germ, is used to indicate a small mistake. Across the ocean describes a great distance. Elephant for a very big mistake. And in the eyelids for human vision distance. So it can be concluded, hyperbole is used to describe the size of abstract objects (errors) and the size of distance.
You can find other examples of figurative language hyperbole in the Smart Book of Poetry and Poetry, written by Ulin Nuha Maruchin.
How’s Sinaumed’s? Of course, now you understand better after reading the various examples of hyperbole in this article. Hopefully Sinaumed’s will continue to look for more complete information from books written by its experts, ok!
Sinaumed’s can also read books related to examples of hyperbole and other Indonesian material by visiting sinaumedia.com. sinaumedia always provides the best products so you have #MoreWithReading information.