Student Gamma
English Literature
Paper 1
2015/05/28
Mister Wu
Paper 1- corrected draft
This passage is written by Norman Mailer. It focuses on the boxing fight between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret. “The Presidential Papers” indicates that it is an article. We see that the passage as a description of the fight, from a different viewpoint it tells us how Paret died. How did the author make the scene so tragic?
Mailer start sentences with either the subject or prepositions. According to paragraph 1 and 2, sentences are short. Since this is a boxing match, Mailer recreates the same excitement one would likely experience. He does this by using a variation of short and long sentences, at the same time omitting conjunctions for example: “I was sitting in the second row of that corner—they were not ten feet away from me.” The omission of the conjunction makes me feel that everything happened at the exact same time.
In paragraph 2 and 3, the author gradually builds tension with the use of anaphora. “I was sitting in the second row…I was hypnotized… I had never seen…” (line 10) The repetition of I make me feel that “I” was at the scene watching the fight instead of the author.
In paragraph 4, Mailer focuses on the details of the fight, how Griffith fights and how Paret even though he was knocked down but got back up again. In paragraph 5, Mailer focuses on Paret’s death and the last moments. In these two paragraphs the sentence length varies a lot as it gets closer to the climax of the whole passage. The climax is at paragraph 4 because it is where the author’s final destination is, to show how Griffith has won the fight.
To dramatize on the death of Paret the author describes it as “a large ship which turns on end and slides second by second into its grave:” This irony fits well with this context. The fight happened like a tragedy, and this indirectly relates to the Titanic because it was also a tragedy. So I think Mailer is trying to use the ship to represent how this was is unique in size and form.
In conclusion, the aim of the effect was to make readers feel like they were there, one action after another made it feel tragic. However, I feel that the main point of the passage was to use Griffith’s victory to cover the fact that Paret died in a tragedy.
English Literature
Paper 1
2015/05/28
Mister Wu
Paper 1- corrected draft
This passage is written by Norman Mailer. It focuses on the boxing fight between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret. “The Presidential Papers” indicates that it is an article. We see that the passage as a description of the fight, from a different viewpoint it tells us how Paret died. How did the author make the scene so tragic?
Mailer start sentences with either the subject or prepositions. According to paragraph 1 and 2, sentences are short. Since this is a boxing match, Mailer recreates the same excitement one would likely experience. He does this by using a variation of short and long sentences, at the same time omitting conjunctions for example: “I was sitting in the second row of that corner—they were not ten feet away from me.” The omission of the conjunction makes me feel that everything happened at the exact same time.
In paragraph 2 and 3, the author gradually builds tension with the use of anaphora. “I was sitting in the second row…I was hypnotized… I had never seen…” (line 10) The repetition of I make me feel that “I” was at the scene watching the fight instead of the author.
In paragraph 4, Mailer focuses on the details of the fight, how Griffith fights and how Paret even though he was knocked down but got back up again. In paragraph 5, Mailer focuses on Paret’s death and the last moments. In these two paragraphs the sentence length varies a lot as it gets closer to the climax of the whole passage. The climax is at paragraph 4 because it is where the author’s final destination is, to show how Griffith has won the fight.
To dramatize on the death of Paret the author describes it as “a large ship which turns on end and slides second by second into its grave:” This irony fits well with this context. The fight happened like a tragedy, and this indirectly relates to the Titanic because it was also a tragedy. So I think Mailer is trying to use the ship to represent how this was is unique in size and form.
In conclusion, the aim of the effect was to make readers feel like they were there, one action after another made it feel tragic. However, I feel that the main point of the passage was to use Griffith’s victory to cover the fact that Paret died in a tragedy.