How does the writer use structure in the first paragraph to create meaning?
They had been telling us for years that the harbour would not last, and for years we had not listened, because the harbour had always been there. It had outlived the herring, the railway, the cannery, and three generations of men who swore it would see them out. Yet this winter, when the first storm took the lamp from the end of the wall and the second took the wall itself, nobody spoke of it as a surprise. They stood in the half-light, hands in pockets, and looked at the water going where it pleased. There is a particular silence that comes when a thing is lost that everyone secretly knew was fragile, and I have never heard it so loud.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. The list stresses permanence before the sudden loss
- Step 1: The list 'the herring, the railway, the cannery' shows how long the harbour has lasted.
- Step 2: This contrast makes the storm's destruction more shocking, which the next sentences develop.
Answer
The list stresses permanence before the sudden loss.
Why not the others: The writer moves from a storm to a calm summer day: the passage is set in winter. The writer begins with the loss and ends with the harbour's creation: the structure goes from past permanence to loss. The writer repeats one sentence to create rhythm: the list is of different things.
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