Basking shark

Question 1

To stub an oar on a rock

Answer 1

Comes across a shark. Compares shark to rock

Question 2

To have it rise with a slounge

Answer 2

Onomatopoeia. Shark breaks through water. Communicates the shark leisurely movements.

Question 3

But not too often

Answer 3

Implies a change in heart. Reflection, he realises this encounter changed his life for the better.

Question 4

I count as a gain

Answer 4

He finds himself improved. Although the experience was disturbing it has been to the poets benefit

Question 5

Room sized monster

Answer 5

Suggests the enormous scale of shark. Sheer size.

Question 6

Matchbox brain

Answer 6

Imply low intelligence

Question 7

Shoggled me

Answer 7

Physically and metaphorically moved by this encounter. Water literally moved but inside he is left shaken and changed

Question 8

Branch of his family

Answer 8

Moment of realisation that he and the shark are connected as members of the natural world

Question 9

A spring is all the clearer

Answer 9

Conveys the moment of clarity. Humans are not separate from nature.

Question 10

So who’s the monster

Answer 10

Rhetorical question draws readers in. Disturbing realisation. Encounter forces maccaig to reflect on nature. Who is more terrifying