'127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place' annotations

Annotations for the pearson edexcel igcse text

“eleven of twelve feet high…. different geometry”

Use of statistics shows writer’s control - ability to survey the scene, writer uses technical jargon to show experience

“drop off… claustrophobic… drop off”

repetition of drop off, and use of emotive adjective shows the risk of the situation, foreshadows the accident

Structure of second paragraph

Controlled sentence structure and technical register show control

“technique known as stemming or chimneying; you can imagine using it to climb up the inside of a chimney”

Use of analogy to show how claustrophobic the environment is

“If I can….”

conditional statements show is not in full control anymore

“test how stuck it is”

Even when in control there is a sense of danger

“lower myself and hang…” / “As I dangle”

Use of passive verb shows loss of control - he is reliant on the stone being wedged in place

“akin to climbing down from the roof of a house”

analogy is used to clarify and heighten the danger

“scraping quake”

violent onomatopoeia

“instantly… instinctively”

adverbs show how he is no longer in control of situation

“chockstone falling toward my head consumes the sky”

vivid image of danger and horror

“Fear shoots my hands over my head”

Personification shows how his emotions are now in control, contrast with before the accident

“In slow motion… tearing skin off the lateral side of my forearm”

very long sentence shows how quickly these events happen

“my eyes register the collision”

disconnect between brain and body

“smashes / crushes / ensnares / tearing”

violent lexical field, reflects chaos of boulder falling

“Then silence”

Very short sentence, shows shock, uncertainty and sense of isolation, juxtaposes long previous sentence

“My disbelief paralyses me”

Loss of control

“my arm vanishing”

strong visual image

“Good god, my hand”

colloquial language conveys pain/fear

“flaring agony” / “searing-hot”

semantic field of fire shows writer’s pain

“I grimace and growl”

onomatopoeia / guttural alliteration

“But I’m stuck”

escape is unsuccessful - short sentence shows futility of actions

“Anxiety has my brain tweaking”… “frantic”…”desperate”

lexical field of nervousness - shows the panic the writer feels

“adrenaline-stoked mom lifts an overturned car to free her baby”

analogy used to describe the adrenaline the writer feels

“raging at full flood”

violent verbs

“heaving…pushing…lifiting”

repeated verbs in a mutli-clause sentence shows the writer’s effort

“good leverage with the aid of twelve-inch shelf”

use of technical language shows expertise despite being under a lot of stress

“thrust upward repeatedly, grunting”

animalistic imagery, long complex sentences demonstrate effort and exertion

“Nothing.”

Paragraphs ending with short sentences show how his attempts to escape are in vain.

Whole text structure

Contrasts a technical register using controlled sentence structures before the accident, with a much more emotive and impulsive register during and immediately after the accident. Sentence structures also lose control, becoming more rambling and reactive.