BASKING SHARK - annotated Flashcards
to
inversion - unusual sentence structure of two infinitive clauses to create tension and suspense as
poet builds up to his revelation of the fear
involved.
rock where none should be
connotations of hardness and immovability - conveys power of the creature. reflects his concern and the strangeness of the unexpected experience.
slounge out of the sea
neologism - mix of slouch and lounge - connotations of laziness - creature is unfazed, slow in its movements and ponderous. alliteration mirrors the soft sound of the creature breaking the surface gently.
(too often)
parenthesis adds humour as it reveals how unsettled poet was, despite it only being once, that
was too much.
But not too often - though enough.
starts with a conjunction - highlights contradiction to what he’s just said. suggests he sees some meaning in the encounter - has made him think about his
own evolution.
met
connotes almost a sense of reciprocity and fraternity
between humans and animals. typical of MacCaig never to assume human superiority in describing encounters with the world of nature
tin-tacked with rain,
Metaphor — captures with exact observation the nature of the rain - hard, relatively sparse droplets patterning the smooth surface with neat round imprints. the alliteration of the hard consonant ‘t’ helps to replicate the metallic sound of the rain
hitting the boat.
That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain.
metaphor and alliteration — contrast and incongruity of the size of the shark’s enormous body compared with its tiny brain. long vowels in “roomsized monster” extend and elongate the expression to reinforce the
size of the shark in contrast to the short, clipped vowels of “matchbox brain”.
he
short sentence stresses the powerful effect shark had on him - forced his mind back to
centuries ago.
displaced
connotations of being out of place - experience
unsettled MacCaig and made him rethink what he
thought he knew.
more than water.
short sentence stresses the powerful effect shark had on him - forced his mind back to centuries ago.
He shoggled me Centuries back
‘shoggled’ means to shake. this creature, a throwback to prehistoric times, creates in the imagination of
the poet a glimpse of the early evolutionary stage of the emergence of land creatures from our common ancestors, marine life.
decadent townee
connotations of wealth, someone suited to finer things in life, city life - suggests that, in his decision to
remove himself from the natural world to an urban setting, he has lost a sense of purpose in his life
and become too immersed in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures.
Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree.
metaphor — both literally and metaphorically shaken. he is reminded that this shark too is part of our own family tree and is inextricably linked to us in much
the same way as any other ancestor - seeing the world as not being just about humans. ’wrong branch’ - because of our inherent sense of intellectual
superiority over this creature we are unwilling to recognise we are in any way related.
Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring
analogy - experience has shaken up how he viewed things and sees this new found revelation to be ‘clearer’. “dirt” is the murky thought of how humans evolved into what they now are. “slime” - primeval slime from which all living organisms were created. this links once more the evolution of humanity with that of the shark.
Emerging from the slime of everything.
metaphor —“emerging” reinforces this new, almost epiphanic sense of clarity associated with coming out of the dark into light. The word “everything” again reinforces our similarity with every other species
at the start of this process.
So who’s the monster?
rhetorical question highlights MacCaig’s main question arising - why do we consider them the beasts when we do so much worse
The thought made me grow pale
For twenty seconds while, sail after sail,
The tall fin slid away and then the tail.
long sentence reflects the size of the beast and how long it took be fully out of MacCaig’s sight, and mind.
sail after sail,
metaphor - comparing fin and tail to sails gives
us the impression of vast surface areas and
the shape is also nicely evoked.
