In line $1$ of Alexandra Petri's "Nasty Women Have Much Work to Do$,"$ the author states, "The nasty women gather on the heath just after midnight. It is Nasty Women's Sabbath, Election Eve, and they must make haste" $(45).$ What is the dominant style element that Petri begins to employ in these opening sentences?

Metaphor

Hyperbole

Irony

Understatement