Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Question 1

Portrays himself as experienced and conscientious mountaineer:
-“if I can step onto it”
-“stemming or chimneying”

Answer 1

“If I can step onto it”
—active voice reassures how he is in control and has experience
-when paired with the conjunction “if” demonstrates a sense of humility , establishing a sense fo ethos making him more credible
-dépendant clause highlights how he always thinks before acting highlighting his conscientiousness

“Stemming or chimneying”
-specialist lexis establishes how he is experienced
-emphasized by the simple sentence which implies how he can climb with great ease
-alternatively, simple sentence also highlights how conscientiousness, as he is not distracted by other thoughts, only focused on climbing

Question 2

creates a sense of danger through description of the rock:
“Ensnares..at the wrist, palm in, thumb up”
“Consumes the sky”

Answer 2

-rock is personified to highlight the power it holds and danger it can create
-listing, is done by ralston strategically, proceeding in a manner that is outwards, that is starting at the wrist and then going out towards the hand, to symbolize the unbearable pain, to depict it as violent and intense, emphasizing the power of the rock
-semantic field of the body highlights how the pain if felt everywhere the emphasize the violent nature of the rock

-hyperbole emphasizes the sheer size of the rock
-fact that it takes over the sky highlights the power it has,
-alternatively as if like a destruction to nature, as it is destroying the sky
-acts to create suspense as it foreshadows that he is yet to be affected by the power of the rock aswell

Question 3

Engages readers through creating tension and suspense
“Paragraph 5, bolts, shift in tone”
“Come on..move!Nothing.”

Answer 3

Pargraph five acts as a volta, through the change from active to passive voice to demonstrate his loss of control
The sentence structures become more disjointed which emphasize the chaos.
Creates anticipation through the abrupt change in pace

uses ellipsis and exclamation mark to create tension
-where paired with the internal dialogue implies his desperation, and suggests a sense of urgency and anticipation
-ends with a short sentence, which provides an abrupt shift in tone, to highlight his disappointment
-thus the ending is underwhelming and makes readers want to know more

Question 4

Becomes vulnerable and loses control
“I grimace and growl”
“As if I’m dreaming, and my reactions decelerate”

Answer 4

“I grimace and growl”
-animalistic language choice demonstrates how he has lost control, and suggests how now he is only trying to just survive
-emphasized by the alliteration
-onamatapoia engages the readers senses, and highlights how all of his senses have been affected

“As if I’m dreaming, and my reactions decelerate”
-similie to convey how he has lost track of his emotions
-imagery of dreams highlights how unbearable the pain is, as if he is in denial to accept its capacity
-temporal use of time suggests that the essence of time itself has begun to slow down for him, accentuates the pain he feels, as it suggests he has become delusional due to it
-clever imagery of “decelerate” to suggest he has become like a vehicle, demonstrating how he has lost his human sense of rationality