What does it mean to be alive in a dead world? pp.229

9th November

Page 229 Lines 6-18

Sentence Structure

• Extremely long sentences without commas, this forces the reader to speed up the reading of the section, creating the effect of frantic actions as they feel unsafe similar to pages 6 - 10 in the novel.
• However in the passage, the sentences shorten, this makes the pace of the reading slows down, therefore we can infer they have moved on and the danger has passed.

Choice of Vocabulary

• The vocabulary is simple, this maybe because the father has grown accustomed to the sons style of speech; another reason could be because the simple vocabulary inadvertently increases the pace and tension of the passage as it does not give time to go into intense detail.
• The detail length and vocab becomes more detailed as they appear to leave the danger, this allows the tension to decrease and takes the reader 'off edge' only to increase it once again later on...

Repetition

• The repetition of the can (in this case) is used in the extended sentences as this creates an almost instruction guide to the actions they are creating; in this case with the constant repetition of the can and the process of collecting gasoline shows the frantic actions that the man is completing.

What style of text does this section remind you of?

• The section I have chosen reminds me of an instruction manual, e.g. Survival Guides.
• This is because the passage is short and sharp sentences with actions to follow, exactly like an instruction manual.

Effects on the reader?

• The first part of the section causes the reader to be on edge with the short sentences makes the reader believe that something may happen to them. Once the reader realises that the danger has passed, the reader begins to calm down but stays on edge expecting to be hit graphically from an 'attack' on the McCarthy Style.