Exercise 1

The Mud Below is almost sung with a monotonous and common language. Annie Proulx's depiction creates a heated sense of urgency when Diamond "slapped his face forcefully, bringing the adrenaline roses up on his cheeks." The author enhances the stress by throwing the reader straight into the action. Rito brings the bull-rope "delicately to his hand from under the bull's belly." There are small things being noticed instead of the large roaring crowd. Annie Proulx stresses that everything must be perfect when riding a bull when Diamond noticed that "everything had gone a little slack." The tiny details are all magnified when about to ride a bull.