H2O

 "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge is an excellent poem about some freaky things that happen to this guy while on a boat on the ocean.  Currently, he and his crew are thirsting to death.

Read the following excerpt:

“Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”

What is the above an example of?

a. hyperbole

b. imagery

c. situational irony

d. unreliable narrator

Scroll down for the answer.

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a. is incorrect.  While it might seem like he is exaggerating, he really does have water everywhere as he is floating on the ocean.

b. is incorrect.  You can make an argument that there is some description that is going on with the boards a shrink and all, but it is not the best answer here.

c. is correct.  You would think that if you were floating on an ocean that lack of water would be the least of your worries (you've got 99 worries and water ain't one), but since you can't drink the salt water, lack of water is very much indeed a problem (O.K., you've got 100 problems).

d. is incorrect.  We do not have enough to go on to determine if this narrator is reliable or not.