Touching the void

Joe's Account - shows the development and process of his thoughts. Paragraph 1 talks about the
physical pain on his body and paragraph 2 talks about the internal pain that he feels. He refers to
both water and fire throughout the extract; both of which are uncontrollable and powerful elements.
He uses many short sentences, commas and breaks to display a sense of urgency and also to show
the speed at which things are happening.
Paragraph 1
-Throughout the entire extract Joe writes in first person, and uses the words "I" and "me" a lot. This
shows that he is on his own in the situation and also makes the account more direct and personal.
-He uses sibilance (repeated "s" sounds) e.g. "bones splitting, and screamed" in paragraph 1 to
make the situation sound scary and frightening.
Paragraph 2
-He juxtaposes "flooded" (water) and "burning" (fire) to create a contrast. It also makes the pain
sound very extreme.
Paragraph 3
-Uses "burning" reference to contrast with his icy surroundings.
-"grotesque distortion" is hyperbolic and the words are quite forceful and emotive.
Paragraph 4
- "surged" is another water reference. It shows force.
- "dark with dread" is dramatic alliteration.
- "I'm dead" is prolepsis (anticipating something that is going to happen)
- Use of ellipses show his disorientation.
Paragraph 5
-"fireball" - another fire reference.
- "ruptured, twisted, crushed" three adjectives create more of an impact. This highlights Joe's pain.
- The last sentence ("The impact had driven....") is a stated fact. There is no feeling; this shows his
exhaustion.
Paragraph 6
-In the last half, he gives an insight into his feelings and emotions.
- In the last line, "teetering" could be referring either metaphorically to his state of mind, or physically

to teetering off the edge of the mountain.

Simon's account - a lot more logical and realistic. He talks less about his feelings and more about
fact.
- Simon has blocked out his emotions in order to suppress his guilt.
- He describes Joe quite a lot, but tries to use his name as little as possible.

Explorers, or boys messing about?

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Themes:

Maturity

Responsibility to society

Taking risks and challenging your potential

Maturity

Reflects ludicrousity;

Immature decision to ride trusty helicopter

Title: Boys messing about

trekked solo to Everest base camp and walked barefoot for three days in the Himalayas

Using R44 in a such a hostile environment

claims to be flying at the age of 5 (the word claim ploughs the seeds of distrust)

Smith has a nickname Q which is a reference to the joker in James Bond

Needs government intervention for all their mistakes like little kids needing to be parented

Responsibility to society

Negative reaction by society in all cases of failures

Tax payers pick up the bill, connects with the reader and turns reader against Brookes

Damages reputation of the country: how good the relations between the east and the west had become

Triad: rescue involved Royal navy, the RAF, and the British coastguards, emphasizes great burden to
society

Even the British Navy HMS endurance was driven back due to poor visibility, this makes us question their
sensibility

Taking risks and challenging your potential

Experienced explorers: taken expeditions to 70 countries in 15 years

Pushing it to the maximum

This is another side of the story but which is not picked on in the article

Tone

Satirical: Not the first time they hit the headlines for the wrong reasons

Biased interviews:

Mrs Vestey (Brookes wife) boys messing about, bottoms kicked (is a reference to their maturity,
comparing them to school boys)
Endres, editor of Janes Helicopter Markets and systems: I wouldnt use a helicopter like that to go so far
over the sea. It sounds as if they were pushing it to the maximum
Experts questioned the wisdom of taking such a small helicopter

Resentment in some quarters, various negative quotes show his aversion to the men

Structure

Newspaper article editorial (expressive of authors opinion)

Introduction starts with past farce instead of the usual back ground facts regarding the commotion

