From 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston

Language Features in the first paragraph

1st person narrative- autobiographical, intimate

Technical/ functional language- shows his expertise

Metaphor- ‘refrigerator chockstone’ emphasizes the size of the boulder

Foreshadowing- ‘refrigerator chockstone is wedged between the walls’

Repetition of diction referring to confined spaces- ‘claustrophobic…short tunnel… sot narrows to a consistent three feet across’

Language Features in the second paragraph

Didactic language

claustrophobic semantic field- ‘stemming or chimneying… chimney’

Direct address to reader- ‘you’

Language Features in the third paragraph

metaphor- ‘chockstone the size of a large bus tire’- shows the size and weight of the rock

First person narrative- intensifies the claustrophobia

Language features in the fourth paragraph

Specific , functional details- ‘south wall… left knee… north wall’

First intonation of tension- ‘supports me but teeters slightly’

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Language Features in the fifth paragraph

Pivotal line- ‘Instantly, I know this is trouble’

Language Features in the sixth paragraph

Description of temporality- ‘normal speed. Time dilates, as if I’m dreaming… decelerate… slow motion’ flashbacks. can’t reconcile the past.

Juxtaposition- ‘Then silence’. Juxtaposition between the horrific sound f the boulder and silence creates an eerie and tense atmosphere.

Language features in the seventh paragraph

Primeval raw reaction to danger. Visceral, human, raw emotions throughout the seventh and eighth paragraphs.

Alliterative phrase- ‘I grimace and growl’

Structural features in the seventh paragraph

Short sentence- ‘But I’m stuck’- accentuates sense of fear and panic. \[Two short sentences at the end of the sixth and seventh paragraphs\]

Language Features in the eighth paragraph

Semantic field of intensity, panic, trauma and claustrophobia- ‘searing-hot pain… frantic… cry out… desperate… adrenaline-stoked… raging… brute force… shove… heaving… pushing… lifting… thrust… grunting’