Between a rock and a hard place by Aaron Ralston Flashcards
Context
-Auto biography
- On a life changing event that caused Aaron Ralston to lose his arm in a climbing accident
Message/purpose
- To tell his story
- to serve as a warning
- Causes the reader to think about their actions and recognise some things aren’t meant to be done alone
Language features
- Listing
- vivid imagery
- technical language
Listing
’ In slow motion: the rock smashes my left hand against the south wall: my eyes register the collision, and i yank my left arm back as the rock ricochets.’
speeds up pacing , shows panic
Vivid imagery
’ as i dangle’ shows helplessness and lack of control over the situation
‘The boulder then crushes my right hand’ Gory helps reader sympathize with his pain
Technical language
‘Known as stemming or chimmneying’
‘ It is possible to stem my body across’
Shows expertise and Ralston knows what he is doing
Structure
- In 2 parts factual and panicked /scared
- narrative first person
- opens in media res to create tension
- reference to time
- short sentences
Themes
- expertise
- pain
- determination
Expertise
Technical language
‘geometry’
‘eleven or twelve feet’
‘stemming or chimmneying’
Pain/shock
Vivid imagery/ emotive language
‘the boulder then crushes’
‘ disbelief paralyses me’
‘flaring agony’
‘searing hot pain’
determination
” ‘ Come on…move!’ nothing.” still trying after all that pain
‘ anxiety has my brain tweaking’ fighting through the fear
Tone
1-33 factual
33-end panicked/scared
‘As i dangle’
Helpless no longer factual
vivid imagery
reference to time
- ‘Time dialates’
- ’ i do know for certain that right now’
pain and determination
present tense
conveys to the reader a sense of immediacy
