 Hello and welcome to a summary of all you need to know about the explorer's daughter Bakari Herbert. Now I'm going to read and explain this extract in depth and the version of the extract that I will read through is what appears in the Pearson-Edexcel International GCSE anthology. Now bear in mind in terms of background and context Herbert as a small child lived with the family among the Inuit people and this was a really harsh environment that she grew up in in the Arctic and in 2002 she revisited this area staying near Thule and this essay is based upon this visit. So I'll explain the meaning related to this text, the language devices that you need to be aware of when analyzing it and other contextual factors that you find helpful as you study this text. So let's get started. Now what I'll do is I will read through the passage and then explain language techniques that you need to be aware of but also the meaning behind them. So let's begin with this paragraph. Two hours after the last of the hunters had returned and eaten, narwhal was spotted again this time very close. Within an hour even those of us on shore could with the naked eye see the plumes of spray from the narwhal catching the light in a spectral play of colour. Two large pods of narwhal circled in the fjord often looking as if they were going to merge but always slowly methodically passing each other by. Scrambling back up to the lookout I looked across the glittering kingdom in front of me and took a sharp intake of breath. The hunters were dotted around the fjord. The evening light was turning but a gold glinting off man and well and catching the soft billows of smoke from a lone hunters pipe. From where we sat on the lookout it looked as though the hunters were close enough to touch the narwhal with their bare hands and yet they never moved. Distances are always deceptive in the Arctic and I felt wondering if the narwhal existed at all or were instead mischievous tricks of the shifting Of course what this opening does is it introduces this arctic area but also it really introduces these creatures but also the lifestyle of these Inuit people who many of us perhaps are not very familiar with. Now this opening essentially two hours after this is an a verbal phrase of time and the passage starts in media array. What this basically means is it starts right in the middle of the action and we're thrown right into the lifestyle that she was experiencing as she lived amongst the Inuit so we're really just thrown right into the middle of this action. Furthermore this complex sentence this initial opening complex sentence creates some tension and anticipation. We start wondering oh what's happening this these narwhal have been spotted we want to know what's going to happen next. There's more language referring to temporal time so it started off with two hours and then now it's narrowed down to an hour. So now this focus on time shows it's a countdown that some building tension as we're reading through this passage and then she uses the hyperbole plumes of spray to really emphasise the beauty of the narwhal and how majestic in many ways that appear. Carrie Herbert then mentions a spectral play of colour and this vivid and dramatic imagery adds all the more to the beauty and the majesty of the narwhal. We are really really drawn to these creatures who and they seem really mysterious there's a lot of mystique around them. Now the repetition of these pronouns essentially now makes us see things from her perspective and of course remember that she's back revisiting the area so we're seeing things really through her lens. The lens of somebody who is fairly westernised has come from a fairly busy culture and is now going to a far more remote culture. The metaphor Glittering Kingdom really emphasises the beauty of both the narwhal but also this arctic area and so this is such beautiful language and it makes us always readers really enticed. It's also quite idyllic. Then there's a mention of the sharp intake of breath and what this adverb does is it suddenly makes us really aware there's something that's suddenly happening. The simple sentence the hunters are dotted around the fjord essentially now makes us realise what's caused her as well as probably other people near her to suddenly focus in the hunters the narrowing in what's happening. Furthermore the colourful imagery that's used in contrast so the mention of butter gold and the light what this does is it creates a semantic field of colour and bear in mind semantic field is two or more words that are related to a similar category and of course the colour of butter gold but also the light this all ties into colour and again there's this contrast between something that's there's an underlying tension but also this underlying tension is almost in paradise. She then uses a sibilant soft billows of smoke from a lone hunter's pipe and this makes us focus in on the hunters. Then she talks about man and well and the juxtaposition of these two creatures of course we as men but also the gnar walls shows the reason why she's so shocked the why she took a shock intake of breath there's going to be a face off of some kind. She then also mentions how distances in terms of vision in the arctic area can be quite deceptive and this is emphasised through the litteration of distances and deceptive. So let's carry on to the next part of the passage. Gnar wall rarely stray away from high arctic waters escaping only to the slightly more temperate waters towards the arctic circle in the dead of winter but never entering the warmer southern seas. In some of the hunters of thought are fortunate to witness the annual return of the gnar wall in the ingle filled fort on the side of which we now sat. The gnar wall is an essential contributor to the survival of the hunters in the high arctic the matak or blubber of the world is rich necessary minerals and vitamins and in a place where the climate prohibits the growth of vegetables or fruit this rich source of vitamin c was the one reason that the eskimos have never suffered from scurvy. For centuries the blubber of the world was also the only source of light and heat and the dark rich meat is still a valuable part of the diet for both man and dogs a single gnar wall can feed