Statistics

16,000 mile trip took three months

Cost the tax payers tens of thousands of pounds

HMS endurance came to aid from 180 miles away

By Chris L and Bank

Climate Change - The Facts

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Communication
The writer uses a variety of techniques to make this article easier to understand for younger readers. To
the

http://assets.panda.org/img/108199_235881.jpg
more childish readers, the use of personification is effective as it gives the article a more fictional and
storybook appeal- If the ocean warms sufficiently they could melt, burping vast quantities The diction
employed is immature- farting cows become a political hot potato This gives people the sense that
the issue of this article is not major and there are more important issues that need to be dealt with first.
The writer also uses the statement fringe subject. This means it is not the center of attention which it
should be. The writer uses references to other scientists however these are not precise or helpful as
names are not used and there are no statistics to go with them- Majority of scientists and the writer
refers to people Most people now agree This is very imprecise as it leaves the readers with no clue
of who these people are, if they even have any professions which make their thoughts important and
something we should listen to.
There are not many solutions provided for the problems or possible quotations from other scientists which
could have been useful and made the article more reliable.

Purpose audience text type and form

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01364/CLIMATE_CHANGE_1364022c.jpg
The purpose of this article was to inform young aged people about the issue of global warming, which
was
once a fringe subject, and how it occurred. The texts are written in short paragraphs under
subheadings,which makes the passage more informative and clearly explained to the reader. This is
further supported by statistics mention throughout the article, when Warming in the past 100 years has
caused about a 0.8C increase in global temperature. In one sentence, the reader learnt about many
facts that were not known.
Tone and Content
Kate Ravilious employs various methods throughout the article to demonstrate her points on global
warming and its effects on both humans and the earth. By the use of statistics and graphs it gives the
reader a different perspective on the article; instead of losing interest by reading continuous paragraphs,
she chose to adopt visual representations such as brightly coloured images, diagrams and graphs. This
might lead the reader to believe that the article is aimed towards the younger generation, as it is further
illustrated in the extract by her choice of words such as farting cows' and rotting vegetation- the tone of
her voice is very

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/climate_change_carbon_tax.jpg
childish and furthermore there have been better articles where the global warming issue has been
touched upon; throughout Climate Change she writes about previous points that have already been
mentioned, her piece does not blow away the audience with the facts and figures, the data stated goes
back to 2003, therefore there is no recent information on the current issues of global warming. The text
gives the reader a sense that this is just another article based on global warming- it is not very effective.
All through the article, the author aims to display the text using the format of a question and answer. It
would be an effective method as each topic is explored in depth; however this is not evident in the
passage. The main question of Is mankind really to blame? is not even explored; it is faintly mentioned in
some parts and by the time the reader has reached the end of the article they are left clueless- they do
not know if mankind really is to be blamed.
By Wen Mun, Alexa and Tatiksha

The Explorer's Daughter

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The Explorer's Daughter

Summary
The Explorers Daughter is less focused on the story, it describes the narwhal hunt, but without focusing
on the usual elements of storytelling, such as suspense and plot development. Rather, it explores the
moral and environmental issues around hunting by indigenous peoples. So you could say it is about the
issues raised by hunting in the Arctic.
Theme
A theme in a text is an idea explored by the author, consciously or otherwise. In a sense, this is a deeper
level of what the text is about. In some cases, the author is very deliberately exploring a theme as in
the extract from The Explorers Daughter, which looks at the questions surrounding narwhal hunting in the
Arctic and concludes that it is necessary to the survival of inhabitants.
Text
The author is writing about their own experience although the context of it is not focused on them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPWOzu_EVI8
Paragraph 1
"...spectral play of colour." This sentence shows a sense of immediate aroma. It is an imagery so give a
strong sense of place and setting.
"..butter-gold.." This text shows a sense of wealth
"..shifting light." is Poetical
Paragraph 2
"dead of winter" This is a metaphor - weaker setting
the tone is ominous and there is the sense of place and danger
Paragraph 3
dead of winter is a metaphor to show a weaker setting.
The whole of paragraph 3 has an ominous tone. It shows a sense of place and
danger.
Paragraph 4
The whole of paragraph 4 has a shift in tone from paragraph 3; it is more
factual, informative and for example shows this by using technical words. It
is also the biggest paragraph. In the context you find out that the community
really relies on the hunting and how dangerous it is.
Paragraph 5
..clustered.. The word clustered is a powerful connotation, it means that
the women are scared so they huddle together and try to comfort each other.

