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Introduction

English Commentary on extract from "New World" by Jonathan Raban The extract from "New World" by Jonathan Raban is a piece of travel writing that deals with one of the writer's journeys on a ship. Apparently in the passage, the travellers believe that they are close to the North American shore and this is indicated in the beginning: "We had picked up the scent of North America and it was suddenly real enough to plan on". However we find out at the end of the extract that this was only but false hope. The writer involves a lot of details on the history, such as that of the Grand Banks, into his writing. ...read more.

Middle

Another, more direct, effect of including the history of the Grand Banks is that it gives a modern traveller a sense of the atmosphere. In a sense it describes the setting of the place and a modern traveller looks for a new place to travel to. Therefore it is always useful to obtain information about a place you may want to visit. Hence, modern travellers may read travel writing only for the sake of this information. In the passage, the writer looks to develop a personality as a narrator. This gives the passage more flair compared to having a straightforward description. One way the writer does this is by the method already mentioned - that of including the history into the writing. ...read more.

Conclusion

On the other hand this is what you wouldn't normally be able to see and therefore it is always interesting to hear about. You can put yourself into a situation where you may be looking at something - for example a small insect. Whilst wondering why the insect behaves in such a manner somebody comes up to you and answers your question to which you are left quite amazed. Therefore you will regard this person quite highly. Similarly the writer raises his status by including extra information and thus impresses upon the reader. The word `fish' or `fishing' or any other similar form are used on a number of occasions in the passage with varied meanings. This is ironic since first of all the writer is travelling by ship over the seas and secondly the history of the Grand Banks has a lot to do with fishes. ...read more.

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