a team of dogs for an entire month. Its single ivory task which can go to six feet in length was used for harpoon tips and handles further. Now before we move on let's have a look at some of the language techniques so here she mentions the arctic twice and the repetition reinforces this location furthermore her mention of the temperate waters this personifies the water it seems almost that everything around her is really vivid and very filled with life furthermore the adjective the gnar wall being an essential so this word essential this adjective emphasizes importance of the gnar wall well in the ecosystem of the arctic furthermore the semantic field of nutrition to vitamins minerals vegetables fruit what this does is firstly it makes it relatable for us so we can now really start understanding things in terms of language so she speaks the language that we can understand as outsiders but more importantly what this does is also emphasize furthermore how the gnar wall even if they're really important in the ecosystem they're also important in terms of being consumed by these people that live in the arctic furthermore when she mentions the only source of light and heat this bright imagery shows how important the worlds are in the ecosystem of the arctic and of course also the importance in the diets of these hunters and furthermore this importance is emphasized by the mention of the dark rich meat this vivid image talking about the flesh of these gnar wall emphasizes how they're really really important in terms of consumption for these man and their dogs and their survival also the adjective the pre-modifier single to describe the ivory task of this gnar wall emphasizes just how large the task is but also of course by extension it emphasizes just how vast this well really is furthermore the use of alliteration harpoon tips and handles and especially harpoon and handles emphasizes these weapons that are used as a result of or rather created as a result of this ivory task so there's some irony that the gnar walls ivory task is used by man to create weapons which can be used to kill them so let's carry on hunting implements although the ivory was found to be brittle and not hugely satisfactory as a weapon for carving protective tulip packs and even as a central beam for the small ancient dwellings strangely the task seems to have little use for the gnar wall itself they do not use the task to break through the ice as a breathing hole nor will they use it to catch your attack prey but rather the primary use seems to be to disturb the top seabed in order to catch the arctic halibut for which they have particular predilection often the ends of the tasks are worn down or even broken from such usage the women clustered in the gnar on the lookout binoculars pointing in every direction each woman focusing on a husband or family member occasionally spinning around at a small gasp or jump as one of the women saw a hunter near a gnar wall each wife knew her husband instinctively and watched their progress intently it was crucial to her that her husband catch a gnar wall it was part of the stable diet and some of them so now going back to this opening sentence bear in mind that of course it starts off when she mentions its single ivory task which can grow up to six feet length was used for harpoon tips and handles for other hunting implements so this is just a continuation from that sentence and then she uses the parenthesis to further explain the use of the ivory to create essentially weapons so what this parenthesis does and parenthesis is just another fancy way of saying brackets what this does is it further adds to our knowledge and our intrigue of this gnar wall and of course it also adds to our knowledge of how their tasks are used for weapons of course we find that the ivory was too brittle and not helpful in the hunter's work furthermore the repetition of the task again there's this paragraph really really focuses in on this particular part of the gnar wall's body and it's interesting of course this focus shows that actually this gnar wall is a little bit harmless so even if it has this really massive intimidating task actually it's a very little use of the gnar wall itself so it's a harmless creature even if it's so vast furthermore the use of this complex sentence essentially she uses a syndetine so remember asyndentic listing or syndetine is when there's a list of different parts of a sentence and they're listed without a conjunction without and but because now this listing what this does is it now continues to build attention and anticipation people are clustering there's something that's happening we are starting to wonder what's going on furthermore she then uses the adverb intently to emphasise further how everybody in this area is really focusing on the hunters who have gathered but of course by extension the gnar wall furthermore the term crucial the idea of the criticalness of this hunt shows just how high stakes this hunt is the people that live in the arctic so she states it was crucial to her that her husband catch a gnar wall it was part of their staple diet and some of the matak and meat could be sold to other hunters who hadn't been so lucky bringing in some much needed extra incomes of course this is high stakes because actually the gnar wall being killed in court this is what helps feed the hunters and that this is what helps them keep going in terms of even making payments and earning money every hunter was in the water it was like watching a vast waterborne game with the hunter spread like a net around the sound the gnar wall are intelligent creatures are sensors are keen and they talk to one another under the water the herring is particularly developed and they can hear the sound of a paddling kayak from a great distance that was why the hunters had to sit so very still on the water one hunter was almost on top of a pair of gnar wall and they were huge he gently picked up his harpoon and aimed in that split second my heart leapt for both hunter and gnar wall I urged the man on in my head he was so close and so brave to attempt what he was about to do he was miles from land on a flimsy kayak and could easily be capsized and drowned the hunter had no rifle only one harpoon with two heads