It was like watching a cast, waterborne game with the hunters spread like a
net around the sound. This sentence is imagery. It has added adverbs to show
how scared the women were and how much their husbands are important in their
life.
Paragraph 6
"... gently picked up his harpoon" thought and care, focus on the actual hunt and the text also switches
back to the hunters.
"... two heads and one bladder" not high-tech technology, limited, she respects them because they are
using a harpoon, she is sympathetic to the narwhal and the hunters, dramatic.
"..urge..." to show how strongly she wanted the narwhal to survive
"...to dive, to leave, to survive" - triad
Paragraph 7
"The dilemma stayed..." This shows that she's not that sure who to be sympathetic for, the narwhal or the
hunters but her sympathy gets switched back to the hunters un this paragraph.
"How can you possibly eat seal?" is a view point of society this shows that the modern person thinks that
this is a crime.
-she builds up her argument, these are the points of her argument
"use every part of the animal" - so theres no waste/leftover
"imported goods can only ever account for..."
"do not kill for sport"

Your Guide to Beach Safety

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Your Guide to Beach Safety

PURPOSE

The RLNI is the charity that saves lives at sea this is what the leaflet aims to
ensure

To inform people of all ages of the dangers of the sea

To inform people of all ages of the rules on the beach

Your guide to a safe and fun time at the seaside

To display key safety information about staying safe on the beach

To warn people against the serious problems that can be caused if beach safety
regulations are followed or people arent aware of them

To make readers aware of what the RLNI is in place for and how it serves the public

FORM / TEXT TYPE

The beach safety resource is in the form of a leaflet.

It is an informative piece of writing

The information included is written in short concise bullet point and paragraphs and
these are displayed under clear sub-headings which ensures an easy read this
means that the piece can be read and easily understood by readers of all ages

AUDIENCE

Anybody who visits the beach whether regularly or not

Mainly people who have given responsibility when going to the beach

TECHNIQUES
INFORMATIVE WRITING

The brochure is designed to inform people of all ages on the rules of the beach and
how they can keep safe and stay out of trouble.

The RLNI use a variety of different techniques to convey the information such as
diagrams, simple text and bold colours that draw the readers attention

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

Phrases such as TRUE STORY make the reader empathise and think about situations
that could occur to them if they were not to act safely and follow the rules on the
beach

The constant use of the word you makes the reader a part of the brochure and
makes everything personal towards him/her. This forces the reader to take more
notice

VISUAL LAYOUT

Use of bullet points and simple paragraphs to make it an easy read for anybody

Use of pictures to aid the text in conveying the message of each section of the
brochure to the reader

Use of diagrams to show demonstrations and to give examples of situations that

could be encountered or things that can be seen and identified on the beach

USE OF COLOUR

Very bright and bold colours that draw the readers attention

Colours are shown in blocks and are used to convey the tone of each page and
section of the brochure

A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat

ackground InformationEmma Levine is a journalist, travel writer, broadcaster and documentary ma

ker. Levine had always traveled throughout her life and experienced the culture and traditions of many
different nations. Her passion for cricket led her to explore womens cricket in Pakistan, where womens a
ctivities were limited by their tradition and religion. During her time there she also explored other tra
ditional sports.
new passion was born.In 1997 she set off on a 15 month excursion to study what keeps ancient spor
ts alive. She traveled throughout Asia, when she returned, she wrote a series of pieces
rrating her journey. http://www.emma-levine.com/emma-levi

