Read the excerpt from Mark Twain's "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note".

Well, I was perfectly honest and square with her; told her I hadn't a cent in the world but just the million-pound note she'd heard so much talk about, and it didn't belong to me, and that started her curiosity; and then I talked low, and told her the whole history right from the start, and it nearly killed her laughing. What in the nation she could find to laugh about I couldn't see, but there it was; every half-minute some new detail would fetch her, and I would have to stop as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to settle down again. Why, she laughed herself lame--she did, indeed; I never saw anything like it. I mean I never saw a painful story--a story of a person's troubles and worries and fears--produce just that kind of effect before.

Which rhetorical device is demonstrated in the excerpt?

Question

English

Sean Collins

28 February, 06:30

Read the excerpt from Mark Twain's "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note".

Well, I was perfectly honest and square with her; told her I hadn't a cent in the world but just the million-pound note she'd heard so much talk about, and it didn't belong to me, and that started her curiosity; and then I talked low, and told her the whole history right from the start, and it nearly killed her laughing. What in the nation she could find to laugh about I couldn't see, but there it was; every half-minute some new detail would fetch her, and I would have to stop as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to settle down again. Why, she laughed herself lame--she did, indeed; I never saw anything like it. I mean I never saw a painful story--a story of a person's troubles and worries and fears--produce just that kind of effect before.

Which rhetorical device is demonstrated in the excerpt?

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Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Ismael Mcbride · Answer 1

The answer is hyperbole.

Explanation:

It's a familiar question.

Also, Hyperbole is an exaggeration. The most blatant display of exaggeration here is the author's description of her laughter.

The following lines show this:

" ... and it nearly killed her laughing"

" ... she laughed herself lame--she did, indeed; "

She couldn't have possibly laughed herself lame of course but the hyperbole is used in showing how hard she must have laughed at what he was telling her.