Analysis Of Snow Fall: The Avalanche At Tunnel Creek

712 Words2 Pages

In the digital article titled, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, John Branch writes about the avalanche at Tunnel Creek that affected a group of 16 skiers on February 19th 2012. Published by the New York Times, this web text is an engaging piece of writing to regular, online, New York Time readers because it displays a captivating analysis of the people affected by the avalanche and it uses computer-animated pictures to help the readers visualize the text. The readers will be enlightened about this avalanche in Washington as well as information about the history of the Cascades mountain range, background stories of the skiers, and the aftermath of the avalanche. Branch’s written work is effective in attracting his readers because …show more content…

One type of figurative language Branch uses is personification. When the avalanche was coming down Tunnel Creek, Branch associated the “fresh, soft snow” as becoming “the enemy” and stating that “It [the snow] swallows its victims. It does not spit them out”. The snow was threatening to bury the skiers, and it did succeed in burying some skiers and killing three of the skiers. The personification of the snow truly shows the readers how an enjoyable ski excursion instantly changed into a dangerous and deadly obstacle course. Along with that, similes are used frequently in the article. When Branch wrote about Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier, getting caught in the avalanche he explained how the snow was “dragging her [Elyse Saugstad] down like a riptide” and she was “tumbling through a cluttered canyon like a steel marble falling through pins in a pachinko machine”. The similes display a visual of how Elyse was pulled down the mountain by the avalanche. In addition to that, there is some use of metaphors in the article, such as when Branch describes the avalanche as “the size of more than a thousand cars barreling down the mountain and weighed millions of pounds”. It is an additional description of how powerful and frightening the avalanche was for the

Show More
Related

  • Powerful Imagery and Settings in David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    While Snow Falling on Cedars has a well-rounded cast of characters, demands strong emotional reactions, and radiates the importance of racial equality and fairness, it is not these elements alone that make this tale stand far out from other similar stories. It is through Guterson’s powerful and detailed imagery and settings that this story really comes to life. The words, the way he uses them to create amazing scenes and scenarios in this story, makes visualizing them an effortless and enjoyable task. Streets are given names and surroundings, buildings are given color and history, fields and trees are given height and depth, objects are given textures and smells, and even the weather is given a purpose in the...

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Helena Maria Viramontes Under The Feet Of Jesus

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    Figurative language is when you use words or a phrase that do not have a regular, everyday literal meaning and is used by almost all authors in their writings. Authors use figurative language to make their works more interesting and more dramatic. Examples of figurative language include metaphors, similes, personification and hyperbole. Helena Maria Viramontes uses figurative language all throughout her novel Under the Feet of Jesus. In the opening paragraphs of the novel Viramontes uses imagery to set the scene for her readers, she really makes us feel as if we are riding along in the station wagon with Estrella and her 6 other family members. In this scene she describes to her readers reflects on the hardships that this family, and people

    Read More

  • Nature in mary Oliver´s First Snow

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many overlook the beauty that is expressed by nature. The images put together in nature influenced Mary Oliver’s “First Snow.” The beauty expressed in “First Snow” shows how there is hidden beauty in nature such as snow. Also how snow, not so simple, is something so stunning and breath taking. The descriptions of Oliver’s visions show that many things are overlooked in nature and shouldn’t be. She elaborates to show that nature sets forth not just snow, but something so much more. Mary Oliver uses many examples and proofs to show the beauty. In “First Snow” Mary Oliver conveys the image of snow to embody the beauty of nature.

    Read More

  • Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Figurative Language

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    Figurative language is used in a lot of writings to pull you more into the words. Figurative language uses the five senses to place a deep picture in your mind of what is actually happening. Metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, etc. are all figurative devices used in writing. Without using any of these things writing would be straight forward and not so complicated to understand. When figurative language is used it makes the reader really think about what is being said by the author and what point the author is trying to make. Both "The Iroquois Constitution” and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” use figurative language but for different reasons.

    Read More

  • Comparing Novel and Film Version of Snow Falling on Cedars

    2273 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...racy and leads the reader or viewer to develop an intense emotional involvement with the story line. Both the novel and the film are remarkably vivid with the use of imagery and theme. The snow falling upon the cedars, as the prevalent image in both versions, functions as a beautiful metaphor begging for interpretation. The themes about the complexities of the human heart and the random distribution of both good and bad fortune are reinforced throughout the entirety of each work. The original work of pure genius - the novel, of course - deserves the credit for the incredible story behind Snow Falling on Cedars, but it is clear that the film followed in its antecedent's path with ease.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Murderous Blizzard Of 1888

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    January 12, 1888, a blizzard covered the northwest part of North America that claimed many lives. This blizzard was considered to be the worst blizzard of all time, and was dubbed the “the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard”, for claiming the lives of so many school children on their way home. The death toll of this murderous blizzard rose, because of lack of preparation and being uninformed. During this time, many farmers and families were unprepared to survive a blizzard of this magnitude, by the lack of clothing they wore. Forecasters were not as accurate enough to inform people on the weather conditions. Also, shelter was a major factor in protecting themselves from the winter storms, but the shelter was not stable