oks.asp?page
id=18Note SummaryFor
m/ Text type & Purpose: Travel writing, to inform the reader of unknown trad
ition and concepts and introducing various issues. Levine chooses to explore this using sports and othe
r traditional
rms of en tertainment.Audience: Emma Levine does not specify her targeted audience although
she hopes to appeal to travelers. Not only does she write to inform travelers, her writing style suggests that s
he attempts to fulfill her readers general interests, promoting her travels and
e choices t hey have. Techniques: Levine generally incorporates an informative tone throughout her na
rrative. Her narrative draws the reader in while providing factual information to satisfy external interest in
various aspects of the cul
ure she is exploring. The extract from A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat also consists of a large
build up where Levine experiments with first hand pessimism but also
includes reassurance. The extracts pace is changed to build tension duri
and after the race. P
a
agraph 1-3 / Build up Paragraph 1 Optimism, author promotes her own, Yaqoob
a
d Iqbals excitement. Well open the car boot well join the cars. Brief description of what wi
ll happen and Levines expectations. Builds immediate excitement and enthusiasm for race and the r
eaders expecta
t
on of instant action.
orks effectively with Paragraph 2 Contrast in tone between The two ladssuddenly fired up wit
h enthusiasm in which Levine narrates the creation of new enthusiasm within locals (her guides) to reflect
on the reader and th
rest of the paragraphUse of eternity hyperbole to exaggerate impatience and derived e
otions such as boredomthe only action was gazed around at us. Hopeless tone, at the point of giving up
, is a let down to the reader

The contrast emphasises the climax in paragraph 7

Paragraph 3 Alternatively, Levine builds hope and optimism in paragraph three, coming, coming the
locals replied
Line 12: I was beginning to lose faith lads remained confident holds elements of first hand pessimism/
loss in faith and witnessed optimism in the form of reassurance. The effect creates suspense further
building the impact of the Climax.
Paragraph 4 & 5 / Climactic Beginning
Paragraph 4 - Climax appears as an explosion of activity
Choice of diction revved prominent v sound creates imagery and the impression of speed. Develops the
moment of frisson
Change in tone from narrative to informative and factual, now not narrating their journey but provoking the
readers interest. The Kibla donkey is said to reach speeds of up to 40kph
Although not cruelly at the end of paragraph four seems out of place, this is where Levine reveals that
she is conscious of her effect on travelers and corrects the imagery she has introduced. She protects the
culture and the tradition in order to promote the sport and the traditions.
Paragraph 5 Change in punctuation to speed up the pace of Levines writing, overall generating
excitement. She begins to use lists and triads (horns tooting, bells ringing, and the special rattles used
just for this purpose) and again incorporates an informative tone in order to introduce different aspects of
culture. Long, disjointed sentences imitate the excitement, pace and disorder of the event: men standing
on top of their cars and vans"
Paragraph 6 / Levine Enters Race
Use of analogies like Formula One (fast-paced, seemingly chaotic), City center rush hour" relates to
reader and creates understanding of speed and "anarchic" disorder.
Paragraph 7
Illustrates danger in order to provoke different kind of excitement,
Survival of the fittest Creates a life and death situation, introduces the animal, hunt theme.
Choice of diction creates a sense of importance, desperation and danger.
e.g. "Depended" creates a sense of necessity
Animal theme: sharp flicks quick reflexes nerves of steel all phrases associate with an animal during
a chase or a hunt. All instinctive.
Horn could be interpreted as a pun car horn or animal horn/ impression of danger, competition,
tension even battle
Yaqoob loved it. Tone is enthusiastic, describing the fun, excitement. Link to ending.
Growing more colourful Euphemistic impression of tension
Paragraph 8 / End of Race

Levine describes scenery to reflect the atmosphere.

