The Summit

The Summit

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about understanding the language used in a poem, and the effects it creates.
Read the following extract from Everest climbed, by Ian Serrailler (1995). Then asnwer the questions that follow.

 

   

    Their steps were weary, keen was the wind,
     Fast vanishing their oxygen fuel,
     And the summit ridge was fanged and cruel –
     Fanged and cruel, bitter and bare.
5   And now with a sickening shock
     They saw before them a towering wall
     Of smooth and holdless rock.
     O ghastly fear – with goal so near
     To find the way blocked!
10  On one side darkly the mountain dropped,
     On the other two plunging miles of peak
     Shot from the dizzy skyline down
     In a silver streak.
     On they plodded, Martian-weird
15  With pouted mask and icicle beard
     That cracked and tinkled, broke and rattled,
     On to the summit –
     Till at last the ridge began to drop.
     Two swings, two whacks of Hillary's axe
20  And they stood on top.

 

Map of Mount Everest

Sir Edmund Hillary
a)
What experience is being described in each of the following lines from the poem?
 
  Example: "keen was the wind" – tells us that the wind was very biting, which made their progress more difficult.
 
i)

"Fast vanishing their oxygen fuel" (line 2)
 
 
 
  ii)
"Of smooth and holdless rock" (line 7)
 
 
 
  iii)
"Two swings, two whacks of Hillary's axe 
And they stood on top" (lines 19-20)
 
 
 
 
b) 
For each of the following language techniques find an example from the poem and explain the effect gained by using language in that way.
The terms have been defined in the table at the end of the question.
 
  i)
Onomatopoeia, line: __________
 
   
Example
 
 
    Effect
 
 
  ii)
Alliteration, line: __________
 
   
Example 
 
 
    Effect
 
 
  iii)
Metaphor, line: __________
 
   
Example
 
 
 
    Effect
 
 
Onomatopoeia – This is the use of words which imitate or suggest the sound they describe, e.g., sizzle or boom.
Alliteration – The repeating of a particular letter or sound (usually consonants at the beginning of words) to produce an interesting effect, e.g., the student slowly stirred the syrup by the silent sea.
Metaphor – Compares two things by saying that one thing is something else, e.g., that student is a computer.
c) 
The poet writes about the feelings of the two climbers.
Quote two lines which suggest these feelings, and explain what the feelings are.
 
 
1.
 
 Line
 
 
     Explanation
 
 
 
2.
 
 Line
 
 
     Explanation
 
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper.
Copyright: 
Text source: extract from 'Everest climbed', by Ian Serrailler 
Level:
5
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Keywords: 
poem, figurative language, language features, comprehension, vocabulary, poetry
Description of task: 
After reading a poem, students respond to questions which focus on understanding features of language used and their effects.
Curriculum Links: 
 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • recognise and unpack figurative language
  • infer ideas and information that are not directly stated in the text
  • identify specific language features and structures 
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Making sense of text: vocabulary knowledge, sets 7-9
Reading for literary experience, sets 6-8
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
  Y11 (04/1999)
a) i)
ii)
iii)		 Running out of air.
Nothing to grip onto.
Getting to the top (using an ice axe).		 easy
easy
easy
b) i) Any 1 of:

Example: "whack" line – 19.
Effect: Adds idea of force to the cutting of ice steps.
or
Example: "cracked" or "tinkled" – line 16.
Effect: Frozen ice noises.

 example – easy

effect – moderate
ii)

Any 1 of:

Example: "bitter and bare" – line 4.
Effect: Stark image, crisp picture.
or
Example: "silver streak" – line 13.
Effect: Gives image of steapness of slope/plunge downwards.
or
Example: "steps were weary, keen was the wind" – line 1.
Effect: Adds rhythm to the line, like their plodding footfalls.

example – easy

effect – difficult
iii)

Example: "Martian weird" – line 14.
Effect: Creates image of non-human figures - They look non-human because of the climbing gear they are wearing.

example – difficult

effect – very difficult
c)   Any 2 lines relating to feelings, e.g.,

  • "O ghastly fear" – line 8.
  • "sickening shock" – line 5.
  • "Their steps were weary" – line 1.
Any 2 explanations of quoted lines, e.g.,
  • Feeling of fear of failure/no evident path.
  • Realisation of the huge task in front of them.
  • Exhaustion.
 2 lines – moderate

1 line – easy
 
 
 
 
 
2 explanations – difficult
1 explanation – easy