Rohan Khattar Ulrich 9HLA-1 6 November 2014 Suspense In The Making What pushes Krakauer and his team to do it? Is there foreshadowing present to hint at a terrifying event or someone’s demise? What about these vivid images in this novel make me so solicitous about the upcoming events yet to take place? Jon Krakauer exploits a few literary devices to force me, the reader, to ask myself such questions. Literary devices, such as foreshadowing and imagery, are put into effect in Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into Thin Air. The first of many devices Krakauer uses is foreshadowing. He uses foreshadowing to methodically hint to what might take place next. In the book Krakauer is separated from the other members of his team knowing that “It would be many …show more content…
Imagery plays a substantial role in the suspense of the story and in suspense in general. The detail that imagery brings is the kicker that suspense needs to get to the reader’s attention. The way Krakauer uses imagery in the novel backs up the tone he is trying to express to get the reader in a certain mood which ultimately causes suspense. When Krakauer got to the summit he was tired. He had no rest, thinking about the journey where he had “so little oxygen reaching [his] brain that [his] mental capacity was that of a slow child” (Krakauer 38). The way that Krakauer recalls the story is inspiring. It was a bad time that most people want to push out of their minds, yet he remembers it so clearly. He puts down the imagery as if he experienced the event just the day before. Imagery is a pathway to suspense; it gives the reader a vivid description of something that leaves them to surmise about what will happen next. That will lead the reader to the edge of their seat. On Krakauer’s expedition he examined the things around him as he looked at mountain tops and the vast snow he laid his eyes upon “The ink-black wedge of the summit pyramid in the stark relief, towering over the surrounding ridges. Thrust high into the jet stream, it ripped a visible gash in the 120-knot hurricane, sending forth a plume of ice crystals. The vivid imagery Krakauer demonstrates leaves the reader in
5. In Jon Krakauer’s Book Into the WIld his syntax stays generally the same throughout the book. Krakauer’s sentences are generally informal in many circumstances, the level of length varys, and variations of loose and periodic sentence structure. The syntax that stands out to me the most is the way Krakauer utilizes interrupters. Krakauer applies these interrupters it is usually to give extra descriptive imagery. He does this to further the scene he is creating for the reader and therefore makes it easier to picture.
Krakauer begins the novel in medias res, which causes an interruption in the organization and lack of information about McCandless, in which case, he must use syntactical permutation to give all the information necessary and mirror the unknown thoughts of McCandless. Throughout the novel, Krakauer changes points of view to gain different perspectives of McCandless as well as jump to a different point in time as he does by starting chapter two with a narration and description of setting of the Stampede Trail, but then switches in the middle of the chapter to “Thompson made it to the far bank” (Krakauer 11). In addition to chapter two’s deduction, chapter three begins with describing Wayne Westerberg as a “hyperkinetic man with thick shoulders
Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air has shown me different aspects of survival, differentiating from the ones on T.V or fictional books. It has made me realize that not all good guys live, not all bad guys die. It has changed the way I look at things, for better and worse. And now that, having established what Krakauer’s story has meant to me, comes a time post-epilogue to his book to think and reflect on a simple question: What does Into Thin Air mean to
Krakauer has a straight-to-the-point, concrete writing style. I tend to favor abstract writing with a great deal of figurative language. I had a hard time finding trope, but My favorite simile in the book is on page 96. It said, “Like a super villain in a Marvel comic book, he seemed to be endowed with the ability to absorb the mightiest blows his enemy could deliver, draw energy from them, and become more powerful as a consequence.” This quote is comparing Osama bin Laden to a villain in a comic book because it seemed like no matter what attempts the U.S. made to take him down, he always came back stronger. If there had been more similes like this, the book would’ve been better. Also, Krakauer’s excessive use of acronyms left me feeling frustratingly confused. Nevertheless, not all is bad about Krakauer’s writing technique. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he included actual entries from Pat Tillman’s journal and statements from Tillman’s friends and family. In doing so, Krakauer made me easily connect and empathize with Pat Tillman and his loved ones. This made a powerful impact on the book and reader.