Road straightened and leveled Tone is calmer, pace has been slowed, longer sentences, wider
distribution of punctuation.
Effective ending The race was over. Mixture of long sentences with short blunt ending implies
immediate end of race and excitement.
Paragraph 9 / Another Beginning
I assumed the winner was the one who completed the race but it was not seen that way by everyone.
Emphasis on alien culture and traditions, so exotic that even common reasoning differs.
Voices were raised, fists were out and tempers rising Levine reuses lists and triads to speed up the
pace, rebuild the excitement lost at the end of the race.
Ending
Irony, incorporated humour to reflect on the reality of the danger. Links back to Yaqoob loved it. Where
the tone was still expressing shared enjoyment and fun, new realization and understanding is born to
recreate an adapted impression of the entire extract.

Chinese Cinderella
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1) Characters
a) Adeline
i) She hides her embarrassment I had forgotten
ii) She is respectful of her father / in awe of her father - "He looked radiant. For
once, he was proud of me" (line 58). "I had given him face." (line 58-59).
iii) She agrees with her father almost without question to go to England
iv) She is surprised at being invited to enter the Holy of Holies Her fathers
room which in the book she refers to as the Holy of Holies" - in the novel her
father never invites Adeline and her siblings from the previous wife, but
welcomes children of the current wife.
v) At the start of the extract she was expecting that someone had died- for
someone who hasnt read the book I think this can be interpreted as a
pessimistic thought
b) Adelines father
i) Shows the characteristics of a typical/stereotypical Chinese father.
(1) Very strict with his children
(2) Tends to love only some of his children, usually male children
(3) Believes that all of his childs achievements are because of his doing. (e.g.
Adeline winning the writing competition was his doing.)
2) Themes and Motifs
a) Detached Family
i) Line 53-54
ii) How come you won Seems like father doubts his daughters achievements.
iii) Dont look so scared scared shows Adelines fear in turn suggesting there
is a distance between family members
iv) See me in his room? I was overwhelmed by the thought that I had been
summoned by Father to enter the Holy of Holies
v) She does not even know that the elegant villa is her home. Our car stopped
at an elegant villa Where are we?
b) Chinese Culture or Religion
i) does it matter what you do after you go to heaven Religion (Catholic)
ii) summoned- Chinese religion/ culture
c) Motifs
i) Dreams vs. Nightmare
(1) nightmare
(2) heaven- associated with a deep eternal slumber or dream-like
(3) Am I dreaming
(4) I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the stars. (line 61-62)
(5) I had forgotten- I believe that forgetting is like how we sometimes forget our
dreams when we wake up.
3) Tone
a) Fear
i) Foreboding and nightmare (Line 15-16)
ii) my heart gave a giant lurch (Line 71)
iii) Dont look so scared (Line 40)
iv) uneasy when I wondered why he was being so nice, thinking, Is this a giant
ruse on his part to trick me? Dare I let my guard down? (Line 37-39)
b) Excitement/ gratefulness
i) Agree? Of course I agreed. (Line 86)
ii) Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive (Line 88)
iii) Thank you very, very much (Line 89-90)
iv) My whole being vibrated with all the joy in the world. I only had to stretch out
my hand to reach the stars. (Line 60-61)
4) Literary Devices

a) Reference to other quotes Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive (line 88)
b) Rhetorical questions Study?... and Does it matter what you do after you
get to heaven? (line 72-73) and Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner?
(line 51)
c) Metaphor I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the stars. (line 61-62)
d) Repetition very, very and heaven.. heaven
e) Alliteration replied rudely and warm wind
5) Context
a) Setting: In her house, mainly in the Holy of Holies
b) She is having a conversation with her father about her winning the writing
contest and eventually leading up to the point where she agrees with her father
to study medicine in England
c) Text Type: Book (Autobiography)
2)
3)
4)
By Bambi and Ann

