Illustrating The Wonderful Large Wild Man

Background notes for students

Hyperbole and Comparisons

Hyperbole is an exaggeration. Many of the descriptions from The Wonderful Large Wild Man are heavily exaggerated and sometimes similes were used to help create his image. A simile is an indirect comparison between two things using like, as or than.

Similes used in the broadside to describe the Wonderful Large Wild Man include:

• "nails of his fingers and toes crook't like a hawk's bill and as hard as horn"
• "hair stronger than a horse's mane"

Draw your own illustration for The Wonderful Large Wild Man based on evidence from the description in the broadside, which you can see below. Annotate your illustration using short quotations from the broadside. Link your quotations using arrows or lines to different parts of the drawing.

One approach to this task is to first draw your picture for The Wonderful Large Wild Man on to an A4 sheet of paper than paste this sheet onto an A3 sheet. Leave a border around your drawing where you can easily include your annotations.

Note: You will notice that the wood block print illustration on the broadside does not exactly match the written description below it.