explorers or boys messing about Flashcards
(22 cards)
‘explorers or boys messing about?’
explorers evoke ideas of respect and boys messing is an image of a nuisance.
Contrasting ideas assimilated highlights the anger that the writer has towards them and their immaturity.
The two contrasting ideas highlight to the reader that they have two clear choices, and that there is no grey area.
It is a rhetorical question that evokes thought among readers and invites them to question the credibility of the two men.
‘taxpayer get the rescue bill’
This is a loaded statement directed at the appropriate audience who will majorly be middle-class workers taxpayers, the writer knows the common demographic of the Guardian newspaper.
It engages the thought of the audience and antagonizes them to create resentment.
The singular taxpayer creates a personal connection with each reader, and makes the bill seem like a personal obligation, it evokes anger towards the careless explorers.
‘farce’
This ridicules the mission and paints them in a negative light.
It is pathetic imagery and is critical of the men, it creates a tone similar to that of a ridiculous comedy.
From a structural standpoint, the article opens with a previous mission that ended in failure, it means that es the reader, we view the rest of the account in a negative light.
‘new adventure’ ‘plunged’ ‘plucked’
This is childish and cartoonish imagery
Describing their mission as another ‘adventure’ is a litote, to create a sarcastic tone, and portrays them with childish but naive curiosity to highlight their irresponsibility.
‘plunged’ is an emotive verb which shows the lack of control that they had in the situation and their careless nature
‘plucked’ portrays them as small and irrelevant, it shows their careless nature too.
‘Royal Navy, RAF and British Coastguards’
This use of listing and the power of three emphasizes the help and resources that they required and wasted.
It creates frustration towards them and shows their irresponsibility.
‘resentment’ ‘tens of thousands of pounds’
‘resentment’ takes on a critical tone to the men and highlights the anger that the writer has towards them and the reader should have too.
The ambiguity of the money spent on them makes the reader assume the worst outcome, this creates frustration
‘Experts question the wisdom’
The expert opinion implied idiocy on the men’s part, and the plural of experts highlights that there is collective negativity towards the men.
Questioning their ‘wisdom’ highlights their intelligence and implies idiocy.
‘“trusty helicopter”’
The use of inverted commas creates a sarcastic tone and is ironic given the failure of the mission.
This is critical of the men and shows their poor judgement
‘Robinson R44’ hostile environment’
The image of inadequate equipment has juxtaposed the environment, this contrast highlights their poor judgment and naive nature.
‘hostile’ creates an image of the environment as being very dangerous and shows how careless the men are, it could also be referring to the feeling of anger that both the reader and writer share towards the men.
‘boys messing […] with a helicopter’
‘boys messing’ is a repeated childish metaphor, we as the reader do not take the men seriously and portray them as naive.
‘helicopter’ is described as a toy and creates childish imagery which shows their ignorance and immaturity.
‘42’ and ‘40 years old’
The men’s mature ages juxtapose the childish metaphors
This evokes anger towards them as we expect more maturity on their behalf.
From a structural perspective, their ages are left unheard of until halfway through the passage, this creates shock among the readers as we except more maturity from them.
‘known as Q’
This has derivations from James Bond.
It creates a comic book and fantasy image.
It shows their childish nature and that the writer does not take them seriously, just as they ave not taken seriously the missions that they embark on and the would-be consequences of their actions
‘ditched and scrambled’
This contrasts the following expert diction used to describe the rescue forces who ‘surveyed the sea’, this shows the mens’ unprofessional nature.
These are emotive verbs which highlight their vulnerability in the situation and their careless nature
‘called his wife’
this is domestic imagery which contrasts their personal bravados as seen in their ‘action-based’ nickname, it ridicules them and shows that they do not live up their personal claims.
‘Breitling emergency watch which was a wedding gift’
This furthers the domestic imagery which shows that the men are delusion in their plans and perceptions of themselves.
The watch creates value and expensive imagery which further our anger towards them as we have to pay for their mistakes.
‘experienced adventurers’
This is a narrative shift known as a volta.
They begin to list the mens’ great achievements and credibility which increases our anger as we expect better from them.
‘nothing short of a miracle’
This is a cliche metaphor which creates a religious image to indicate that they could have died and they remain very lucky.
The metaphor indicates their reckless and careless nature.
‘wisdom[…] questioned’
Repetition of the expert opinion highlights their idiocy and unintelligence.
It is critical to the men and evokes frustration.
‘they’ll get their bottoms kicked’
This is a metaphor which takes on a juvenile lexis.
The description of a childish punishment highlights their immaturity.
STRUCTURE: SHORT PARAGRAPHS
Short paragraphs make clear points make the information easy to digest, so the reader can make their own justified decision about the men.
They are majorly emphatic of the severity of the situation
The short paragraphs reflects the frustration that the writer has towards the men and their immaturity.
STRUCTURE: JUXTAPOSITION AND CONTRAST
Juxtaposition frequently highlights the unintelligence of the men and the expectation we have of them.
FORM: VOLTA AND NARRATIVE SHIFT
Shows what the men are capable of which evokes anger towards their naive nature.
