Summary

The Explorers Daughter is less focused on the story, it describes the narwhal hunt, but without focusing
on the usual elements of storytelling, such as suspense and plot development. Rather, it explores the
moral and environmental issues around hunting by indigenous peoples. So you could say it is about the
issues raised by hunting in the Arctic.
Theme
A theme in a text is an idea explored by the author, consciously or otherwise. In a sense, this is a deeper
level of what the text is about. In some cases, the author is very deliberately exploring a theme as in
the extract from The Explorers Daughter, which looks at the questions surrounding narwhal hunting in the
Arctic and concludes that it is necessary to the survival of inhabitants.

Paragraph 1
"...spectral play of colour." This sentence shows a sense of immediate aroma. It is an imagery so
give a strong sense of place and setting.
"..butter-gold.." This text shows a sense of wealth
"..shifting light." is Poetical
Paragraph 2
"dead of winter" This is a metaphor - weaker setting
the tone is ominous and there is the sense of place and danger
Paragraph 3
dead of winter is a metaphor to show a weaker setting.
The whole of paragraph 3 has an ominous tone. It shows a sense of place
and danger.
Paragraph 4
The whole of paragraph 4 has a shift in tone from paragraph 3; it is more
factual, informative and for example shows this by using technical words.
It is also the biggest paragraph. In the context you find out that the
community really relies on the hunting and how dangerous it is.
Paragraph 5
..clustered.. The word clustered is a powerful connotation, it means
that the women are scared so they huddle together and try to comfort each
other.
It was like watching a cast, waterborne game with the hunters spread like
a net around the sound. This sentence is imagery. It has added adverbs to
show how scared the women were and how much their husbands are important
in their life.
Paragraph 6
"... gently picked up his harpoon" thought and care, focus on the actual hunt and the text also
switches back to the hunters.
"... two heads and one bladder" not high-tech technology, limited, she respects them because they
are using a harpoon, she is sympathetic to the narwhal and the hunters, dramatic.

"..urge..." to show how strongly she wanted the narwhal to survive

"...to dive, to leave, to survive" - triad
Paragraph 7
"The dilemma stayed..." This shows that she's not that sure who to be sympathetic for, the narwhal
or the hunters but her sympathy gets switched back to the hunters un this paragraph.
"How can you possibly eat seal?" is a view point of society this shows that the modern person thinks
that this is a crime.
-she builds up her argument, these are the points of her argument
"use every part of the animal" - so theres no waste/leftover
"imported goods can only ever account for..."
"do not kill for sport"