The prose is an arrangement with the Licensor of James Bradley-Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty

Ltd. The passage illustrates an event of David and his fellow archeologists and students,
exploring a site which is suspected containing something underground. This commentary focuses
on the use of setting to establish David’s character and the narrative techniques to convey the
flow of David’s thoughts.

In the first paragraph, the setting is well-established by several uses of imagery including
visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory imagery. The visual imagery of ‘white sea’ and ‘light
glaring’ (line 1 and 2) suggests the story takes place at the beach or in the desert. The tactile
imagery shown through the ‘baking surface’, ‘boiling air’ and ‘waves of heat’ implies the event
happens during day time. Similarly, the auditory imagery of the voice of the seabird and olfactory
imagery of air smelling of salt strengthen the setting at a place near the sea. The continuous uses
of imagery in the first paragraph have already constructed the setting of the prose and readily
incorporated to show the uniqueness of David as the main character.

By mentioning David’s behavior and manner in the setting, his character can be
established more comprehensibly. For example, David is portrayed as a special person through
the visual imagery of ‘shimmers adrift in the white sea of sand’ (line 1). This shows his
significance and his outstanding character. His determination is shown through him bathing in the
sunlight ‘unprotected’ and ‘unmoving, unwatching, unlistening’. He is portrayed as a sturdy
character to serve as the main contributor of the plot and his determined and persevered attitude
further shows the level of difficulty of the exploration.

Besides, the tactile imagery of temperature contrasts him with his colleagues and students
in the second paragraph. The phrases “spilling refrigerated air outwards” (line 17) indicate that
the atmosphere of these two “communities” are different. David is associated with the “hotter”
temperature, which implies his passion and on the other hand, the others are implied to be cold
and unpassionate. The phrase “turning his sweat suddenly cold against his skin” can also be
interpreted as the constant disapproval that David faces from people around him. Therefore, the
setting established through the use of imagery successfully portrays David’s character aside from
giving the information of places and time of the event. This is very important as the story
progresses to show the conflicts and hesitations which take place between David and other
characters.

An interesting narrative technique in this prose is the structure of dialogues shown from
line 31 to line 43 between David and Anna, one of the other archeologists. Unlike normal
dialogues, their conversation is shown without any use of inverted commas. The absence of the
punctuations in those lines resembles the use of monologues instead of dialogues. Through this
difference, the author creates an effect of those characters speaking frankly without any hidden
feelings or underlying meanings. It gives a larger impact to the readers since the feelings and
messages are conveyed similarly to a first-person point of view.

In addition, David’s expression of “This time at least” can be understood as a facial

expression without the inverted commas. In this manner, their strong connections can be shown
as they can understand each other without talking. However, despite their deep understanding to
each other, they have not agreed with each other and take their own stands. This is shown through
Anna’s opinion when she thinks David is too much as an optimist and David talking
unflinchingly while expressing his ideas. Their conflicts is however resolved in the next
paragraph when Anna reveals that she believes and agrees with David inward;y.

The narrative perspective that the author employs is the third-person omniscient point of
view. This perspective is taken to show insight into the characters’ mind and feelings not only
through their actions. This is especially essential in the last paragraph when Anna’s internal
feelings are exposed to the readers. It shows David’s charisma in influencing others, including
Anna, to believe something that he believes. Anna’s change in perspectives as shown in “her
irritation with the determination of his belief fade, become annoyance at the hesitancy of her
own” (line 45 and 46) can also show that somebody agree with David although the opinions are
unheard of. These impressions of other characters have on David further shows his strong and
sturdy character as he does not need any form of confirmation from the others.