From Taking On The World Flashcards
She is alone on Christmas Eve
Creates sympathy for her and “Christmas Eve” emphasises the loneliness
“As if I was stepping on to the moon - a world over which I had no control”
Builds tension and shows how dangerous is was
“Haylard” “sheet” “reef” “jumar” “spreader”
Lots of semantic field vocabulary shows how she is very capable and knows what she’s doing
“There would be no second climb on this one”
Builds tension and anticipation
“Mast slices erratically”
Dynamic verb –> descriptive and builds tension
“Tugged and tugged”
Repetition for emphasis
Shows how desperate she is for this to work
Builds tension
“Not far now, kiddo”
Trying to steady her nerves and encourage herself
Very normal behaviour in an extra ordinary situation -> this creates sympathy as the reader can relate to her
Talking down to herself
Sounds like a parent trying to motivate a child
Informal language
“I had my heart in my mouth”
Metaphorical idiom shows to the audience the danger of the situation
Tension
“It’s far from over …”
Ellipsis builds tension as the reader does not know what is going to happen next
Suspense
“My head was spinning, but I felt like a million dollars”
Idiom “felt like a million dollars”
Shows how proud she is of herself
“I would be wearing a helmet”
Remarkably sensible and takes the appropriate precautions
“I had agonised for hours”
“Worked through the night preparing for it”
She is a perfectionist and has clearly thought long and hard about the climb. She really cares about what she’s doing
“When it got light o decided that the time was right”
She is systematic and considers the need for maximum daylight
“I couldn’t feel my fingers - I’d need gloves”
She is not perfect as she fails to fully appreciate the cold so has to start again
“Clinging on”
Shows how dangerous it is
Shows she is physically strong as she is able to do this
“Eyes closed and teeth gritted”
Shows determination and resilience but also how exhausted she is
“Hanging on by just one arm”
The audience realise the real danger she is in at this moment and feel anticipation and tension
Fear
It’s written in first person
Shows that it is a real account
More personal
Makes the audience care more about the protagonist
“Helmet”
Dangerous situation but shows she is careful and is taking necessary precautions.
Semantic field vocab
“Jumar”“sheets”“autopilot”“halyard”“reef” technical language shows that’s she’s an expert and is able to use the right terminology
“Loss in dexterity”
Builds tension
“It had to come”
Persuading herself, definite prediction, anticlimax, interspersing past tense through account with drift thought to make the reader empathise
“Santa”
Emphasise loneliness and creates even more sympathy for her being alone in appalling conditions
What is this piece?
Writing to inform, recount and autobiographical
“Hardest climb to date”
Foregrounding, tense, dangerous gives text cohesion
First paragraph
Long build up implies importance and that she’s medical and an expert
“Agonised”
Suggests it’s more than just a worry as its stringer and more emotive
“I was stepping on to the moon - a world over which I had no control”
Dangerous alien environment no one could control and could cause demise
3rd paragraph
Some 2nd person
“I climbed down”
Details on how she had to stop her first attempt shows how dangerous it is and builds suspense
“I would not have the energy”
Narrating continuously, foregrounding how there could only be one attempt
“Hardest thing”
Superlative
“Physical drain”
Shows how difficult the task is
“Slices”
Connotations of danger
“I could feel us surf down”
Metaphor and she identifies with her boat as she’s on her own otherwise
“I would wrap my arms”
Habitual thing and a frequentative aspect (links to the last line of the fourth paragraph)
“Shuddering slowdown”
Personification
“Wrists clenched together and hope”
Shows how physical the activity is and that she’s not in control of the situation
“The halyard was heavier… More violent”
Telling the story and increasing the tension
“Conjure up”
Metaphor, drawing on energy reserves that aren’t actually their
“Kiddo”
Talking to herself in second person
“By far the most dangerous part”
Superlative
“I felt like a million dollars”
Simile
“Fumbled”
Not in control
