Nat 5 English - Basking Shark Quotes

commonality

in 'Basking Shark' Macaig uses his strange encounter with a basking shark at sea in order to explore central concerns of isolation and our place in the world and nature

'sea tin tacked with rain'

sound of the raindrops pinging off sea makes it look like it's covered in drawing pins, sharp and jagged. alliteration of 'T' sound is short and sharp suggesting staccato sound of rain hitting water surface

'room-sized monster with a matchbox brain'

metaphor compares shark to a huge room to emphasise its size and this contrasts with the small size of its brain.

'shook on the wrong branch of the family tree'

word choice suggests fear and unsecurity, our place at top of evolution is not as secure as we may assume he is questioning our dominance

'so who's the monster?'

question indicates realization that humans really are dangerous ones and not animals, animals don't intend harm

'the decadent townee'

word choice of 'decadent' has connotations of lazy and corrupt suggests modern people have chosen to distance themselves from nature, focusing on an easy life and its pleasures - forgetting the consequences. stark contrast with how people used to live off the land - hard work (referral to AJ)

'gain'

word choice has cannotations of obtaining something useful or advantageous or positive. This suggests he now realizes he had learned a lot from the creature

'and then the tail'

the build up shows how long it took for the shark to dissapear and the huge emotional impact on the writer. This links back to the start of the poem and contrasts with the beginning of poem and the sharks slow movement