My Third Style Model/ Source Material

My third piece is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. I know that I have already chosen another Michael Morpurgo story but I find that the messages he manages to get across and the way he manages to evoke emotions is very skilled and he is a beautiful writer. I particularly like the way he builds relationships between characters and also his clear knowledge and understanding of the war and it's environment. Here are a few quotes from the book. Most of the book is about remembering the past and this is something that I want to use in my monologue also. 

Pg 1

‘They’ve gone now, and I’m alone at last. I have the whole night ahead of me, and I won’t waste a single moment of it. I shan’t sleep it away either. I mustn’t, because every moment of it will be far too precious.

I want to try to remember everything, just as it was, just as it happened. I’ve had nearly eighteen years of yesterdays and tomorrows, and tonight I must remember as many of them as I can. I want tonight to be long, as long as my life, not filled with fleeting dreams that rush me on towards dawn.
Tonight, more than any other night of my life, I want to feel alive.’

Pg47

‘Tonight I want very much to believe there’s a heaven, that, as Father said, there is a new life after death, that death is not a full stop, and that we will all see one another again.’

Pg77

‘There’s a sliver of a moon out there, a new moon. I wonder if they’re looking at it back home. Bertha used to howl at the moon, I remember. If I had a coin in my pocket, I’d turn it over and make a wish. When I was young I really believed in them.

But I mustn’t think like that. It’s no good wishing for the impossible. Don’t wish, Tommo. Remember. Remembrances are real.’

Pg119

‘I dropped off to sleep. I’ve lost precious minutes- I don’t know how many, but they are minutes I can never have back. I should be able by now to fight off sleep. I’ve done it often enough on look-out in the trenches, but then I had cold or fear or both as my wakeful companions. I long for that moment of surrender to sleep, just to drift away into the warmth of nothingness. Resist it, Tommo, resist it. After this night is over, then you can drift away, then you can sleep for ever, for nothing will ever matter again.’

 Pg150

‘Morning here has always been to wake with the same dread in the pit of my stomach, knowing that I will have to look death in the face again, that up to now it may have been someone else’s death, but that today it could be mine, that this may be my last sunrise, my last day on earth.’

Pg166

‘When their attack comes, in the pearly light of dawn, it falters before it even gets near our wire. Our machine gunners see to that, knocking them down like thousands of grey skittles, never to rise again. My hands are shaking so much I can hardly reload my rifle. When they recoil and turn and run we wait for the whistle and then go out over the top. I go because the others go, moving forward as if in a trance, as if outside myself altogether. I find myself suddenly on my knees and I don’t know why. There is blood pouring down my face, and my head is wracked with a sudden burning pain so terrible that I feel it must burst. I feel myself falling out of my dream down into a world of swirling darkness. I am being beckoned into a world I have never been to before where it is warm and comforting and all-enveloping. I know I a dying my own death, and I welcome it.’

 

 

 

I like the way the author includes quotes from the character's past (as Father said, there is a new life after death, that death is not a full stop, and that we will all see one another again.) I think this builds a familiarity between the character and the listener and the audience will respond more emotionally when the character is experiencing pain and distress. I also like the use of similes and metaphors through-out the book and I have highlighted some of my favourites above. The imagery is detailed and intense and, in some cases, scary or haunting. Another feature used by the author is the way that sometimes, Tommo, the main character, talks to himself instead of telling the story (Resist it, Tommo, resist it.) I feel that the structure is very effective in building tension and emotion levels without being too overwhelming for the reader and, I think, this is a very important skill to master. Repetition is another feature that I think the author uses well to highlight what is important to the character. The word 'remember' is repeated a lot and I think that this emphasises the fact that the characters want to remember the good things and live in the past, rather than be stuck in their present day. The personification of things like 'cold and fear' makes them more tangible and real. This means that they are more intimidating and create more of a threatening atmosphere. All of the character's senses are exploited often through-out the book and by doing this, the author is giving the reader an insight into how the character is feel and what they are feeling. As a result of this you get to experience what they experience too and this means your viewing or listening experience is total and visceral.