Gael's Recipe for Feelings - Hyperbole in literary text (Grade 7)

This is the correct answer because saying she has tried 'a million times' is a clear exaggeration used to express frustration. The other options are literal statements made by the characters or narrator.

Maya later explains that the statement means the cooking is "special to me and our family. It's part of our culture." This shows she is using exaggeration to express strong positive feelings, not stating a literal fact.

Gael responds to Maya's exaggeration with a factual calculation, stating, "My projection indicates mastery in approximately 4.5 hours." He does not understand she is expressing a feeling, not a fact.

This is a hyperbole meant to express Maya's frustration with Gael's inability to understand feelings. A teaspoon is very small, so she uses it to exaggerate how limited his emotional understanding is.

The passage explicitly states that Gael processes the new information and defines it: "Processing. Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emotional emphasis."

The items in the 'Hyperbole' category are all exaggerations Maya uses to express strong emotion. The items in the 'Literal Statement' category are factual statements made by Gael or the grandmother to state a fact or observation without exaggeration.

Each hyperbolic statement corresponds to a specific feeling Maya has in that moment. 'Best in the universe' shows admiration. 'A million times' shows her impatience with failing. 'A thousand years' shows her feeling of hopelessness. 'Most frustrating robot' shows her extreme annoyance with Gael.