Final answer:
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement used for effect rather than meant to be taken literally. An example is stating that you've been told to do something 'a million times.' It's often used in literature to evoke strong emotions or emphasize a point.
Step-by-step explanation:
A correctly punctuated example of hyperbole is: "I've told you to clean your room a million times!" This clearly exaggerates the actual number of times the speaker has issued the command.
Exaggeration is the essence of hyperbole, and it's used for rhetorical effect to highlight something's intensity or significance. For instance, in literature, authors often employ hyperbole to convey characters' extreme emotions or to create a more dramatic scene.
Hyperbole is a common element in figurative language that can add humor, emphasis, or dramatic effect. Mark Twain, for example, combines sensory detail with hyperbole to illustrate a character's panic.
Similarly, when William Wordsworth describes a vast number of daffodils as "ten thousand," in "I wandered lonely as a cloud," he is using hyperbole to express the immense beauty and scale of the sight.