Aron Ralston, the author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place creates a very notable portrait of himself just within the first few pages of the novel. Ralston presents himself to be tenacious, bold, and a relatively experienced outdoorsman. Ralston describes a faulty trial of climbing, “I’m committed to my course; there’s no going back” (Ralston 20). This quote shows how determined Ralston is to his mission, the hiking trip. It becomes clear that Ralston values nature as he is so committed to this trip. Ralston ponders, “Some other marvelous force is in control, and has been all along” (Ralston 247). Ralston believes in some greater being that controls life. This says a lot about his character as he can believe in something he cannot feel, hear or see. The wilderness is not new to Ralston, as he’s been mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, as well participating in many other outdoor activities for years before his near death experience. Ralston exclaims, “Saying farewell is also a bold and powerful beginning” (Ralston 342). When Ralston was reaching the end in the fight for his life, he began …show more content…
I believe Ralston’s writing style is very unique, it’s heartfelt and sincere. Ralston experienced so much within the course of several days, and he turned it into 354 pages of brutal honesty. His tone shifted throughout different occurrences in the book. I believe Ralston’s primary tone in Between a Rock and a Hard Place was very intimate. Ralston is sharing his near death experience, the thoughts racing through his brain, and the actions he took to survive. Ralston’s honesty and sincerity helped create the intimate tone of this novel. Ralston questions himself, “You think you’re done? How about all of those people who care about you? How about all of those people who care about you?” (Ralson 209). Ralston shared many of the thoughts that helped him fight for his life, but he also shared many details of his injuries and how he survived which helped create the tone of the
Krakauer’s use of stylistic devices throughout his book is quite phenomenal. Just a few examples of the stylistic techniques that he uses to uncover his tone are: polysyndeton, anaphora, and antithesis. Krakauer remains indifferent towards Chris for a good 6 chapters, states all the facts, and tells the story as it is. He uses no emotion appealing words to hint to us how he feels about Chris. His indifference is shown through his use of polysyndeton, which is the use of several conjunctions when not necessary.
Time, what is time, and why is it important? Well time is a concept that humans’ brains can perceive, in fact their brains basically construct the past, the present, and the future. Basically, time is a measurement system, and without it the human race wouldn’t have ever existed. Humans have a very simple understanding of time, and they still do not understand its full potential. Humans only understand the measurement of time, and the manipulation and capturing of time overwhelms them. To this day the only way humans have captured time is their memory, and even then they still get it wrong sometimes.
Knowing that the wilderness can be extremely rough, people can understand that there is only a small chance of coming out alive after a long period of time of living there. McCandless and Ruess are examples of these instances; however, Krakauer lived to tell the story. McCandless suffered from starvation and natural disasters. He indicated all his struggles in his journal entries: “he’d written “4th day famine” in his journal” (164). After his ineffective attempt of leaving, he “turned around …back toward the bus” and died shortly (171). Although Ruess’s death was never confirmed, controversies revolved around the incident. Bewildering tales of his death included “death while scrambling on one or another canyon wall” and “[murdered] by a team of cattle rustlers” (94). Krakauer on the other hand, was the only individual out of the three to survive his expedition. In his narrative of his attempt at the Devil’s Thumb, he includes the phrase: “The climb was over” (144). This short sentence creates an artificial tone in which he expresses a very emotionless attitude after completing the harsh odyssey.
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer is an interesting and impressive book. The expedition that Christopher McCandless took seems, at times, unrealistic for a young man to tale . Yet his story remains relatable, even the anti-adrenaline junkie. This is all due to Krakauer's use of literary devices and his own personal connection to McCandless. Anyone can write words on a page and have a someone read them.
I believe that the author really went into detail about in his memoir just so we understand why he made the choice he made. He really knows how to write and inspire those who can relate or understand his story.
Many people say that war is worse than Hell because innocent people die in it. In Beah’s life, this is most definitely true. Throughout the war, Beah goes through many hardships and witnesses the deaths of innocent loved ones, and Beah’s writing reflects how he felt during these times. Beah uses rhetorical strategies like diction, imagery, and detail choice to convey the emotional process he had to undergo in order to survive.
Krakauer has a straight-to-the-point, concrete writing style. I tend to favor abstract writing with a great deal of figurative language. I had a hard time finding trope, but My favorite simile in the book is on page 96. It said, “Like a super villain in a Marvel comic book, he seemed to be endowed with the ability to absorb the mightiest blows his enemy could deliver, draw energy from them, and become more powerful as a consequence.” This quote is comparing Osama bin Laden to a villain in a comic book because it seemed like no matter what attempts the U.S. made to take him down, he always came back stronger. If there had been more similes like this, the book would’ve been better. Also, Krakauer’s excessive use of acronyms left me feeling frustratingly confused. Nevertheless, not all is bad about Krakauer’s writing technique. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he included actual entries from Pat Tillman’s journal and statements from Tillman’s friends and family. In doing so, Krakauer made me easily connect and empathize with Pat Tillman and his loved ones. This made a powerful impact on the book and reader.
