Words: 279
The first passage of “The Birds” uses sibilance to emphasise the politeness of the birds in the first two sentences. The phonology of the passage is that onomatopoeia is used in the word “whistling” and in the phrase “rustling like silk”. The phrase is emphasising how softly and smoothly the birds are flying. “As the slow sea socked at the shore” is another example of sibilance to show how polite these birds are. Passage one begins with an antonym, “black and white”. This shows that the sentences are broken into clauses, which shows the agitation.
The repetition of “never” in the quote, “never satisfied, never still” is used for emphasis that the birds are always in motion. The sentence structure is that is has a long sentence followed by three short sentences to add suspense. The first passage also has both syndetic and asyndetic listing. “They must flock and wheel and cry” is syndetic listing and “Crying, whistling, calling” is asyndetic listing along with alliteration on the words “crying” and “calling”. Passage one uses similes “rustling like silk” and interrogatives, “and to what purpose? As mentioned previously, the first two sentences contain sibilance and also within the first sentence is juxtaposition. Also, the first passage contains rhetorical repetition “make heiste, make speed”. Passage two gives the impression of a cold and desolate atmosphere, which contrasts to passage one in the way that the first passage was about the politeness of birds in a relaxed atmosphere, whereas passage two is a cold and desolate atmosphere. “Black winter had descended in a single night”. The similarities between passages one and two are that they both contain sibilance and similes.