The correct answer is Option D. The hyperbole in Mark Twain's excerpt from "Life on the Mississippi" effectively conveys the intensity of the children's career ambitions.
The excerpt the question is referring to is from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi which employs hyperbole to vividly express the deep longing that the children felt towards their ambitions.
Hyperbole, a figure of speech that involves exaggerated statements, is used by Twain to convey the intensity of these childhood dreams and desires.
In the passage given, the effect of this hyperbole - conveys a sense of how strongly the children ached for these career ambitions.
The exaggerated phrases like 'burning to become clowns' and 'suffering to try that kind of life,' as well as the humorous notion that being 'good' might lead to becoming pirates, all serve to heighten the portrayal of their fervent desires to pursue those careers.