Joe Simpson 

Joe's account

- Uses lots of references to fire and water, which are both very powerful and
uncontrollable elements
- Written in first person, i.e. uses lots of "I" and "me" which makes emphasises how
he is on his own in the situation and makes the account more personal and direct
- Short sentences and lots of commas to break up sentences - emphasising how
quickly everything is happening

First paragraph:

- talks about his physical pain

"I felt a shattering blow in my knee, felt bones splitting, and screamed."

- Use of "I" - direct and personal, writes about how he feels
- Use of the powerful, dramatic language -"shattering" emphasises his pain
- Sibilance (repeated 's' sounds) "splitting" and "screamed" shows how scary and
frightening it is

 "I slid, head first, on my back"

- use of commas to break up sentences - creates movement and impact

Second Paragraph:

- talks more about his internal pain

"Then pain flooded down my thigh - a fierce burning fire..."

- Juxtaposes idea of water and fire to create contrast "flooded" (water) and "burning"
(fire) this makes pain sound very extreme
- idea of "burning" is also a contrast to the icy surroundings

Third Paragraph:

"grotesque distortion" - powerful, hyperbolic and forceful emphasising how disgusting

it looks
"strange zigzag" - very visual and detailed, emphasises how strange the whole
experience is
"burnt"- another reference to fire

Fourth Paragraph:

"A wave of nausea surged over me."

-"wave" and "surged" references to water which shows force and movement
"Something terrible, something dark with dread"
- dramatic alliteration "dark" and "dread" emphasises how frightening it is
- repetition of "something" emphasises the ambiguity of this "terrible" thing and
creates suspense

"I'm dead."
- Prolepsis (anticipation that something is gong to happen)
- short sentence draws attention

"if it's broken...if..."

-use of ellipsis shows his disorientation - the incoherent sentences express his
confusion and racing thoughts

Fifth Paragraph:

"My knee exploded"
- hyperbole and short sentence emphasises intense pain and how sudden it is

"fireball" - another reference to fire

"ruptured, twisted crushed"

- use of triplet of adjectives adds impact and shows how painful it is

"the impact had driven my lower leg up through the knee joint..."
- stated fact- there is no feeling left which shows his exhaustion and acceptance of
his fate

Last paragraph:

"I felt like screaming and swearing, but stayed silent"

- contrast between what's going on internally and what's going on externally
- sibilance "screaming", "swearing" and "silent"

"...teetering on the edge of it."

- could be referencing metaphorically to his state of mind
- or because he is literally on the edge of a mountain

Simon's account
A much more rational and realistic account. Simon writes much less about his
feelings and more about fact.

First Paragraph:

"I was glad" "I felt tired"

- he is stating his feelings - not much emotion
Second Paragraph:

Use of the word "obviously" shows how clearly and rationally he thinks

"When the rope moved again I trudged forward after it, slowly."

Simon's sentences are much longer and less broken up than Joe's which highlights
his logical and less emotional character. Simon's account, although shorter in writing
than Joe's moves a lot more slowly, which is emphasised by the use of the words
"trudged" and "slowly'

Third Paragraph:

"Suddenly there was a sharp tug as the rope lashed out taut across the slope."
- contrast to previous paragraph which was very slow moving
- use of dramatic language, "lashed out" to emphasis the sudden movement of the
rope

"Nothing happened"
- short sentence adds impact as it creates a moment of silence.

"I knew" "I felt sure"

- expresses Simon's calm, confident and controlled way of thinking - he knew what
was going to happen

Last Paragraphs:

"I couldn't help him."

- Matter of fact - Acknowledges his own helplessness but knows when to give up and
puts himself first

"I wasn't disturbed"

- able to absorb all of this and has no emotion - he is completely emotionally
detached, which is shown in his calm and slow manner of writing.