Chapter 8

“I stared at the mountain rising over me. Empty. It was a pointless thing to have done – climb up it, across it, and down it. Stupid! It looked perfect; so clean and untouched, and we had changed nothing, It was beautiful, immaculate, but it left me empty. I had been on it too long, and it had taken everything.”

Simon personifies the mountain by saying that it had taken everything from him. He says that the mountain is immaculate, perfect and beautiful and that they had defaced it by climbing it, and in return, it had taken Joe.

The tone of the passage is somber, the emphasis on Simon being empty, he almost wants to forget about the events over the last week, trying his best not to look back at the thing that took everything from him creates a dark tone.

“It was a lonely place to rest. In the huge chaos of the moraines, I had sat down to rest at the one spot where I would be reminded. We and sat in the same spot six days earlier. All our keen excitement and the healthy strong feel in our bodies had become an empty memory.”

The mood of the passage is set by the word lonely. Simon was thinking back when he and Joe were at the same location just six days earlier, it made him feel alone, isolated, making the mood negative.

The tone of the passage is sorrowful, Simon is almost mourning the loss of Joe. He feels alone and lost, using the words empty and chaos to describe his thoughts and perceptions.

Chapter 7 “Shadows in the ice”

Part 1:

Contrast is used in the text because of how Joe’s brain processed the situation. He was certain that death would claim him and Simon, to the point that he was at the point where he was on the edge of giving up and succumbing to the cold, accepting his death, with his only worry being that he wished for someone to find him or Simon and somehow know that they climbed the west face.
Part 2:

As Simon cuts the rope, in an effort to save himself, he hoped that Joe was close enough to the ground so that he wouldn’t fall and injure himself more or even to his death. The symbolic meaning of Simon cutting the rope in order to same himself severs his ties to Simon, When Joe realizes this when he tugs on the rope only to find that it’s been cut, he loses hope in Simon.
Extension:

Joe begins lowering himself deeper into the crevasse Simply because he had no hope that he’d survive the situation, leading him to reach the conclusion to lower himself into the void.

Chapter 5 “Disaster” (Climax)

The writing styles and techniques include short sentences to add punch and intensity to the situation. The descriptive language of when Joe injures his knee is designed to get the readers to cringe at the thought of that happening and what it may look like.

The purpose of interviewing Simon about his thoughts and emotions when Joe breaks his leg is because it’s the most climactic moment in the whole book, making it important to get both perspectives of the men. This means that Joe, the narrator speaks from an all-seeing first person point of view (omniscient)

If I were in Joe’s position, I don’t know if I would be able to do what Joe did or if I were able to, I don’t know how calmly I could operate. I don’t know if I would be able to shift my attention from the searing pain from my leg to my own survival. However, I may have a good chance as I’ve dealt with broken, sprained and hyperextended bones, but nothing to the extent of Joe’s experience.

Chapter 4 “On The Edge” Symbolism

Use of the pun language feature in the title
The term “on edge” is used to describe someone who is visibly anxious or cautious about their actions repercussions, this term could also be used to literally describe someone or something that is on the edge of a sheer drop, such as a mountain. this pun perfectly describes Joe and his emotions in the chapter.

Symbolism
There are hints of symbolism scattered throughout the duration of the book, such as the subtle reference of the gas stove running out is symbolic of the two climbers running out of hope that their journey will end with them reaching their base camp safely

What’s Included?

There’s a quite clear image of them being at one of the camps up the climb while one is suffering from frostbite, evidenced by the narrator mentioning their “blackened fingertips”. There is a slight mention of the narrator’s disdain for large cities and prefers the solitude of the mountains.

The narrator uses language such as “damaged” and “blackened” to make their problem sound more impactful. They also use enthralled to describe how attached to the mountains they are, and we know this because the definition of enthralling is to captivate the attention or fascination of someone or something.

Goals for Level 1 English 2018

My main goal for this course is to pass with merit. I will do so by contributing to class conversations, listening to everyone’s opinion even if for whatever reason I don’t agree with it whilst also challenging them with my own facts and opinions.

This is your online portfolio

Hello and welcome to your personal online journal.

This platform has been created to enhance and enrich your learning at Mount Aspiring College. Its purpose is to provide you with an audience for your work (or work-in-progress) and you have the choice (by altering the ‘visibility’ of your posts) of whether your work on here is visible to the world, or only to your teacher.

Anything you post here in the public domain represents you and thus it’s important that you take care with that decision, but don’t be afraid to publish your work – as the feedback you may get from people at home, your peers and people from around the internet is only likely to enhance it.

Remember you can always access your class blog and all manner of resources through the Department of English main website – and by all means check out the sites of your peers to see what they’re getting up to as well.

If you have any questions for me, an excellent way to get an answer is to create a new private post on this journal. I am notified of any new posts and will reply swiftly to any queries.

Make the most of, and enjoy this new freedom in your English learning.

Righto!

 

Chris Waugh