Winter 06
i) How does McEwan present Joe's thoughts and feelings in the extract
McEwan uses a number of techniques to express Joe's thoughts and feelings portraying his feeling through the use of literary and linguistic features.
The majority of the extract is declarative, for example 'I sat back in my chair gathered my notes'. Joe is expressing himself and he is able to describe his thoughts through this method. The sentences range from being short and simple such as 'Dread was too strong.' to long and complex sentences with a number of conjunctions. This variation in sentence structure shows Joe's own variation in thought, and the erratic nature of his emotions at this time. The writing is first person, this allowed the reader to feel more involved with the character and should allow a better insight into the characters thoughts.
He is finding it difficult to express himself emotionally and this is summed up well with 'I couldn't find the word for what I felt'. It shows his uncertainty and makes it clear that he is emotionally out of touch. The inability to express himself adequately stems from his rational mind controlling his actions. Joe takes comfort in science and this can be seen by the number of science related statements found in this small passage alone. An example of this is 'mental-visceral' and 'diminishing pendulum movement'. His feelings are exact, and he takes comfort in accuracies and specifics. His whole emotional experience is a paradox, he is clearly distraught and confused yet his style is still controlled while still unpredictable. His distress can be seen through the lexis used, words such as 'contaminated, crazy', 'anxiety' , 'fear' and 'apprehension'. These strong words clearly outline Joe's state of mind. McEwans uses interrogative sentences such as 'Why so suddenly'. This is used to reveal Joe's inquisitive mind and shows his analysis of everyday events.
i) How does McEwan present Joe's thoughts and feelings in the extract
McEwan uses a number of techniques to express Joe's thoughts and feelings portraying his feeling through the use of literary and linguistic features.
The majority of the extract is declarative, for example 'I sat back in my chair gathered my notes'. Joe is expressing himself and he is able to describe his thoughts through this method. The sentences range from being short and simple such as 'Dread was too strong.' to long and complex sentences with a number of conjunctions. This variation in sentence structure shows Joe's own variation in thought, and the erratic nature of his emotions at this time. The writing is first person, this allowed the reader to feel more involved with the character and should allow a better insight into the characters thoughts.
He is finding it difficult to express himself emotionally and this is summed up well with 'I couldn't find the word for what I felt'. It shows his uncertainty and makes it clear that he is emotionally out of touch. The inability to express himself adequately stems from his rational mind controlling his actions. Joe takes comfort in science and this can be seen by the number of science related statements found in this small passage alone. An example of this is 'mental-visceral' and 'diminishing pendulum movement'. His feelings are exact, and he takes comfort in accuracies and specifics. His whole emotional experience is a paradox, he is clearly distraught and confused yet his style is still controlled while still unpredictable. His distress can be seen through the lexis used, words such as 'contaminated, crazy', 'anxiety' , 'fear' and 'apprehension'. These strong words clearly outline Joe's state of mind. McEwans uses interrogative sentences such as 'Why so suddenly'. This is used to reveal Joe's inquisitive mind and shows his analysis of everyday events.