The American television film The Day After is a 1980s-science fiction film dramatizing the catastrophic events resulting from a nuclear fallout between the United States and the Soviet Union. The movie documents the accustomed lives of two diverging families in three distinct, chronological stages. The first phase begins in a pre-war period during which Dr. Russell Oakes and his wife, Helen, a noble Kansas City family, receive word from their daughter that she will be moving to Boston. Meanwhile, in the bordering state of Missouri, the Dahlberg’s, a rural family of five, are preparing for the upcoming marriage of their eldest child, Denise. Amid these monumental changes, the families are further burdened by an emergency broadcast, warning a sudden declaration of war.
In Charles O. Jones' essay "It Ain't Broke", the author counters those who critique the American system of separated powers. He argues that having such a system is useful in preventing the passing of legislation that hadn't been debated enough to predict its consequences. Jones has high confidence that the current system of government will almost always find a way to succeed, and that divided governments accomplish equally as much reform as unified governments. However, in the case of the politics leading up to the passing of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, his theories are disproved.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out presents the notion of racism and injustice through the guise of a horror movie. While elements of horror such as gore and fear are included and the movie leaves us on edge throughout, Peele uses satire to highlight racial tension and anxiety in society. The protagonist, Chris, who is a black male, travels with his white girlfriend Rose to visit her parents at their house. Throughout the movie, Chris is faced with many weird encounters involving Rose’s family, leading up to the climax where Chris realizes Rose has tricked him and has been the antagonist the whole time. Rose’s family attempts to conduct an operation that will give Jim, a family friend, control of Chris’ body, but Chris manages
From IPhones to new cars to discounted food, advertisements and the desire for the newest or cheapest items surround humans every day. Socially we are held responsible to not only “keep up with the Joneses” anymore, but also the Kardashians, Gates, and Walton families. Today’s society has proven that the desire to have the newest items for the most affordable prices stands more important than our true happiness. Joseph Turow provides in his article, The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Worth, which the advertising industry has greatly affected your consumption habits and the prices you look for. James A. Roberts grows on that idea, in that with the help of these advertising firms, you continue to run
The message of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On is that the abuse of the government's authorities will not lead to peace and harmony within the United States. Marvin Gaye sings about his through his lyrics that show the destruction inflicted upon normal families. He sings; “Mother, mother/ There’s too many of you crying/ Brother, brother, brother/ There’s far too many f you dying” (1-4) which show the families that have been affected by things such as poverty, or war, or police brutality, which was prominent and harmful back in the 1970s. Gaye sings about how “war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate” (9-10). He is saying that the violence between people will not solve the problems they currently face and that to conquer problems they need to be united. It’s clear that Gaye is singing about police authorities when he sings “Picket lines and picket signs/ Don’t punish me with brutality” (13-14) and references to the signs used by protesters and workers on strike. When Gaye sings “Don’t punish me with brutality” (14), he is singing about the police force used against protestors although most of them were not harmful. Marvin Gaye sings about the violence between civilians and authorities. He sees the change needed and how The main message of the poem shown throughout the lyrics is that the authority's force against civilians who are against governmental actions is not useful, nor will it bring harmony within the country.
Krakauer uses an exceptionally descriptive writing style in this book. The author focuses on describing an event or a character in detail. This quote is an excellent example of the author’s writing style. The author uses figurative language and sensory details to create detail which allows the reader to envision the setting in their mind. Without style, writing often becomes tedious and repetitive. Writing style is how the writer chooses to express himself or herself through writing. In conclusion, style separates decent authors from phenomenal authors. (86 words).
In Krakauer’s story of fear, pain, and survival, he has ignited effects like suspense and tension, causing the reader to place themselves in his worn-out mountain shoes-mostly relying on devices like foreshadowing, pacing, manipulation of time and exposition as a cause.
One method Krakauer uses is characterization. He uses this technique to draw parallels to himself and the main character. The author convinces the reader just how similar he and Chris are for example, “As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please” (Krakauer, 134). This quote directly describes how similar Chris and Krakauer are. The author’s goal in writing this story was to tell Chris’s saga and give life to a truly eccentric man. He succeeds by describing how both his and McCandless’s journey had a huge impact on their personality and feelings towards society. During much of his trip, Chris avoided close relationships with people and had very little interaction with other human beings. As the reader learns more about the character and his life, we learn that he matured a great deal on his sojourn. Towards the end of his journey, he realizes, “happiness is only real when shared”. (McCandless, 189) By adding this quote, the reader feels sympathy for Chris because he is in such poor condition. At this point in the novel, the reader feels connected to the main character and his exuberant personality. Krakauer