"The whole house was constantly in a state of inundation, under the discipline of mops and brooms and scrubbing brushes; and the
good housewives of those days were a kind of amphibious animal, delighting exceedingly to be dabbling in water ..." In this selection, the use of the word inundation is probably _____. exaggerated literal
The correct answer is "In this selection, the use of the word <em>inundation</em> is probably exaggerated."
In this situation, inundation is not a real inundation/flood, therefore it is not literal. It is a word used to exaggerate the fact that the housewives are constantly cleaning the house, sweeping and mopping. You can see that too in the excerpt <em>"under the discipline of mops and brooms". </em>We know the author is referring to the cleaning process and therefore, chooses to use the word <em>inundation</em> to create more depth to what he's describing.
Writers can use pictures on the internet for inspiration by seeing the main points of an image and the details and are able to release their creative side of things...