H is for Hawk Key Points

'as if someone had punched it, hard, from within'

Simile reflecting the constrained power of the bird.

'Infinite caution'

Adjectives describing the need for a delicate approach to the operation.

'She is a conjuring trick.'

Short sentence, a metaphor describing the bird's magical character.

'practised ... anchoring ... gripping'

Verbs to connote expertise in bird handling.

'fizzing and fusing'

Alliteration to accentuate the bird's confusion.

'It was the wrong bird ... the smaller one'

Disjointed pattern of short sentences denotes confusion.

'Oh.'

Single sentence word - a sound to voice her surprise, trying to understand what's just happened.

'and darker and ... bigger ... and the sound...'

Repetitious use of the conjunction to reflect the growing realization that this bird is so different to the first.

'This isn't my hawk.'

Italicized letters reflecting the internal voice of the writer.

'white-faced ... wind wrecked'

Compound words describing her sense of derangement. This is further emphasised by the alliteration of the "w" sound

'There was a moment of total silence.'

Use of short sentences to iterate the seriousness of the moment.

A sudden thump of feathered shoulders and the box shook as if someone had punched it, hard, from within.

Commas and the use of the subordinate clause helps to exaggerate the force/power which the bird has. Use of the simile/personification of the bird also helps to convey the force that she has

Another hinge untied. Concentration. Infinite caution. Daylight irrigating the box. Scratching talons, another thump. And another. Thump. The air turned syrupy, slow,
flecked with dust. The last few seconds before a battle. And with the last bow pulled free, he reached inside, and amidst a whirring, chaotic clatter of wings and feet and talons and a high-pitched twittering and it's all happening at once..."

Use of short sentences and varied sentence structures helps to show the power and unpredictability of the bird.

A reptile. A fallen angel. A griffon from the pages of an illuminated bestiary.

Metaphor. Short sentence and juxtaposition using comparison with different creature, religious and mythical language to portray bird as an angel, almost a saviour. By comparing the bird to a saviour of sorts, she could be referencing how she felt that the bird would save her from her grief, as she had just lost her father.

Something bright and distant, like gold falling through water.

Metaphor connotes the value of the bird to her.

For one awful, long moment she is hanging head-downward, wings open, like a turkey in a butcher's shop, only her head is turned right-way-up and she is seeing more than she has ever seen before in her whole short life.

alliteration and simile suggest feelings of anxiety for the bird and exaggerated description of how sheltered it has been until this moment. Could be a metaphor for the writer herself suffering from grief.

Her world was an aviary no larger than a living room. Then it was a box. But now it is this; and she can see everything: the point-source glitter on the waves, a diving cormorant a hundred yards out; pigment flakes under wax on the lines of parked cars; far hills and the heather on them and miles and miles of sky where the sun spreads on dust and water and illegible things moving in it that are white scraps of gulls. Everything startling and new stamped on her entirely astonished brain.

Use of descriptive and detailed language helps to emphasise not only the magical appearance of nature, but also how the bird is observing even the smallest things around her, which shows the reader how quick and calculating her mind is. Use of the word "astonished" helps to show the birds confusion

There was concern in his face. It was born of care. This hawk had been hatched in an incubator, had broken from a frail bluish eggshell into a humid perspex box, and for the
first few days of her life this man had fed her with scraps of meat held in a pair of tweezers, waiting patiently for the lumpen, fluffy chick to notice the food and eat, her new neck wobbling with the effort of keeping her head in the air.

Various uses of alliteration helps to convey the feelings and the care of the man who had raised her. Use of descriptive language such as "frail" helps to emphasise how vulnerable and helpless the chick was.

Her beak was open, her hackles raised; her wild eyes were the colour of sun on white paper, and they stared because the whole world had fallen into them at once.

Vivid description of the the bird using metaphor and an adjective with the connotation of being fierce and powerful.

So we put her back and opened the other box, which was meant to hold the larger, older bird. And dear God, it did.

Use of religious language/blasphemy helps to emphasise her shock at seeing the other bird and its size

This is my hawk, I was telling myself and it was all I could do to breathe. She too was bareheaded, and I grabbed the hood from the box as before. But as I brought it up to her face I looked into
her eyes and saw something blank and crazy in her stare. Some madness from a distant country. I didn't recognise her. This isn't my hawk.

Short sentences emphasise confusion at realisation she has the wrong bird.

The hood was on, the ring numbers checked, the bird back in the box, the yellow form folded, the money exchanged, and all I could think was, But this isn't my hawk. Slow panic. I knew what I had to say, and it was a monstrous breach of etiquette. 'This is really awkward,' I began. 'But I really liked
the first one. Do you think there's any chance I could take that one instead . . .?' I tailed off. His eyebrows were raised. I started again, saying stupider things: 'I'm sure the other
falconer would like the larger bird? She's more beautiful than the first one, isn't she? I know this is out of order, but I ... Could I? Would it be all right, do you think?' And on and on, a desperate, crazy barrage of incoherent appeals.

Use of extensive enumeration at the beginning of the passage helps to show how far along they've gotten in the process of buying the hawk, but it's then revealed that MacDonald still doesn't feel certain that her hawk is the right one.

I'm sure nothing I said persuaded him more than the look on my face as I said it. A tall, white-faced woman with wind-wrecked hair and exhausted eyes was pleading with him
on a quayside, hands held out as if she were in a seaside production of Medea.

Use of an epic simile (she's comparing herself to Medea from the Classical Greek play "Jason and Medea" by Euripides- where in some versions she kills her children after Jason abandons her which is quite a crazy thing to do) helps to depict her unusual appearance and manner. Use of the alliteration of the "W" sound also helps to emphasise this point, alongside her specifically chosen adjectives. Use of the verb "pleading" implies her desperation.

Looking at me he must have sensed that my stuttered request wasn't a simple one. That there was something behind it that was very important. There was a moment of total silence.

Use of the short sentence at the end emphasises the awkward nature of the exchange. Mentioning that there was "something behind it that was very important" may be referencing her grief over her father's death.

the man pulls an enormous, enormous hawk out of the box and in a strange coincidence of world and deed a great flood of sunlight drenches us and everything is brilliance and fury.

Repetition to emphasise size of bird and pathetic fallacy and personification to suggest how amazing it is.