    Read More

  • Personification In Thanatopsis

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant, he states “She has a voice of gladness, and a smile/And eloquence of beauty, and she glides/Into his darker musings, with a mild/And healing sympathy (Bryant, 4-6).” The “she” Bryant is referring to is Mother Nature, which makes his statement that nature can take away a man’s pain that much more powerful. By personifying nature, the reader feels as though they can relate to “her” in a different way. A poem that uses powerful metaphors is “The First Snowfall” by James Russell Lowell. Within his poem, he states, “From sheds new-roofed with Carrara/Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow/The stiff rails were softened to swan’s-down/And still fluttered down the snow (Lowell, 9-12).” The line “from sheds new-roofed with Carrara” is referring to how pure and white the snow that had just recently fallen looks. Carrara is an expensive white marble. So, Lowell is comparing expensive items to the snow, which helps put an image of a beautiful snowfall into the reader’s head. By using both personification and metaphors, the reader can relate to the words being said in a completely different way, and thus understand the abstract ideas that the authors are trying to convey in their Romantic

    Read More

  • Analysis of Mary Analou´s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the literary devices that the author uses are metaphors. There are many examples of metaphors in the novel however there are a few that were rather intriguing. Racism was an obstacle that many characters were affected by and the author uses metaphors to illustrate the rough period in their lives. An example of a metaphor in the novel was the concurrence that Uncle Willie encounters with

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Children's Blizzard

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    (6) The suddenness of the winter storm caught people by surprise. A roar “like an approaching train” was all the warning the storm gave. (130) The roaring wind and snow brought darkness and dropping temperatures. The people who were inside when the blizzard struck faced a dilemma. Staying inside and doing nothing seemed “heartless,” but going into the storm “on a rescue mission was likely to be fatal to the rescuer and useless to the lost.” (143) The people who were unfortunate enough to be away from home, whether they were at school or working with their livestock, had to make a difficult decision. They could either risk trying to make it home or chance it out and stay where they were. Schoolteachers had to decide whether to send the children home or keep them at the school. If anyone ventured outside, he or she risked frostbite, hypothermia, and likely

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis of a The New York Times Article

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Besides hyperbole, Collins does an excellent job of using metaphors. She uses metaphor from very beginning. The phrase “snow job” in the title is a coll...

    Read More

  • Death as a Central Theme in Literature

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    After hearing of her diagnosis, the narrator travels from his residence in “California to New York” where his mother lives (3). Staring out of his airplane window, he noticed a change in the scenery. The “mountains giving away to flatlands” is used to not only describe the scenery, but how his life is changing (3). He will no longer be living a lavish life in California, but a depressing one that would “bring tears to his eyes” (22-23). He got a “sense of slippage” at the thought of losing his mother (3). When he finally arrived to his parent’s residence, the narrator was greeted with “brittleness and frost” (4). The author uses these two words with a cold denotation to describe more than just the weather on Long Island (4). Brittleness and frost are utilized to display the narrator’s feeling, as well as the theme of the book. The weather wasn’t the only thing the narrator noticed when he entered his parent’s town. His mother's actions caught his attention as well. When she held his hand, he again felt a sense of slippage (9). It mirrored the sensation he experienced on the airplane. His mom is slipping out of his hands, while life

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In 'The Thaw' By Henry David Thoreau

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because the poem itself is short, there are only some figurative languages/poetic sound devices used throughout the poem, “The Thaw” by Henry David Thoreau. These figurative languages are utilized to make the poem seem more interesting. “I saw the civil sun drying earth’s tear / Her tears of joy that only faster flowed,” (1 and 2) is a great example of a figurative

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast: Two Short Stories

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White

    Read More

  • The Death by James Joyce

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    In James Joyce’s “The Dead” Joyce uses a winter setting to create his scene. Many writers use nature to show human nature and the human condition. Joyce’s use of snow to cast light on characters and convey the meaning for events provide an analysis of the themes throughout “The Dead.” Snow has many interpretations. It can be beauty, as it outlines vegetation and adds definition to their shapes. It can be seen as a symbolism of innocence and new beginnings. Snow can be seen as the beginning or the end of life as it usually means the end of one life as plants that it falls on die. It also means new life as it melts it brings to light new life. Gabriel the main character of “The Dead” mimics the snow in much this way. Gabriel is a man who really doesn’t know where he belongs and doesn’t know who he should be. He represents a world covered in snow, a blank slate. When he arrives to the party it begins to snow covering his clothes in an oppressive manner. This is similar to his role as an Irish man. Which is a restrictive, cold and oppressing routine to him. He even is trapped by his cautious and inhibited personality. His wife however is the opposite. She is a free spirit, who loves adventure and wants more from life. This creates conflict for him as he has difficulty talking to women. They talk about Michael her love from when she was young, and how even though he was sick he traveled to see her off on her trip through the snow and cold. Gabriel for the first time displays true emotions as she sleeps by letting tears roll down his face and he stares into the whiteness of the snow. This shows the beginning of him being a new man. Snow at the beginning of the story is seen as oppressive diminishing life as if...

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: Skiing Experience

    351 Words  | 1 Pages

    A blast of adrenaline charges throughout my body as I experience the initial drop. My body's weight shifts mechanically, cutting the snow in a practiced rhythm. The trail curves abruptly and I advance toward a shaded region of the mountain. Suddenly, my legs chatter violently, scraping against the concealed ice patches that pepper the trail. After overcompensating from a nearly disastrous slip, balance fails and my knees buckle helplessly. In a storm of powder snow and ski equipment, body parts collide with nature. My left hand plows forcefully into ice, cracking painfully at the wrist. For an eternity of 30 seconds, my body somersaults downward, moguls of ice toy with my head and further agonize my broken wrist. Ultimately veering into underbrush and pine trees, my cheeks burn, my broken wrist surging with pain. Standing up confused, I attempt climbing the mountain but lose another 20 feet to the force of gravity.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Snow Fall: The Avalanche At Tunnel Creek

Open Document