passage to africa

?
‘i saw a thousand hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces’
-emotive, triassic structure
-1st person pronoun, intimate
-later highlights how the face he describes is unique and unforgettable
makes the reader feel empathy and pity. the rule of three makes the reader question who is betraying them
1 of 22
‘but there is one i will never forget’
-suspense
-minor clause adds emphasis
draws the reader in. shows there is suffering and is quite vague.
2 of 22
‘take the badale road for a few kilometres till the end of the tarmac…’
-asyndeton speeds up pace of reading making journey seem to last forever, emphasising the secluded nature of the area
gives the sense of helplessness and very rural. contrasts roads in the UK
3 of 22
‘like a ghost village’
-simile evokes pathos
-could suggest how the writer is surrounded by death and its negative connotations
4 of 22
‘in the ghoulish manner of journalists’
negative connotations as ‘ghouls’ feed on human flesh
-or could be an allusion to how journalists are like ghouls that feed off of people’s suffering and misery
-emotion evoking
5 of 22
‘the search for the shocking is like the craving for a drug’
-simile highlights how addictive the profession can be. ‘craving’ suggests negative connotations that these journalists need stories to survive- drawing parallel to the fact that other people are literally struggling to survive
6 of 22
‘same old stuff’
-colloquialism seems callous
7 of 22
‘it’s how we collect and compile’
-collective pronoun conveys shared guilt
8 of 22
‘she only had one daughter. habiba had died’
-euphemism numbs the reader for the hurt that is about to come
-minor, short sentence, could reflect how habiba’s life was short and unfulfilled?
9 of 22
‘no rage, no whimpering, just a passing away’
-anaphora
-triassic structure shows how quickly people move on after death
● Alagiah uses simple sentences to state facts. This makes the tone oddly calm, lacking drama and sometimes even feelings. It makes the account feel frank
10 of 22
‘half-life to death’
-oxymoron
11 of 22
‘a vision of famine away from the headlines’
-contradictory- it is in the headlines
-showing author’s inner conflict?
12 of 22
‘ there was a festering wound the size of my hand’
-helplessness shown by vivid and graphic imagery
-dysphemism
13 of 22
‘gentle v shape’
-contrasts to actual subject matter
14 of 22
‘it was rotting. she was rotting’
-parallel sentence structure
15 of 22
‘and then there was a face i will never forget’
-declarative sentence- gripping
-volta?
-short factual paragraph is shocking to the reader.
16 of 22
‘sucked of its natural vitality by the twin evils of hunger and disease, is a disgusting thing’
-personification
-uses of 2 evils suggests villain type structure
17 of 22
‘or the old and dying man’
-anonymous- shows wide spread suffering
18 of 22
‘-how could it be?-‘
-disjointed sentence highlights shock
19 of 22
‘and then it clicked’
simple sentence= clarity and honesty
20 of 22
‘the journalist is active, the subject is passive’
-compound sentence emphasises vast gap
21 of 22
‘so, my nameless friend, if you are still alive, i owe you one’
-oxymoron
-direct register ends with colloquialism
-becomes informal- humanising
-direct address
22 of 22

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

‘but there is one i will never forget’

Back

-suspense
-minor clause adds emphasis
draws the reader in. shows there is suffering and is quite vague.

Card 3

Front

‘take the badale road for a few kilometres till the end of the tarmac…’

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

‘like a ghost village’

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

‘in the ghoulish manner of journalists’

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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