explorers daughter Flashcards
p1
The writer uses language and structure effectively to create suspense and tension in the passage, drawing the readers into the story through a narrative recount.
Time markers are used as a build-up to the hunt, indicating the watchers’ anticipation as they wait and observe the approaching narwhal pods.
The poetic description of the narwhal spray, “catching the light in a spectral play of colour,” adds a mystical quality to the scene, with the adjective “spectral” evoking a ghostly atmosphere.
Adverbs are used to describe the narwhal’s movement as “slowly, methodically,” creating a sense of anticipation.
The contrast with the writer’s own excitement, as she is “scrambling back” with a sharp intake of breath, highlights her sense of anticipation as to what may happen.
The stillness of the scene, with the hunters appearing close enough to touch the narwhal but not moving, adds to the tension.
P2
Visual imagery is used to describe the landscape with references to light, such as “glittering kingdom” and “the evening light was turning butter-gold,” creating a sense of awe and overwhelming beauty.
The description has a dreamlike quality, reinforced by the metaphor of a “kingdom.”
The writer ponders whether the narwhal might be “mischievous tricks of the shifting light,” giving them an ethereal quality.
The juxtaposition of the nouns “man and whale” leads the reader to anticipate a confrontation of epic proportions.
The use of the plural pronoun “we” when describing how the writer and other women are sitting at the lookout shows their connection and shared experience of watching.
However, they are too distant to do anything but watch events unfold through binoculars, heightening the sense of suspense.
p3
The writer then returns to describing the hunt in the fourth paragraph, focusing on each individual woman as she watches her husband intently.
The danger and vulnerability of the hunters are emphasized through the description of the “brave” men in “flimsy” kayaks, miles from land, with only one harpoon to face the huge narwhal.
The silence and lack of movement as the hunters have to sit very still due to the narwhal’s acute hearing, and then the moment when the hunter gently picks up his harpoon and aims, leave the writer and the reader holding their breath in anticipation.
The writer’s intense physical reaction to what she witnesses is conveyed through her statement, “in that split second my heart leapt for both hunter and narwhal.”
The use of longer, multi-clause sentences in the penultimate paragraph conveys the mounting tension of the scene.
The tricolon of infinitive verbs urging the narwhal “to dive, to leave, to survive” with its rhythm and rhyme engages the reader in the writer’s powerful and conflicted feelings about the hunt, leaving them eager to know the outcome.
