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Paradox and hyperbole

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I'm the figure of speech that's right well here's the deal sometimes you write [Man wearing colorful t-shirt speaking]

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really sweet papers that you just know will make your teachers brain implode

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with awesomeness and sometimes you don't what's the difference and how can you

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write more papers that are the brain imploding type with figurative language

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that's how and also with correct citations, proper structure, a compelling

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topic but those are issues for other days anywho figurative language [Big book of figurative language appears]

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specifically what are paradoxes and hyperbole well two of the many types of

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figurative language that when used correctly can really make writing pop [American football pumped up and pops]

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well there's no guarantee that using figurative language will make your paper

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get an A+ but it sure doesn't hurt.. So we're all on the same page when I say

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figurative language I'm talking about language writers use to describe

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something in a story or poem without literally stating what they're trying to

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say think about this which is more interesting sentence A - The red truck drove [Red truck driving down a road]

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down the road or sentence B - The red truck screamed fastest like a rocket

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launched by a madman the second sentence is not only more fun to read it paints a

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way more interesting image in your mind and that's what well-placed figurative [Man thinking about a fast red truck driving by]

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language is all about it takes ordinary sentences descriptions or passages and

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makes them extraordinary well of course writers have to be

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careful about going overboard with the figurative language too much of the good [Man throws another man off a ship]

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stuff can overwhelm a piece and make it challenging to read which is no good at

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all don't be that person there are a lot of

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different types of figurative language so we've narrowed it down to just two

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for our intents and purposes here time to get up close and personal with [Man hugging paradox and hyperbole]

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paradox and hyperbole....Well let's talk paradox first a paradox is a

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statement that seems to contradict itself but it's actually true what?

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backup the bus paradoxes are everywhere and when you [Boy selling paradox candy and man approaches the stand]

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know how to identify them you'll start noticing them all around you take this

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example bittersweet when we say something is bittersweet it usually

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means that the thing had both awesomeness and terribleness about it

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like seeing your best friend in a new relationship here happy for your pal but

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it still stinks that you'll be spending more time alone [Man watches friend with his girlfriend]

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Or how about this one I'm nobody famous 19th century poet Emily

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Dickinson wrote a poem with a paradoxical title I'm nobody

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who were you now that was a poet who knew her figurative language stuff when

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you think about this statement I'm nobody you see that it contradicts [Man sitting alone on a park bench]

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itself a person can't be nobody because everyone is somebody right writers use

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paradox to intentionally focus their reader's attention onto a single detail

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and think about it in a new way if they can make their readers pause over [Man reading with a magnifying glass]

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something they've written they're guilty of expanding the brains of those who

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read their work mind blown paradox shows up in loads of famous

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literature and poetry....Old Willie Shakespeare was notorious for using

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paradox he loved the stuff in Romeo and Juliet he wrote the earth that's

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nature's mother is her tomb what is her burying grave that is her womb. These

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lines create a paradox because of the manner in which they present a [Shakespeare's poem stamped with paradox]

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contradictory idea that the earth is both a place of birth and death this

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might seem a little weird but when you think about it it's true the earth is a

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place of both birth for trees flowers and plants and death for people we put

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into coffins and bury them in the ground another awesome Shakespearean example of

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paradox is a often recited line from Hamlet I must be cruel only to be kind

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this pretty much sounds like the silly ramblings of some complete idiot right [Hamlet on stage]

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well yes and no sure we could write Willie's titular character off as a

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nutjob but since we know a bit about Shakespeare and how masterfully he used

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language we'll give him a skosh more credit than that line above is Hamlet

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speaking about his mom and how he's going to get revenge in order to even [Hamlet speaking with his Mum]

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the score when it comes to the issue of his father's death

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aha now the line starts to make more sense because his Mum is now married to

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the dude who offed his pops killing him will feel pretty good too Hamlet but Mom's

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gonna be heartbroken it's a paradox if we've ever seen one

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slightly more contemporary novelist George Orwell also deployed paradox in

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his books in his political satire Animal Farm Orwell wrote all animals are equal

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but some are more equal than others on the surface this is just a ridiculous [Statement from Animal Farm poem]

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statement how can all animals be equal if some are more equal well in the

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context of the overall story this is a fine example of paradox the government

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loves to tell animals that they're all equal makes them feel better about [Animals together reading the commandments]

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themselves it's just what the government does but when it comes down to reality

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simply isn't true some of the animals have more power and/or talent than the

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others which creates an equality differential in itself it's pretty

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likely that Orwell was expressing his personal feelings about government in

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this book and particularly what paradoxical statements like that one

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like I said once you understand what paradox means and what it can look like

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you'll start seeing it all over the place [Man waiting at bus stop and paradox bus arrives]

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time to move on down the figurative language line and examine another fine

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specimen what's up there hyperbole... I know you've just been dying

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to know more about this figure of speech and with good reason once you're

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familiar with hyperbole you're gonna use it in every single paper you'll ever [Girl writing hyperbole multiple times on piece of paper]

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write from now until the end of time perhaps that was an exaggeration or an

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example of hyperbole see hyperbole is a total extreme over-the-top exaggeration

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it's stretching the truth until it practically breaks into and even though [Person stretching the truth and the word snaps]

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hyperbole shouldn't be taken literally it's used by writers when they want to

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really accentuate something in writing think of it this way instead of saying

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it was very very very very cold you could say it was so cold that the

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Penguins were wearing snow suits and tears came out as icicles well that [Man crying icicles]

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certainly took things up a notch here's another example that you've probably

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said at least one time in your life especially if you have younger siblings

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or meddling parents I've already told you a million times did you actually say [Mother telling her son off]

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something a million times well no way that would take forever this would be a

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hyperbolic statement you'd make when you feel that you've had to repeat the same

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information over and over and over again and are sick of repeating yourself while

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hyperbole like paradox runs all over literature in the classic American [Hyperbole and paradox running away from a man]

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folktale Paul Bunyan the main character is always using hyperbole to tell

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stories and that's not an exaggeration a well-loved line from Paul Bunyan is a

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perfect example here Well now, one winter it was so cold that all

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the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned

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blue late at night it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid before they

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could be heard people had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were

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talking about the night before.... all right come on now Paul

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it's common for writers to use hyperbole to express emotions or physical feelings [Person scribbling on paper and a man with face in his hands]

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like temperature, pain and love and yes love can be a physical feeling another

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literary example of hyperbole is in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird...Lee

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describes the setting like so people moved slowly then there was no hurry for

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there was nowhere to go nothing to buy and no money to buy it with nothing to

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see it outside the boundaries of Macomb County.. well unless Macomb County is on

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[Astronaut bouncing on a planet] some faraway planet we've yet to explore Lee is being hyperbolic in describing it

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this place may feel like the center of the universe for the residents but

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clearly this is an exaggeration of the truth so there you have it

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paradox and hyperbole are impressive tools when you know how to wield them

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correctly in your writing like most anything too much of these tools can

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lessen the quality of writing instead of accentuating it and making it memorable

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or even publishable sprinkle figurative language throughout your writing [List of figurative examples appear on screen]

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whenever you feel like now it might help make a better point or describe

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something better or ask your readers to stop and think about what you're trying

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to say you can even bring some examples of paradox and hyperbole in your spare

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time and shove those puppies into your stories at a later date yep that was an [Man gets off paradox bus and puppy runs away]

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example of figurative language don't really shove puppies...

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nobody likes a puppy shover...

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