You Might Use This

     "I got so mad, I plumb forgot to kill him." Louis L'Amour
     In the new millennium, somebody famous will die. Prediction by Anitra L. Freeman, you read it here first!
     In the new millennium, there will be a new Star Wars movie. Prediction by © Dr. Wes Browning, you read it here first!
     What with the Apocalypse and all, I really needed a manicure.

From A Glossary of Literary Terms by Robert Harris:
Understatement. Expressing an idea with less emphasis or in a lesser degree than is the actual case. The opposite of hyperbole. Understatement is employed for ironic emphasis. Example:

• Last week I saw a woman flay'd, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her person for the worse. —Jonathan Swift

 

Like irony, understatement conveys a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. Understatement may be verbal or situational. When a man comes home to find his wife being chased around the living room by a hockey-masked madman wielding an axe and the man asks, "Shall I fix my own dinner then, dear?" that is a form of understatement.

 

Try It Out

     Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

• Describe a dramatic scene, like a bank robbery during an earthquake while a pregnant woman gives birth to quadruplets in the main lobby. Describe all details and behavior in casual understatement.
  
  

Guidelines for Critique:

• Was this funny, or strained?

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Write On!
Anitra L. Freeman

All contents and images are created and copyrighted by Anitra Freeman, except quotes from published material, which are attributed to the author and used only for educational purposes. Others may use this material, on request, for personal or educational purposes where no fee is charged, with credit to the author and a link wherever possible.

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StreetWrites Workshop Exercises