Feeding Paul Bunyan's crews was a complicated job. At no two camps were conditions the same. The winter he logged off North
Dakota he had 300 cooks making pancakes for the Seven Axemen and the little Chore-boy. At headquarters on the Big Onion he had
one cook and 462 cookees feeding a crew so big that Paul himself never knew within several hundred either way, how many men he
had.
Which is the best interpretation of the role of the hyperbole in this paragraph?
A. It is meant to emphasize the work ethic of Paul Bunyan himself.
B. It is meant to emphasize that Paul Bunyan had a lot of people working for him.
C. It is meant to emphasize that Paul Bunyan's cooks liked to work in groups
D. It is meant to emphasize the amount of work that Paul Bunyan's crew completed every day.
The best interpretation of the role of the hyperbole in this paragraph is B. It is meant to emphasize that Paul Bunyan had a lot of people working for him.
Hyperbole is a figure of speech that involves exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis or dramatic effect. In this paragraph, the author is using hyperbole to exaggerate the number of cooks and crew members involved in feeding Paul Bunyan's crews. By stating that there were 300 cooks making pancakes for just the Seven Axemen and the little Chore-boy, and that at headquarters there was one cook and 462 cookees feeding a crew so big that even Paul Bunyan didn't know the exact number of men, the author is highlighting the massive size and scale of Paul Bunyan's operation.
This exaggeration serves to emphasize the idea that Paul Bunyan had a large number of people working for him, supporting the notion of his legendary status as a formidable figure who could accomplish great feats with the help of his extensive workforce. Therefore, option B, which suggests that the hyperbole is meant to emphasize that Paul Bunyan had a lot of people working for him, is the best interpretation in this case.