Passages for Comment
B. 1) It definitely gives me a clear indication of the weather conditions. In london it was very misty/foggy, but as she slowly left london behind it started to thin out and patches of blue Rosamond Lehman uses many of the ‘fabric’ metaphors so we get to see how the mist looks, which is in turn, describes the mist/fog much better. “Lentil, saffron and fawn left behind.” The words Lentil, saffron and fawn are all brown, orangy earthy colours describing London as she leaves it behind. London is all very built up and the the buildings are all very brown and dreary (linking back to lentil) “…but then the woollen day clarified…” , the word ‘woollen’ describes the mist/fog as wool which is a fabric that you cannot see through.
The phrase, “… drenched indigo muslin.” ‘Muslin’ is a very transparent type of fabric, so the mist looks very see-through . This fabric indicates a lighter colour change and lifting mist outside. “The skies amorphous material began to quilt…” The skies amorphous material are the clouds, which are beginning to thin out. The patches of blue in the sky which contrast to the white clouds are indeed like a quilt, with many patches here and there.
2) It could also be describing the condition she is in and the way in which she is feeling. She has just woken up and heard the bad news, which has thrown her mind into overwind. The heavy mist/fog outside could mean that she is seriously worried as she is weighed down with worry and concern. She is still half asleep and as she sees the billowing mist, this gives us a sort of foggy appearance of what she is feeling like (like someone who has just woken up and cant distinguish anything properly). The ‘Muslin’ fabric is telling us that her brain is not alert or sharp as she is looking, but not taking anything in. She is still in shock about the bad news and is still trying to wake up which further implies how she is feeling.
C. 1) The sound and pace of the passage is very quick and fast flowing. Ernest Hemingway uses mainly two syllable words throughout, which adds to the already fast-flowing passage. This is vital in that the story needs to be quick, so that the character in the story can finish his book and so that we don’t get bored with the story line.
2) “All you have to do is write one true sentence…” I think what Hemingway is saying is that all you need to do is to write a proper, structured sentence in order to get your story flowing again. A ‘true’ sentence shows instead of tells, uses the five senses, uses strong active verbs, does not repeat oneself, doesn’t use unnecessary words and uses metaphors and word pictures. That is a ‘true’ sentence in which Hemingway describes.
3) I think that everyone has there own outlook on life, so we therefore all have different opinions on what something means. When Hemingway says that metaphorical language is ‘ornamental’, i have to agree with him, because it is a way of flowering up something and it makes people use their own imagination. Thus, all the metaphors will be will be completely different and mean other things to other people. I do associate transparent language to truthfulness because you don’t have to use your own imagination as all the facts are there. It doesn’t use any many metaphors as there is literally only one layer of depth to something. I don’t think that metaphorical language gets between reality and the reader. All people have different thoughts on the metaphors etc. So the outcome of one extract will be different to that off others.
