The short story ‘Only Ten’ by Allan Baillie is a heart touching novel which relates to a 10 year old kids called Hussein ‘The Shah’. In the story, the protagonist Hussein is a refugee who has come to Australia from a war zone country. He is an intruder at his new school, where he is seen differently by other kids in both appearance and behaviour. As the time passes Hussein makes the first move towards acceptance when he offers comfort and sympathy to a fellow students whose sister has died. As his confidence grows, he begins to reveal his solders wounds. In the text, the author has used language features and such as figurative devices such as to enhance the story within itself. These techniques are used to aids in the experience …show more content…
This technique is used by the author ‘Allan Baillie’ to evoke a mental picture of the scene using various literary devices such as the metaphors, allusions, descriptive language and onomatopoeia. The imagery makes a piece of work more realistic and helps the reader to visualise and experience the authors writing in depth. An example of imagery is when Baillie writes “The main scar, a bloodless seam, ran from his right shoulder to his left hip. The second scar was a second, bellybutton punched in his side. Marks of shrapnel and a bullet. A soldier’s wounds.” In the example, the author uses descriptive language such as bloodless and punched to create a mental image of a soldiers wounds and creates a sense of how severe the wounds are
The use of direct speech within the text “Only Ten” has a major influence on the audience’s interest of the text. A direct speech is often used by an author to give the exact words used by another character within the story. Baillie’s use of this technique conveys the reader important information about various characters such as their mood and feelings. Direct speeches add reality within the text, which makes the story interesting and plays a vital role in moving the plot along. An example of direct speech in this text is “You all right, …show more content…
An allusion is a figure of speech where the author refers to a particular matter such as a place, event or a literary work by way of passing reference.
The Baillie’s use of smiles within the text ‘Only Ten’ has played an important role in enhancing the readers understand of the text. A simile is a language technique which is used by the author to create a comparison between two unlike things, places or events using like or as. Similes give a simple sentence a greater degree of meaning and lets the reader better understand the sentiments the author wishes to convey. An example of simile is when.
The use of the figurative device of flashback has helped the author to create suspense within the readers mind within the text. A flashback is a technique wherein the author depicts the occurrence of specific events that have happened before the events that are currently unfolding in the story. The use of flashbacks have allowed the reader to understand the present situation by providing a background to the present situation, place or