Sudan Flashcards
Topic Statement 1
Anderson sets the scene, creating an appropriate mood for the passage in the opening few paragraphs
Topic Statement 2
Anderson creates a vivid picture of the vulnerability of people in the camp as they face the elements
Topic Statement 3
Anderson moves from describing the people and the storm to portraying the general conditions of the camp and the children within it
Topic Statement 4
The writers focus shifts from a general commentary of the camp to describing a more specific event
Topic Statement 5
In her final paragraphs the writer challenges the reader to question whether such conditions should continue
1 - I’m sitting in the dark on the edge of a camp
Description of lighting sets the bleak tone. Double-meaning of on the edge - meaning both literally on the edge of the camp and figuratively very anxious and about to become distraught
1 - loud, persistent crying of one child rising above the murmur of the camp
Bleak description of crying furthers the tone. Murmur means the quiet or subdued expression of a particular feeling by a group of people - and the reader infers this to be one of suffering
1 - the horizon goes an ominous, brown shade of yellow
Ominous means giving the worrying impression that something bad is going to happen. Colour has connotations of yellow - as if the joyful yellow has somehow been tainted
2 - wind ferociously hurls drenching curtains
Personification of the wind being ferocious and violent creates the sense of the Sudanese being victims whilst also conveying the power of nature. Drenching suggests the villagers are being completely engulfed by the water
2 - twisted up in misery
Powerful description highlights suffering of the people. Suggests the strength of their negative emotions is enough to physically contort them.
2 - torn plastic bags that make up the walls of their twig shelters
Flimsiness of the shelters contrasts with the power of the weather, showing how unprepared the people are and creating sympathy with the reader
3 - the stench and flies
Emotive description of the conditions - stench is a powerfully bad smell whilst flies implies things are rotting and dead
3 - wasted, staring into space
Upsetting description implies the children barely exist - double meaning also implies they have been used or expended carelessly furthering the bleak tone. Portrays the idea of the children waiting for death and forces reader to think how that might actually be a mercy
4 - It was strangely quiet inside
A foreboding tone is set through the implication that something is not quite right.
4 - sobbing silently
Oxymoron as sobbing is to cry noisily, making loud convulsive gasps. Creates the image of Juma being unable to make any noise due to the shock. Contrast furthers the seeming unreality of the situation
