Muhammad Ibne Rafiq Grade 10

(a) The inside of the fir thicket in paragraph 10, beginning ‘We began to make our way…’

We began to make our way round the marsh and entered a stern-looking thicket of fir trees. I was too
exhausted even to consider my surroundings. My legs crumpled as their snowshoes pushed against
remorseless wedges of banked snow. At one point, where the snow flattened into treacherous ice
patches, I found myself gliding helplessly into the black, inhospitably barbed arms of a skulking juniper
shrub. One snowshoe slipped off and became wedged in the shrub’s mighty, invisible depths. Drenched
with perspiration, I dropped my fur cloak to retrieve it.

Answer:

The overall effect of the language creates an image of the character’s difficulty and challenging feeling as
they are make their way into an inhospitable environment. The phrase ‘remorseless wedges of banked
snow’ suggests that the path were filled with obstacles that made their travelling by foot far more
difficult even with the snowshoes. The use of the adjective ‘remorseless’ emphasizes as though the
obstacles in the path were not really welcoming any trespassers. This is emphasized by the use of the
word ‘inhospitable’ which clearly reflects that the entire atmosphere was harsh to them. The use of the
phrase ‘barbed arms’ personifies the junipers shrubs like a silent monster waiting to attack the travelers
any moment. Furthermore, the use of the phrase ‘invisible depths’ to describe the shrub implies that
there is definitely some mystery lurking through the shrubs than what meets the eyes. In addition to
that, it also connotes a horrifying feeling to the reader.
Muhammad Ibne Rafiq Grade 10

(b) What Leo thought he was looking at when he woke up in paragraph 13, beginning ‘I slept so
soundly….'

I slept so soundly that when I woke I didn’t know where I was. How wonderful! I was in some sort of
huge edifice, all glittering and white with gleaming pillars, and when I looked up I saw, through delicate
white tracery, a vault, raven-black and studded with colored lights. I remembered then that we were
actually only in a forest where there were trees covered in wet snow and grey hoarfrost.

Answer: The overall effect of the language creates an image of the writer’s expectation through his
imagination that he had after his sleep. The writer starts by describing the place as ‘huge edifice’ which
implies that he was in a large building and this might just implies his wish of being there one day. In
addition to that, ‘glittering and white with gleaming pillars’ suggests that the huge place had pillars
which was shimmering with light. At the same time, the use of the adjective ‘gleaming’ emphasizes that
the pillars must be polished and clean enough to sparkle light all around the edifice. The mentioning of
the color white also reflects a peaceful aura. Later on when the writer claims that he was actually in a
forest implies that he has finally came into consciousness now. The phrase ‘only in a forest’ emphasizes
now that the writer was actually imagining the forest as a huge edifice. Furthermore, it can also be
concluded by reading between the lines that the white tracery hall indeed were just trees covered in
wet snow and grey hoarfrost. Moreover, it can be concluded that the writer willing to go someplace
similar to his vision and not in forest.