Krakauer uses research about the life of McCandless in order to establish his ethos and convey his thesis of the novel. When Krakauer presents the information concerning McCandless’s death, he quotes directly from the moose hunters who found him dead and describes the exact setting of the situation. Krakauer beings by explaining the scene at which the moose hunters found him, “A few hundred yards beyond the river the trail disappeared” (Krakauer 12). Krakaurer’s use of description enables readers to visualize the scene better and create a major sense of trust between the author and reader. Krakauer then imbeds a quote directly from the moose hunters that found McCandless’s body who explains that there was “a real bad smell from inside” (Krakauer12). Appealing to the reader’s sense of smell, and also using the perspective of the exact people that found McCandless’s body, establishes a more ethical appeal to the audiences trust in the information the author is presenting. Also, Krakauer cites an exact note found on the bus where McCandless was discovered which states that he is “Near death” (Krakauer 12). The note displayed in the text is written in a different font, implying that the proceeding text is written by a different author, and is also signed by McCandless himself. The research Krakauer did is directly shown here because of his factual evidence. The use of factual information from the scene of the death provides a
Into Thin Air is a novel which provides a personal view from Jon Krakauer about a treacherous disaster on Mount Everest in 1996. After reading the novel, I can say the book came out to be much better than expected. Initially, I assumed that the book would simply guide a reader from Kathmandu to the summit, but the book held much more value within its pages. Although there is one component of the story that I disliked, I can still say that Into Thin Air is a very interesting novel which could both inspire people to climb Everest or stay away from it.
In my novel, Shattered Air, their were numerous literary devices in the few pages I read. Foreshadowing, "Before they departed Glacier Point, Clu Cotter bought a postcard showing a lightning bolt striking Half Dome"(page 93 Madgic). The reason why I choose this literary device is that the narrator has been talking about how the sky's are starting to turn darker and darker. Even the park rangers put up signs saying do not go up the summit if storm is on the way. Another reason why I choose foreshadowing is Pippey brought his younger brothers, Hoog and Crozier, to help steer them to the write path. Before they arrived, they had practice with CPR and other procedure just in case something bad happened. On page 89, Hoog and Crozier we're alike
Ray Bradbury in “The Veldt” focuses on multiple craft moves including foreshadowing, similes, and imagery to make the story more suspenseful and so that the reader can have a deeper understanding of the story.
Early on in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, nature's relationship with humans is established as a fatal attraction, and this relationship is explored throughout the story. Near the end of his narrative though, Krakauer exposes the blunt, brutal consequences of his risky expedition, and how his and his cohorts' ignorance the infamous mountain's ability to fight back ultimately lead to such devastation. With the use of devices such as personification, parallel syntax and, Krakauer shows the consequences for when man and nature's relationship is overlooked. As Krakauer recollects the carnage that occurred amongst the group of people he traveled with, he states that "Everest killed twelve men and women in the spring of 1996" (283).
pg. 10 and 11. One quote describes a failed attempt up everest in the past and how it inspired people to continue trying to reach the top of the mountain, while at the same time Krakauer was really relating the deaths of these ancient climbers to the deaths of his teammates giving a suspenseful feeling of how the events and deaths in the past will relate to the story, setting up a big unknown secret that pushed the reader to read the entire story. At the same time, from the quote in chapter 1, he creates suspense by telling the reader that while everyone is celebrating they have no idea of the treacherous storm heading their way also keeping the reader interested. This also generates tension between the people because of the confusion and depression of the fact
The order of events that Jon Krakauer sets up in Into Thin Air use the literary effects of tension and suspense. Tension is created throughout the
The book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer, is about a man climbing the highest mountain, Everest. This is the first person view of the deadly Everest disaster. This non-fiction book shows the condition of how bad the conditions are in Everest and how hard it is to climb and survive. Jon Krakauer shows the amazing and dark side of Everest and how it swallows human life. He shows how hard it is to climb Everest and shows that it’s no walk in the park.
Mountain climbing is viewed as an extremely dangerous sport, especially if you're daring enough to climb the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is about author and mountain climber, Jon Krakauer who was hired to write an article about the commercialism on Mount Everest, decides to climb the mountain unaware that he had just joined what had been the most catastrophic Everest expedition ever. Into Thin Air intended to create tension as well as suspense throughout the book. Tension refers to a sense of uncertainty and a straining feeling in the audience. Like tension, suspense give you a feeling of uncertainty but also anticipation and curiosity to what is going to happen next and the outcome.
Jon Krakauer creates tension and suspense in his book Into Thin Air by giving us lots of detail while the pacing is slow so the readers get a higher emotional level and keeps the reader waiting.
Vulnerability impacts any individual throughout each new and interactive experience. To become vulnerable is to open up to the consequences of frantic outcomes. Individuals will lead to vulnerability to cope with a trauma that has created a solemn change to a lifestyle. Jon Krakauer explains how the trauma of Mt. Everest changed his outlooks on reality, through different coping mechanisms. Krakauer uses his writing in his book, Into Thin Air, to cope with the guilt of surviving the terror that occurred upon Mt. Everest, as well as to understand what actions caused each outcome. Within an excerpt from Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer is reflective towards his audience of how vulnerability shaped the experiences upon Mt. Everest to cope with the