and one bladder it was a full hardy exercise and one that could only respire respect and yet at the same time my heart also urged the gnar wall to dive to leave to survive now here firstly the pre-modifier much needed extra income again this makes us really empathize with the hunters why they need to hunt these gnar wall and kill them furthermore this simple sentence really focuses in our attention on the hunters they're now really closing in on their prey and the simile like watching a vast waterborne game it's interesting because the simile shows that it's almost a game it's something fun but actually there's nothing fun to it this is basically to do with life or death the hunters if they're not careful they could die and they could even possibly drown but also the gnar wall if they're not careful they will get caught and killed so there's a lot of tension here now furthermore on the one hand whilst she's really created a lot of empathy for the hunters we really feel sorry for them and we want them to do really well we also want the gnar wall to escape and the adjective intelligent to describe how the intelligent creatures creates empathy in our eyes for these gnar wall furthermore the alliteration they talk and as well the verbs really give these gnar wall the specific and the special personalities furthermore the juxtaposition which was is being reinforced so before it was man and well now it's hunter and gnar wall it makes us feel really convicted we want to be on the side of the people that live in the arctic they need to survive however we also feel that the gnar wall deserve to live so we feel really conflicted and this confliction is of course also reflected in the in Carrie Herbert herself she was watching this and she feels really conflicted now when she describes how the hunter gently picked up as harpoon this soft move and the the adverb gently is quite ironic because he's about to do something that's really shocking furthermore she then mentions how her heart left for both hunter and gnar wall which brings home this feeling of confliction she feels really really scared for the gnar wall but also equally scared for the hunter she's really trying to be on both sides and of course this is why she feels so conflicted moreover the intensifier so which is repeated shows how Carrie Herbert is really really wrapped up in this issue that she's seen before her and she much like the ladies and the women who want the husbands to catch gnar wall she also feels really really caught up in this essentially this vast waterborne game moreover the semantic field of weapons rifle and harpoon essentially starts to really drive home the point that this is a very violent and also dangerous activity furthermore the rule of three here to dive survive to to dive to leave to survive as well as the use of tricolon shows just how she really really is willing the gnar wall to escape somehow she then mentions this dilemma stayed with me the whole time that i was in greenland so now she gets right to the heart of her own feeling of confliction Carrie Herbert goes on i understand the harshness of life in the arctic and the needs of the hunters and the families to hunt and live on animals and sea mammals that we demand to be protected because of their beauty and i know that one cannot afford to be sentimental in the arctic how can you possibly eat seal i've been asked over and over again true the images that bombarded us several years ago of men battering seals for the fur hasn't helped the issue of popular hunting but the Inuit do not kill seals using this method nor do they kill for sport they use every part of the animals they kill and most of the food and thaw it's still bought by the hunter gatherers and fishermen imported goods can only ever account for part of the food supply there's still only one annual supply ship that makes it through the ice to canack and the small twice weekly plane from west greenland can only carry a certain amount of goods hunting it's still an absolute necessities so of course now here what she starts doing is really trying to explain to us the perspective of the hunters in greenland and of course the inuits and this first person plural pronoun shows how we as a people especially in the west really sometimes become really soft righteous we get on our high horse about protecting these creatures but we forget that they're hunters and communities that rely on them for their own survival furthermore the verb demand shows how we sometimes do this but almost out of ignorance because we don't understand that this is all part of an a vast ecosystem which includes also the hunters that need to survive much like the narwhal as well need to survive furthermore the rhetorical question how can you possibly eat sills just shows how people can be quite self righteous and very judgmental on matters that they don't quite know also we really start understanding the challenge that hunters as well as fishermen in this part of greenland face and this language so hunter gatherers and fishermen these nouns essentially show how remote and simplistic their community is and not doing this just for the sake of it or just for sport this is important it's important to kill these narwhal because of their survival now karri herbert ends with a declarative sentence hunting is still an absolute necessity in thought and what this declarative sentence shows is that she now really realizes the blunt reality of life in the Arctic we can't afford to be too sentimental about things such as killing these creatures because actually this hunting community relying them for their survival but of course we also need to be careful about killing them for sport so it's a really delicate balance which she is trying to emphasize through this declarative sentence however it's something that cannot completely be eliminated because eliminating hunting these narwhal is essentially sentencing this community of people to death so that's all if you found this video useful please make sure you visit our website which is www.firstreadtutor.com there you will find lots of revision materials and useful materials when it comes to answering any questions related to this and indeed other extracts from this anthology thank you so much for listening