Comparative Analysis Homework- Comparison of two given texts using literary devices.

The purpose of the text is to show the struggles of travelers undergoing difficult journeys, and
to show what they experience its difficulties, this is intended to make the audience show the
significance of survival in a “difficult journey”, it is a commercial text because the authors want
to demonstrate the struggles of travelers. Both the texts are written objectively while including
few subjective opinions, this helps demonstrate the feeling of the author while fully
understanding the situation. The graphical descriptions shown in the book shows that the
intended audience is young adults and adults.
The tone in the two texts is negative, but different: while the tone of the first text is
melancholy, critical, and matter-of-fact because the excerpt is a personal experience of the
author, as it contains facts. The tone of the second is slightly lighter but is equally graphical but
is not critical. Text 1 is in the first-person point of view. For e.g. “I stumbled through the…”, “I
sagged wearily against a boulder…”, etc. And text 2 is in a third-person point of view. For e.g.
“They had been riding without a break…”, “nothing would stop the old man and his horse…”,
etc. Whilst text 1 is about a single person (there was no mention of another character and
personal nouns such as ‘I’ and ‘my’ where used), text 2 has a companion accompanying the
author-multiple characters are mentioned “the old man and his horse”. Text 2 was seen to be
written before text 1 was written.
In text 1, the personal opinion of the author is mentioned because it is written in the first-
person point of view, in text 2 the opinion of the author is scarcely written because it is written
in the perspective of the characters present. In text 1, epiphany (“I found that I had no strength
to prevent myself from falling”) and hyperbole (“chaotic maze”) are generally used to
exaggerate the writer’s situation, and help the audience form a rapport with the author so they
can understand his/ her situation, which ultimately helps achieve the purpose of the author to
write the text- to connect with the audience. In text 1 and 2, visual and tactile imagery is used
to help imagine being in the shoes of the author (“chaotic maze of boulder and scree”, “blur of
endless boulder fields, “my mouth was dry and I swallowed”, “burst of energy”, “my fingers
slapped unfeeling”, “rays of the desert sun”, “clouds of thin dust”, “muddy film of
perspiration”, “the land was dry, mostly sand…”, “forbidding dunes rose like ocean waves in the
distance”, etc.). In text 1 there is a vivid use of both kinds of imagery, in text 2 there was very
less use of tactile imagery, and almost is entirely composed of visual imagery. In text 1, pathos
is observed to be used, to connect with the audience on an emotional level (“fingers slapped
unfeeling against sharp boulders. The sun had failed to revive any sensation in them and they
remained numb and cold”), while in text 2 pathos and logos are slightly used to convince the
audience that the characters are in danger, with reasoning which is supported by the deep
discussions on the setting (“the gray pony was beginning to fade badly, stumbling over small
little things: the heat, the fatigue, and the lack of water…”). In text 1, similes are used to
emphasize the author's situation by comparing the surrounding to various objects, making it a
subjective point of view. In the mood of the first text, it was shifted from solitary and despair
when he was fighting for his survival, to a “glimmer of hope” when he saw the water. But in
text 2, the mood was unchanging and remained the same (melancholy, somber, despair).
In text 1, adverbs are used to emphasize the actions of the character, and to elaborate on the
feelings and emotions of the character. For e.g. “haphazardly”, “wearily”, “carefully”,
“tantalizing”, “craving”, etc. While in text 2, there was more emphasis put on the setting by
highlighting its characteristics using similes and metaphors. For e.g. “forbidding dunes rose like
ocean waves”, “the gray pony was beginning to fade badly”, “bone-jarring halt”, “air dance”,
etc.
In text 1 and 2, there was no mention of both comparative and superlative adjectives. But, both
of the texts use positive adjectives. For e.g. text 1: “unbearable thirst”, “water glistening”,
craving thirst”, “tantalizing slowness”, etc.; text 2: “fade badly”, “harsh sunlight”, “bone-jarring
halt”, etc.
In conclusion, both of the texts can be deemed the same in the style of content or focus. But,
both of the texts are quite different when it comes to the usage of stylistic devices, order, tone,
mood, or even the ultimate goal (while one author wanted to share his perspective and
challenges with the audience, the author of second text simply was displaying a story. This
shows one major difference- the author of text 1 was able to connect more to the audience,
then the author of text 2 by writing the text in the first-person point of view.