a passage to africa Flashcards
paragraph 1
Alagiah builds up pathos for the Somali people by conveying how tough there life is for the Somali people
“i saw a thousand hungry, lean scared and betrayed faces” list of four adjectives conveying not only the emotional but the physical suffering he has witnessed.
“smell of decaying flesh” sensroy imagery conveys his sense of disgust in this story
“there was a festering wound the size of my hand” visceral imagery conveys the extremes of life in somalia
paragraph 2
Alagiah illustrates the unethical industry that is journalism by shocking the reader.
“in the ghoulish manner of journalists.” We are shocked by alagiah’s word choice as “ghoulish” means morbidly interested in death.
“the search for the shocking is like the craving for a drug.” again we are shocked by his word choice, this simile conveys it to a ruthless industry where peoples live are ruined.
“the images that move the people in the comfort of there sitting rooms,” here alagiah is adressing the reader and he is involving the reader directly so that they can understand what it really happening.
paragraph 3
When the climax of the story is reaches we can see that Alagiah is shocked that the man feels embarrassed about his situation and feels shameful.
“the smile” “a face” the man is reduced to a smile, a synechdoche so we focus on the action.
“that went beyond pity or revulsion” comparison to horrific imagery earlier this has impacted him more as it shows that the has caused him to re-evaluate his reporting method.
“How should i feel to be standing there so confident?” Question therefore conveys that he feels he has made a mistake in making the somali people feel this way.
Paragraph 4
After conveying how Alagiah has felt ashamed by his journalism, he now illustates to the reader how much this has affected him and through this conveys how he wants to change and not be
“smile” constant repitition, centres our attention on the significance.
“I” first personal pronoun convey the personal significance that it has affected alagiah by.
“so my nameless friend.” Direct adress he refers to the man as a friend
