An Essay to analyse an Extract From “ Taking On the World” By Ellen MacArthur By: Sophie Tulloch 10S1 Throughout the piece of writing, ‘ Taking on the World” Dame Ellen MacArthur communicates fear in a lot of different ways, using a lot of different techniques. During this analytical essay I will analyse how she did this and the effect it had. One way that she communicates fear is by using punctuation creatively, an example of this is when she says, “ It would not be difficult to break bones up there… When using an ellipsis, it often indicates that there is unfinished business by doing this it creates suspense and helps keep the reader enthralled in writing. Furthermore it also creates a pause leaving the fate of Ellen MacArthur mingling in the readers mind, I find this effective as it emphasis the riskiness of the job she is about to do. I addition this is also early on in the text an it help bring the readers attention dedication and isolation of her.
The most effective device I feel that was used was a personification an example of this is when Ellen MacArthur writes “ the mast slices” By using personification it emphasizes that she has very little control over the boat while she is up the mast. The word slice has a faster pace and a sharper sound than the rest of the words around it I think this helps represent the simpleness and easiness of such a dangerous movement can lead to a harmful consequence. By doing this it creates suspense and transfix the audience keeping their focus.
The last term that I will cover is Nautical terms an example of tis is when she said “ You can’t ease the sheets or take a reef… ” The reason that she does this is because her target audience is the sailing community therefore it would be easier to just use these terms rather than explain the whole thing. From another point of view she could have done this to emphasis the complicatedness of her adventure plus it introduces the Idea that you do not only have to be physically capable and smart you need to be mentally aware nd educated on the surroundings. Although this is quite a small difference I think that it would have a big impact on the audience as this shows the gap between everybody else’s knowledge and hers. In conclusion I think that this piece of writing was very well written and the literary devices used help subtly emphasis and introduce the danger and fear of Ellen MacArthurs journey.
