Emma Levine

Emma Levine employs structure, sentence length, vocabulary, and other literary features to portray a sense of passing time in this excerpt from “A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat,” where the author experiences a donkey race with Karachi locals.
Levine utilizes sentence length to create a sense of passing time. She describes the impending conclusion to the race with a long, descriptive sentence followed by “the race is over,” a four word sentence. The employment of a long sentence followed by a short sentence creates the appearance of time passing, as it abruptly ends the rising energy created by the former in this anti-climax, and makes it clear that the race so vividly described before, ended. It acts as a conclusion to the various descriptive paragraphs it followed, thereby making it seem as time has passed.
Levine further employs sentence structure to create a sense of time passing. In the fifth paragraph, last sentence, she employs short, disjointed, asyndetic phrases when describing the “ men standing on top of their
cars and vans, hanging out of taxis and perched on lorries, all cheered and shouted.” These phrases create a sense of speed, and of time passing due to the fact they lack a coherent and evident connection, and so creates an appearance of many sentences compressed in the time and space of one, increasing the tempo, and creating the illusion of time. The asyndetic aspect of the sentence also creates the illusion of time by removing any conjunctions, again speeding up the phrase, and creating a sense of time.
Moreover, Levine utilizes vocabulary to create a sense of the movement of time.
She described the race as requiring “quick reflexes,” and involving “sharp flicks of the steering wheel.” Later, the racers “picked up speed,” as they “neared the end of the race.” The selection of “quick,” “sharp flicks,” and “speed,” create a sense of time passing, as they all invoke imagery of speed in some form or another, which in turns quickens the pace, and generates the appearance of time passing. Furthermore, the use of “picked up speed,” and “neared the end of the race,” create a sense of stretching time longer, as it seems to delay the inevitable, the end of the race. Additionally, Levine claims to have “waited an eternity” for the race to begin. This hyperbole demonstrates Levine’s long, dull wait, but also creates the illusion of time, as it conjures up associations to long periods, and “eternity” by definition intertwines closely with time in
meaning.
Lastly, in various locations, Levine writes short paragraphs, with long ones embedded throughout. This creates the appearance of a fast pace in the shorter paragraphs, due to their small length, and of a slower tempo for longer paragraphs, as they require more time to read, and usually contain long and stretched out descriptions of the events occurring in the race. Additionally, she often employs an alternating dialogue between herself and the local boys who drive the car. This rapid back-and-forth dialogue also creates a fast tempo, and in turn, a sense of rapidly passing time.
Throughout the excerpt, Levine employs structure, length, and vocabulary to create a sense of time. The excerpt frequently changes from a slow to a fast tempo, between long phrases and paragraphs to shorter ones, and with the use of handpicked vocabulary to further enhance the illusion of time passing. Levine successfully creates the illusion of time in her work, creating the feeling that a considerable period has passed between the stand and the finish of this excerpt.