Taking On the World

Vocab:
mouse line*: length of wire wrapped across the mouth of a hook, or through a shackle pin and around the
shackle, for the sake of security
halyard*: a rope used for raising and lowering sails
sheet*: a line to control the sails
reef*: reduces area of sails
jumar*: a climbing device that grips the rope so that it can be climbed
spreader*: a bar attached to a yachts mast
Context:
It is set during Christmas, in the ocean. The author is climbing her sailboat, the Kingfisher. There is no
one else but her on the boat. She describes the risks and physical toll it takes for her to get up to set up a
new halyard.
Text type: Autobiographical account.
New 'vocabulary' introduced:
Mouse lines/halyard/jumar- vocabulary associated with the extreme sport that she is doing to give people
an idea of her expertise and knowledge of it. She is introducing the reader to her 'world'/perspective.
Characters:
Ellen MacArthur - author and sailor who is fixing up her halyard. She talks to herself a lot, especially
during the last parts of the climb ("Not far now, kiddo") as if she is a parent talking to a small child. This
portrays how alone she is on the boat and ther struggle to the top of the mast.
Punctuation used:
Many ellipses (" ... ") and dashes (" - ") are used to cut sentences short and keep a brief narrative. Also,
this could signify an edit from the original text to shorten the current article.

Paragraph 1 and 2:
MacArthur narrates about her preparations for the climb ("worked through the night preparing for it") and
introduces some of the equipment she has to take on the climb. Also, she vaguely highlights the risks
about equipment failure ("not get caught as I climbed"). She also states the risk of injury ("thrown against
the mass"...."not difficult to break bones up there").
Paragraph 3:
She describes the preparations on the deck of the Kingfisher. Also, she describes the risk of running out
of energy and not finishing the climb. She also mentions that she is a "passive observer looking down on
your boat some 90 feet below" - this shows how high she has climbed her mast and the actual risk she is
taking by climbing alone. There is no one else to "attend to it" which increases her risk of injury or
equipment failure. The tone here is very fearful and doubtful she would make it.
Paragraph 4:
She narrates about the "increasing heavy halyard"..."nearly 200 feet of rope" which shows how much she
has climbed, again. She refers to the risk of injury and how to avoid "smacking back into the rig".
MacArthur talks about her physical drain - "clinging on" - which shows the fear in her mind. When she
talks about waves smashing into the boat and the motion being too much for her, she refers to the boat
and herself as "us". This only highlights how alone she really is and that she has only the boat and herself
to rely on as to not get injured or fail the climb. She is alone against the elements (the waves) and cannot
help the movement of the boat.
Paragraph 5:
We know she has climbed much further from the last point she had narrated about as "the halyard was
heavier" and the "motion more violent". This signifies as she is higher up on the boat's mast, the waves
would affect her further and the halyard would stream about behind her, forcing her to bear her own
weight and the halyard's as well. She is also "exhausted" and attempting to "conjure up more energy" by
resting on a spreader. Here, a problem is encountered and introduced. "The halyard was tight and that it
had caught on something" - shows the root of the issue.
"Not have the energy to climb up again" - shows her pure exhaustion and the toll of the climb on her body.
Paragraph 7:
She writes about her physical toll ("shook with exhaustion") and her feelings about the success of her
climb. Also relating to her struggle against the elements, she writes that "we had been surfing at well over
20 knots" also emphasizes the fact she was alone on the Kingfisher. A rather 'cheesy' phrase is used at
the end ("I felt like a million dollars") which shows her excitement and relief about her climb. The tone
changes from fearful and worried to esctatic relief. She ends the article with the second piece of the
framing device in the beginning (about Christmas Eve) and mentions "Santa" and "new present" in the
ending paragraph.
Paragraph 8:
She refers back to her physical struggle and how she "shook with exhaustion" and talks about how her
body is affected ("limbs were bruised"). The author also has a cheesy remark on how she feels about her
success, "I felt like a million dollars". This shows that she is not a professional writer and relays a feel as if
she is actually writing into a personal account of her activities. The article ends with the second half of the
framing device - using the words "Santa" and "present" to match with the beginning setting of Christmas
Eve.